Where Did July Go?

July is almost done.  Most of the month has been very hot and humid.  That kind of weather is very worrisome when you have livestock.  And since we had very little rain in July, I would have thought my neglected gardens would have shrivelled up to nothing.

It pays to plant hardy, native species!  I don't even weed my flower bed.  I have big bushy perennials that fight for space in the garden with long grasses.  It looks fabulous and colourful at this time of year.

My vegetable garden is a jungle!  We enjoyed a lot of lettuce until the extreme heat came and it turned wild and bitter.  I am purposely letting some of the lettuce go to flower so I can try to save some seeds for next year.  My friend suggested that I could still pull the old stuff out and plant some new seeds to have new lettuce growth.  I may try that.

The purple bean plants are growing like wild.  There are a lot of beautiful purple flowers.  I hope this means a lot of beans in the next couple weeks.

The tomato plants have a lot of flowers on them and some little green tomatoes starting.  I read on Facebook that my friend nearby is already eating tomatoes from her garden.  Hmmmm...I planted late.  I hope not too late.



I didn't plant many squash, but they are still trying to take over everywhere.   I had thought twice about planting them in my garden because of this.  Next year, they are definitely getting their own garden!



I'm proud of my little garden.  We have tilled up a portion of the poor pasture so that we can make a bigger garden next year. 

And I leave you with a picture of my relaxing chair in my little piece of paradise.  This is 30 minutes from home, so it makes a great farmer's vacation spot.  Far enough away to forget the work piling up at home, but close enough to pop home to do the chores.  

Hay-Making Weather!

It doesn't take long when the sun finally shows for a few days at 30C or so.  The clay that was a dark brown menace that threatened to suck in and absorb the new little cria is hard-baked to the consistency of...well...pottery. 

It doesn't take long for the line up at the new dust bath. 



Even the hens are enjoying a good old sand bath.

 I'm having to water my garden.  Look, things are growing!  I have been doing pretty good at staying ahead of the weeds, considering my schedule.  We have enjoyed some lettuce from the garden so far.  It would look like we will be eating quite a bit of lettuce.  Then there should be purple beans, yellow beans, tomatoes, squash and cucumbers.   The purple beans, squash, and lettuce were from heritage seeds from Soggy Creek Seed Co. from nearby Nipissing, Ontario.  The tomato plants are organic, purchased from Mrs. Artan at the North Bay Farmer's Market, who grew them from seeds that have passed down in her family for 4 generations.  The yellow beans were a commercial packet from the local garden centre and were labelled 'organic'.  The cucumber plants were half dead bargains that the garden centre had in their end-of-planting-season special corner.  The experiment is whether I can actually make a quantity of good tasting food from this garden....you know...actually FARM something that grows up from beneath the ground.

See what I recycled to string the bean hangers on?

I don't play favourites.  The little white girl got her close-up in the last entry.  So, here is the little dark girl!  Isn't she cute?  (She will grow into those ears!)

My family is making the most of the good weather and spending a lot of time on the lake these days.  The hay is in the loft and the cria are running in the field.  Time to enjoy some summer.

I hope you are enjoying yours!