a few of the girls

Bethlehen

Attila the Hen

Henrietta

 Growing well, but still have quite a ways before they're laying!

Harvest of the day

 It has not been a great year for the vegetable garden. Too wet and cool, I think. (And because it's been so wet, Matt hasn't been out there with his special fertilizer, either...that could also have something to do with it!)

But yesterday, for the first time, I was able to put together supper almost entirely from the garden.

Add a little salt and olive oil and roast it all up...yum!

We ALSO picked one of Eben's sunflowers today at his request. This spring when we were buying seeds, he was the one who voted that we don't just get giant sunflowers that grown 12 feet tall, but get "Pikes Peak" sunflowers which can get up to 14 or 15 feet tall! They have NOT disappointed, even with this less than great year. (This is just the very top of the plant - I cut it off as high above my head as I could reach, and then cut another 18" off so it would fit in the vase we have for it!)

The chickens are growing!

 

Henrietta and Rinnah.

Evania with Attila the Hen and Rinnah with Mrs. (Lavender) Allen Milgrave.

Thinning the carrots

 Last year was so dry. I think it rained twice all summer. This summer, we're short on sun. For once, the tomatoes and beans are doing not much of anything. 

But our carrots are growing well. There's always something that does well. That's part of what makes gardening interesting.

Last night I thinned the carrots, with this as the result:

Washed and chopped, and it's the start for soup for supper.

New residents in the Motley Garden

 It's worth noting that two weeks ago we got six new residents in the Motley Garden: Henrietta, Attila the Hen, Mrs. (Lavender) Allen Milgrave, Princess Leia Negg, Bethlehen, and Charlotte have moved into a coop Dad helped the girls build in the back of the small side of the shed.

It will be into the fall before we get any eggs, but we're hoping to have them doing some free-ranging and some time in a mobile run and have them do some work on the grubs in the gardens!

Here are the babies!!

This is Ebenezer with Mrs. Allen Milgrave. The night before we got the chicks, we read about a character in our book who was described as looking like a "sleek gray hen" so they decided if we got a gray one, she would be Mrs. Allen Milgrave. But she needs her own given name, too, thus the "Lavender."

This is Rinnah with Henrietta (I think. I have a harder time telling Henrietta and Charlotte apart.)

The girls helped Dad build a mobile run with leftover bits of lumber that we have laying around. We purchased hardware cloth, but everything else is just leftovers! Flipped over, it gives the chickens an easy way to have a little more space to run outdoors without concern for then destroying the gardens or hawks (or cats!) destroying them.

Wisteria

 Years ago (5? 6? more??) a friend working at a garden center gave us a wisteria at the end of the season. Apparently, wisteria is known for being rather agressive, so the recommendation is to actively deadhead to prevent seeds from spreading. 

Our wisteria, however, for years grew only leaves; I figured it was maybe just too cold of a climate for it to truly thrive here, and was content with that - it is filling up a dead corner of the shed very nicely.

But THIS spring, we've got buds! And they're starting to open! I'm both really excited for how pretty it's going to be and also a little apprehensive - will we be able to stay on top of it?? I hope so!

And, speaking of the shed, the peonies are blooming beautifully - one of my favorite times is when those big, exuberant, old-fashioned peonies sparkle against the old, faded shed.

Shed Quilt