Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Get It While You Can



Just a photo heavy post showing a little of what's going on around here.  The rains have slacked up a bit (even tho it's actually raining as I type this) and some warm sunny days have snapped the garden into production.  We have very little planted right now but hope to remedy that by the end of the week.  Looks like we are going to have waaaay more blueberries than we'll use this year!  I still have 2 bags in the freezer from last year.  It's a good problem to have though.


The lettuce in the asparagus bed seems to be dong well.  Time to plant the second wave.  The asparagus is doing really well too.  We have a constant supply on hand this year.  Maybe even enough for me to freeze a little for later.


The flowers are all doing well too.  Not a tremendous amount blooming right at this moment but that should change soon.


I don't know how much you can tell from this photo but this is one of my tea plants.  I have 3 left, out of 6.  They have not grown much over the past 3 years but this year they have put out a ton of the little new leaves that you actually make the tea from.  I am really going to try to pick some this year and experiment with actually making tea.


I tilled up part of the garden today in preparation for planting and the girls rushed in, while they are still allowed in, to bathe in the fresh, cool soil.  They really seemed to be enjoying themselves.


All except for Ms. Ella that is, who has gone broody for the umpteenth time, but since we actually have a rooster this year....we are going to let her sit on these eggs.  She has wanted to be a mama for so long I just didn't have the heart to take her off of them.  I hope some of them actually hatch for her!  We joked about it quite a bit because we are not sure that Big T is.....uhh....always hitting the target, let's say.  He falls off on his head sometimes but who knows?!  He may be a regular Don Juan of the chicken world.  Haha!


All the little songbirds are in the mood for love too!  Quite a lot of squawking and various activities.  Our regular bluebird pair has already hatched out one brood in the house in the garden, so we put up 2 more bluebird boxes around the place.  This one is behind the house and can be seen as you look out the kitchen windows.  The other day a bluebird pair was very busily building a nest in it, which is when I took this photo, but I have not noticed any activity since then.  Maybe they decided they didn't like it after all?  It is a good distance from the others so I don't think that is a problem.


I've noticed quite a lot of new (to me) birds around this year since we moved the feeder closer to the house.  At least 2 types of grosbeaks!  I think this is a female rose-breasted grosbeak and I also saw a male blue grosbeak but my photo of him did not turn out as well.  He also didn't stick around long but Ms. Grosbeak here stayed around for 2 or 3 days and was very laid back about photos; she didn't mind at all.  The indigo buntings have arrived also and I've been trying to get a good photo of them but no luck yet.

I also found out I was accepted to the local art fair here, so I'm going full-tilt now to make enough inventory for that.  The show is May 8-10 so I don't have long!  Hopefully, it will be profitable and worth all this effort lately.

9 comments:

ErinFromIowa said...

I am so glad you did this post! The combination of your photos and narration is the next best thing to being there. Also happy you are busy working and creating. :)

Hermit's Baby Sis said...

Well, congratulations on your acceptance at the fair, although why would they not? I'm sure you will do wonderfully well, and it's great that you are feeling up to the task.
Love the looks of those blueberries! Wish I had a freezer full of 'em!Or just a bush would do, too ..

MamaHen said...

Hey Erin! thank you! glad you enjoyed the post. And glad I am working too!

Hey sis! thank you! I'm happy to be feeling up to it also! Blueberries are super easy to grow; plant you one or two!

HermitJim said...

Looking good around there! Of course, it always looks good to me!

Good luck on the tea and the upcoming show!

ErinFromIowa said...

I forgot about the tea bushes! Please keep us updated.:)

Island Rider said...

Thanks for sharing. Looks like despite the rain, the sun is out.

MamaHen said...

Hey Jim! thanks! and thanks!

Hey Erin! If I manage to actually do anything with the tea I'll be sure to show ya'll.!

Hey IR! Yes, things are going fairly well. :)

JO said...

I knew you would do well with the judging. Can't wait to hear how you did at the show. Good Luck! of course your work speaks for itself.

Ed said...

We used to have a large flock of chickens and I don't think we ever had a rooster miss the target. I think the key to their success is frequency.