We've added a teenage niece and 5 chicks to the mix this year and it's busy!

But, I'm trying to get the garden going...

The sun was out today and the chicks got to play in the big girl house. A few more weeks and some warmer nights and they'll get to move out there!…

My new chicks spent their first few minutes outside today while I cleaned their brooder/cardboard box.…

It has been a tough summer for much of my garden, but things are starting to fruit:

My first red-ish tomato! A cherry roma.

My full-size tomatoes are growing beautifully too:…

Well, I still have some good lettuce going and my broccoli is just getting started, but I also found my first melon growing on the vine!…

We finally got some heat this week - in the upper 80s mostly, though we still had one night in the upper 30's at the beginning of the week! It did get up to the low 90s for a day or two too. So, my tomatoes have started flowering, as have my melons! The plants are still pretty small.…

I know the rest of the country seems to be having a very hot summer, but out here we are still getting nights in the 40s at least once a week. Most of the daytime temps are now in the upper 70s, but a couple days a week are rainy and stormy.

This weather is unexpected and while my brassicas are enjoying it - I started them very late, my heat-loving corn, squash, tomatoes and other plants are very small and struggling. On the bright side, we are eating delicious salads daily as…

I missed a couple weeks (very sick doggy), but I'm back and my garden feels like it is finally getting going!

It was warm and sunny there for awhile, then we hit a late cold spell. Everything survived, but it sure wasn't growing. Some bugs took advantage of this and had a pretty good feast, but the plants are growing again and the current round of bugs are slowing down.

I'm still a little concerned about the squash and melons as we are having a few days of warmer…

Well, ran into troubles with damping-off, but I think I have enough starts that didn't get it to transplant. Watered all the starts with hydrogen peroxide to help re-sanitize the soil, seems to have helped.

The eggplant starts are tiny - it's just not hot enough for them. They look healthy enough though, so I am hoping they will get going faster once the weather heats up.

The lettuce is finally going strong. I planted some out in the onion bed and have some in…

The weather warmed up this week and my starts are much happier!

Except for the brassicas (cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage), they are tiny and look terrible and I'm not sure what is wrong with them. It's time to plant them out though, so I will see if they do better outside. I will also put a few seeds directly in the ground and see how those do.We eat a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, so I hope I can get them going in time!

My potatoes went in this week, the peas are…

Not much to show this week. The cool days and freezing nights are not helping my plants grow very fast. Unfortunately, the only window I have for the starts doesn't get sun until 3pm, 4pm to reach the back of the trays and we don't have grow lights.

Usually the days are warm enough to set them all outside in the morning for some sun, then bring them indoors for sun and warmer temps in the afternoon. This week they have spent a number of days inside, but they had a few good…

My onions came up! Just when I had given up on them, we got a few warm sunny days and up they came. Now I have way too many onions. Not knowing any better I just poured seeds out in a line and now I have hundreds of little seedlings! I think I will be cooking with green onions for awhile.

Slugs, I think, ate all my little lettuces, so I replanted and it is starting to germinate - again. I am hoping since it is drier out now, that the slugs won't come again. I also sprinkled a…

My first real post!

It is a beautiful and sunny day today, up in the 70s! Happy Earthday!

This was a great week in the garden. Lot's of clean-up got done, worked on my long-term homestead design, and did some more planting!

My Alma Paprika and Wenk's Yellow Hot Peppers are germinating well, but my Jimmy Nardello's are not. It's a good thing I planted additional seeds in each pot -I'll need them!…

(3/3 catch-up post)

April 9th - lettuce just starting to peak through, 1 pea too!

April 11th - more peas!

April 12th - transplanted some raspberries

April 13th - planted 2nd group of peas and filled in a few gaps from first group of peas; divided and transplanted an old inherited rhubarb plant; planted cosmos in front flower bed; transplanted more strawberries.

April 14th - Planted broccoli and cauliflower inside in…

(2 of 3 catch -up posts)

April 4th - planted 1/3 of the new strawberry bed; peppers and eggplants into newspaper pots inside.

April 5th - snowflakes again this morning, hail this afternoon.

April 6th - Garlic is sprouting! Tomato bed built.

(This is catch up post.)

March 26th - snow melted, ground dry enough to build, fill, and plant garlic bed. Also planted onion seeds outside.

March 28th - planted first rows of lettuce and half the peas today!