FRESH EGGS

   Here we are back to Monday again and life is good.  My young chicks have started to lay.  Not all eight are laying right now but at least they have started.  Yesterday and today I got five eggs each day so that was good.  It is good the young ones have started because the older hens are molting so that means no eggs from them for a while.

The young chicks scratch all the hay out of the houses.  Why?  I have no earthly idea.  However, they leave a small amount in the little red house and that is where they have laid their legs the last two days.  Saturday I found two eggs under a couple of the houses so I had to have a talk with the girls and explain the idea behind having the nest.

They are all so funny.  The six older hens crowd into the little red house to sleep at night and the young go in the new house.  There is a fine house the size of the newer one in the middle but they all insist on sleeping where they choose.  The older hens laid their eggs in the middle house (when they were laying.)  Each house has a nice run and they all join to a larger pen; plenty of room.

They love day old bread and any fresh greens that I am not using.  That is their treat along with their regular food.  Their eggs are so rich and creamy.

The new beets and carrots are peeping out of the soil.  Plus the radishes and English peas that I planted last week are sprouting.  This past week we had the first from the turnips and they were delicious.  Right now we have plenty fresh green leafy vegetables.  Healthy and good,

Thanks for stopping by, please come back soon.

God bless.

 

PERFECT DAY

The last few days have been absolutely perfect here in Florida.  My grandson came for a sleepover and he took tons of photos. He loves the chickens and garden as much as I do.  He even took a picture of a frog that was resting on his swing.  There is just something about little boys and frogs isn’t there?

The older chickens are molting right now so no eggs from them but a couple of the young ones have started to lay.  Granted not every day but I do get a couple of eggs every day but I think from different girls.  They are small right now but that is to be expected.  The Rhode Island Reds lay nice size eggs and a lot of them from what I have heard and read.  We shall see.  In a couple of months we should have plenty to share since I now have 14 hens.

One on the nest.  He isn’t the best photographer but he is learning and he enjoys it so that is what matters.  He is such a joy and we share so many interest.  I thank God that he shares my love for nature, gardening and of course chickens.  I never thought I could love anyone as much as I love my sons and then he was born; what a blessing.

     Thank you for stopping by please come back soon.

God bless.

TIME WEATHERED OR WHAT

The word this week is a great one for me.  I mean, heck, when it comes to describing weathered I could just put my picture out there (don’t worry I won’t, don’t want to scare the regulars) but it would be the epitome of the description.  But it brings a question to my mind.  “Does weathered mean by years or could it be by cold or heat or etc.?”

So far this year we have had the coldest weather we’ve had in several years and it definitely has taken its toll on my vegetable garden, flowers and fruit trees.  The papaya trees were loaded with fruit.  I suppose it only zapped the leaves on the trees and the roots are safe (positive thinking babe.)  If it did get the roots as well I will just replant.  I’m almost sure all I need to do to the banana trees is just cut them back to the ground and they will sprout new babies.  But it is too cold to get out there and mess with anything right now.

Sooo… I should be working on the rewrites of the two novels I have perking on the back burner.  Maybe perking is not the right word because I haven’t worked on them in weeks.  Oh yes, I know I should and now that it is too cold to work in the garden it is a perfect time to write.  Do I have writer’s block?  No, I’m just plain old LAZY, can’t lie about it.  I even know the finish and everything; just need a good kick in the butt to get moving.  So with that said I better get busy.

Thanks for stopping by please come back soon.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/weathered/

WEATHER WITHOUT WORDS

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/weathered/

 

SERENITY

     I guess we all have our on definition of what serene means to us.  To me sitting quietly on a beach and watching the waves wash ashore is the epitome of serenity.  But there are many other things that bring me peace and joy.  I love sitting on my back porch and watching the wild birds.

And working in my garden which by the way is coming along great so far.  All most all of the radishes I transplanted last week took and that makes me so happy.  It was an experiment.  I was not sure if one could transplant radishes but I knew I had to thin them out and I just can’t stand to throw away any plant.  So now I know.  And the two new rows I planted are all peeping out of the ground.  One row is the same as the others that are almost ready to gather, I got one this morning, and the other row are white radishes which I have never grew or even eaten but I will now.

And every thing else is coming along.  We had mustard for dinner one day last week and could gather more now but I’ll wait a few days and see if my sister-in-law wants some when she comes to our family Christmas party this weekend.  The collards are also ready and I plan to have some for Christmas dinner along with the ham and other fixings (fixings is a good old southern word for what else one might cook.)

