One rooster is in the freezer. The other one got away. That is how I'm starting this blog post so you will know we have not been idle. Most of he garden is in and now we get to do a few fun things. I snagged a great deal on some vertical garden boxes at the hardware store and found an old can of paint the color of the house. I painted them to match the house and we will be attaching them to the front porch railing next week. I'm going to put bush beans and basil in them. This season I scrounged (like every year) for containers to grow vegetables in. The big score this season was a plastic tub from an old washing machine that Jimmy took apart. I painted it green and put it next to a post in a bright sunny spot. Jimmy hated it. ...until he asked one of the neighbors what he thought of it and the neighbor said he didn't even notice it until Jimmy pointed it out. He said the green made it unobtrusive. So, this last week I painted every garden container I own...green. I think it looks nice...Jimmy said it is overkill. And that was as close as we have come to an argument this season. Mostly, I think it is because he is too busy reclaiming the back forty to worry about what I'm doing up front. Eventually he will notice but, by then it will be too late. Ha!
I'm excited about the raspberries this year. I cut them all back a few months ago and expected that it would affect this years harvest negatively. Not so. I think we might have the best crop yet. I'm hoping to get enough raspberries this year to make a few gallons of wine. Last years blackberry wine is almost finished and ready to bottle. It is some of the best I have ever made. I'm not surprised that it is excellent, considering the ground was accidentally consecrated in a wickerman sort of way. The salmon berries are getting a slow start this year. But I WILL get enough to make salmonberry jelly.
And then back to the chickens. The two babies I picked up at the feed store were moved outside to the old coop last week. I did what Jimmy told me not too ..and gave them names. Pansy and Petunia. I gave them pretty, girly, names to encourage them to be girls. I've had enough of roosters. Of the two big red roosters we had last week, only one is left and only because he fought so hard and hid so well. He doesn't know it but, his days are still numbered. We can't put pansy and petunia in the big coop until the big red is gone. Cant have him traumatizing the little girls.
And on the final note here... Jimmy and I will be in Oly on Saturday for a funeral. We will be saying goodbye to a great friend and mentor that was instrumental in Jimmy and I finding each other. I cant write more without writing a book about the man. He deserves a book but, one that is well written. Goodbye Vaude and thank you for everything.
I'm excited about the raspberries this year. I cut them all back a few months ago and expected that it would affect this years harvest negatively. Not so. I think we might have the best crop yet. I'm hoping to get enough raspberries this year to make a few gallons of wine. Last years blackberry wine is almost finished and ready to bottle. It is some of the best I have ever made. I'm not surprised that it is excellent, considering the ground was accidentally consecrated in a wickerman sort of way. The salmon berries are getting a slow start this year. But I WILL get enough to make salmonberry jelly.
And then back to the chickens. The two babies I picked up at the feed store were moved outside to the old coop last week. I did what Jimmy told me not too ..and gave them names. Pansy and Petunia. I gave them pretty, girly, names to encourage them to be girls. I've had enough of roosters. Of the two big red roosters we had last week, only one is left and only because he fought so hard and hid so well. He doesn't know it but, his days are still numbered. We can't put pansy and petunia in the big coop until the big red is gone. Cant have him traumatizing the little girls.
And on the final note here... Jimmy and I will be in Oly on Saturday for a funeral. We will be saying goodbye to a great friend and mentor that was instrumental in Jimmy and I finding each other. I cant write more without writing a book about the man. He deserves a book but, one that is well written. Goodbye Vaude and thank you for everything.