Collards

And as you can see the lettuce is almost ready to gather some for a nice salad but I’ll give it a couple more days.  We’re eating out tonight but my husband doesn’t know it let.  I’m just too busy to cook.

I won’t bore you with photos of all the other vegetables but I do have a few tomatoes and one bell pepper.  I hope the critters don’t get my pepper again.  They’ve stolen the last two before they were big enough for me to pick.  I’ve put Cayenne pepper powder on them to deter the unwelcome guest.  We’ll see if that works.

Thank you for stopping by please come by soon and God bless.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/serene/

 

 

 

 

GOOD MORNING GLORY

Morning Glories are temporary flowers but oh so pretty.  They usually only last a day but I look forward to going out in the early morning and seeing them in bloom.  It is a beautiful way to start the day.  This year I planted several colors but all that grew seem to be the blue.  Oh well, I’ll just be thankful for what I have.

My vegetables are doing well and I am so happy with them.  We should have fresh mustard for dinner tomorrow.  I wanted to have it tonight but I kept flagging around and I thought it was too late to gather some today.  I like to gather my greens early in the morning.

mustard

The collards, onions, radishes, broccoli, cabbage all are growing nicely.

          Last Friday we made cages for the tomatoes and we have several small tomatoes on the plants.

     And I predict we will be able to have lettuce from our garden in a couple more weeks.

This is the first time I’ve tried to grow lettuce in containers.  I researched it and they say it can be done so we shall see.  All I can say is so good so far.

I also planted some red cabbage in containers last week; just to try, I never grew red cabbage before.

My hot peppers are doing great.  We really don’t eat them so I will pickle them and find someone who likes spicey.  They are pretty and fun to grow.  The sweet peppers had a nice sized pepper but some varmint decided he needed it more than I do.  I will put cayenne pepper on the plants and that should deter him.  Those peppers are for my grandson so the varmint does not know who he is fooling with.

Thank you for stopping by.  I hope you have a blessed day and will come back soon.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/temporary/

 

 

 

GLOW…A SMILE

There really isn’t much about glow in this post unless you count the sun and smile on my face when I see my garden.  I’ll try to do better later in the week.

I promised to keep you posted on my fall garden so these photos are from the third week of it.

On the scale of life I believe gardening is high on the list.  True it is hard work and sometimes in vain.  Sometimes I toil and my efforts just don’t pay off.  Today was a prefect example.  Over the summer I planted sweet potatoes, my first try at it.  This morning I dug the potatoes and found only a handful of small ones.  I guess I got over-anxious and pulled them up too soon.  But that’s okay because I needed the space they were taking up in my raised bed.  In their place I planted beets, radishes and carrots.  Now we have to see how they will grow.  I’ve never had much luck with beets.  I know for some places it is too late in the season to plant these vegetables but I don’t think so in Central Florida.  Our seasons are much different from most places.  And it was definitely too hot for them in the summer.  I just ask God to please bless them so I’ll have enough to share.

Collards,onions and banana peppers.

Mustard, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and tomatoes.

Yellow squash and garlic

Maybe from these pictures you can tell how everything is growing.  Gardening is a slow process.  The peppers are also doing fine.  I was able to pick a few of the hot ones this morning and make pickled peppers. Now I’ll just have to find someone to eat them since I don’t like spicy food.  But I do like growing the peppers.

Thank you for stopping by and please come back soon.  We should have collards and mustard ready for Thanksgiving.  Ahhhh Thanksgiving in the south.  Y’all come, you hear.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/glow/

 

 

 

 

FALL JOY

     The joy of getting my fall garden in the ground is something that only fellow gardeners will understand.  You start with a blank slate, so to speak, but you have a picture in your mind so you start adding plants.

At the first of this week my beds were not exactly bare.  Over the summer I had allowed them to rest and of course some weeds decided it was a great place to make a home.  There I was on Tuesday and Wednesday busy pulling out the unwelcome guest and filling a large trash can to be put out at the curb to be picked up by the county with other yard garbage.  I definitely didn’t want to add the weeds to my compost pile thus giving them a new chance to grow and multiply.  I already have some that I have no idea how they got started in my yard but here they are.  Probably with the help of the birds and/or squirrels I feed;  ungrateful loots.  Only kidding I love the birds and enjoy watching them.  Now the squirrels… well let’s just say I don’t welcome them as freely.  But to make a long story short (I know too late) I was busy preparing the beds for the fall vegetables which I finally were able to plant on Wednesday afternoon and early Thursday morning.

Now you know how I am and that I will pop a plant in any container that will hold it.  I had a couple of recycle bins from years ago, before the county furnished us with a large can, and I have been using them as  planters.  But when the storm Irma came through she decided they should help support part of a huge limb she flung to the ground; see the before and after below.

Before Irma.

After but I still use them.

     You just can’t keep a good woman down.  And as long as it can hold potting soil it will serve my purpose.  They, along with an old laundry basket, are the new home for my grandson’s sweet peppers.

And his old wading pool is keeping the yellow squash and garlic.

Yes, Thursday I was definitely sore in places I haven’t been sore in a while but I am so happy I have my garden planted.  Now the joy of watching it grow and sharing what it produces will be worth the toil and soreness.  I will do my best to keep you updated with photos.

What does all this have to do with pedestrian?  Heck if I know but I did do a lot of walking while I was weeding and planting so I hope that counts so I’m not cheating.

Thank you for stopping by.  Now I think I’ll have a nice cold glass of iced tea and relax for a bit.

God bless.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/pedestrian/

COLLARDS

      I think collards are probably a green vegetable that is usually eaten in the south United States and even then some have never developed a taste for them.  If you’ve eaten kale, well that is a cousin to collards and has a similar taste. Yes it is a strong flavor and I suppose it gets some getting used to.  Frankly I love them and so does my oldest son.  The rest of my family will “kindly pass thank you very much.”  My seven-year old grandson surprises me how healthy he eats but he also does not like my collards.  Anyway, they are a must plant in my fall garden along with mustard greens.  Now my husband can absolutely eat a lot of mustard greens.

     I’m telling you all that to tell you this.  Last fall I planted collards as usual and we ate them at various times and gave some away to friends and neighbors throughout the fall and spring.  But what really surprises me is the fact that they are still growing strong.  Week before last I gave some away and put some in the freezer. This past week I was able to gather (that’s how you say harvesting greens.  You don’t harvest or pick “you gather in the south) another mess (also a southern word for enough vegetables for a meal.  Stick with me and you will learn Southern).  The mustard greens, tomatoes and other spring vegetables are all gone but these collards keep hanging on and producing.

     I planted sweet potatoes and since this is my first time for trying to grow them I’m excited to see how they do.  Trust me I will keep you posted.  The whole family loves sweet potatoes.

     As you know gardening is one of my many hobbies and I truly enjoy it.  It is a wonderful feeling to plant a seed or small plant then watch it grow and produce.  If you are stressed gardening will help you relax and forget all the problems.  Try it.

Thank you for stopping by.  Until then, keep praying, smiling and seeing “how does your garden grow.” (quote from Mary, Mary Quite Contrary a Mother Goose rhyme.)

God bless.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/delta/

FOG

     Yesterday morning the fog was so thick in our area that you could almost slice it with a knife.  Okay… okay I’m exaggerating, maybe… a little, but the fog was thick.  It was pretty to me.  Of course I didn’t have to drive in it.  I like almost all kinds of weather except bad storms and there is even beauty in that.  God has a purpose and reason for everything and He controls the weather.  Like anything else in our lives we can look for the good or expect the evil; I prefer the good.  No I would not like fog every day nor would I want rain every day.  I’m just thankful that I don’t control it one way or another.

  I’m trying to decide what I want to plant in my spring garden.  It isn’t an easy choice since I have limited space.  I just always pray that God supplies me with enough to share.  And He does.  I guess I’m greedy because I want to try everything.  Some of the things I plant make it and some don’t.  In my opinion that is just part of being a gardener or farmer; taking chances.  This past fall was the first time I tried to grow cauliflower and it is coming along fine.  I’m sort of proud of it but I believe I will have to wait until next fall to plant it again since we have some very hot summer days which start early in Florida.

     Wouldn’t it be nice to have five or ten acres to grow whatever you wanted?  Ahhhh… but it is only a dream.  At my age I probably would not be able to keep up with that much land.  I will just be thankful for what I have and that I am able to work it.  We are sort of planning to add two more 8×4 foot raised beds which will double my space so that’s good.  I’m thinking maybe I’ll give okra a try.

     Thank you for stopping by and until next time I will be pouring over seed catalogs and dreaming of a bountiful harvest.  God bless.