Got LOTS Done!

It was a VERY productive Saturday!

Rod got up and went to work for a

few hours and Kyle and I headed

to Lowe's along with the rest of the world.

Florida is "opening" partially on Monday.

But you wouldn't know it to look.

We've been "open" for weeks.

We got some wood for another raised bed

and some peel and stick vinyl tile.

The plastic trays in the bottoms of the dog

kennels are all cracked and awful.

Kyle cut some plywood to fit and then we 

put peel and stick vinyl tiles on them to

make them water resistant and easy to clean.

Roxy's is supposed to be slate. Hahahaha.

We really liked the barn wood though.

None of the girls wanted to get in last night.

I guess it smells a little funny at first.

They are fine with it now though.

About that time Rod got home from work

with some Chick Fil-A, so we had a yummy

lunch and then sat out on the patio for

a bit and enjoyed each other's company.

Then it was time to head out to the garden.

The taller raised bed is all planted in wild flowers

(bird and bee attracters)

and we transplanted the new yellow squash I

planted last week into the short bed.

We pulled out all the yellow squash.

They looked AWFUL.

Instead we planted bush beans (in the foreground).

Then around the edges of the tall bed we

planted a row of watermelon radishes (sweeter and

less hot than regular radishes) and a row of carrots.

(Fingers crossed... lol. The other carrots are coming in.

Kind of.)

Then along the front fence of the garden he

put in another little raised bed.

(We had more dirt than we thought!)

When we replant for our fall garden we will 

get rid of the tomato right there.

It makes the alley a bit skinny and we

can't get the wheelbarrow through there.

Anyhow.

We planted the little bed with herbs!

Kyle has been poring over the herb book

Mom sent me!

Closest is cilantro.

Then lemon balm.

Then lemon basil.

Cinnamon basil.

Garlic chives.

Regular chives.

We don't know what to do with any of them.

(Except the regular chives, of course...)

But we are going to have fun learning!

I discovered a GREAT use for the

"magic wand" Sondra bought for me while

we were at Harry Potter World with ther

granddaughters.

It's been laying on my piano with Jim's

choir leading stick.

It makes a PERFECT planting stick!

We planted two packs of magic beans with 

my magic wand in about 5 minutes!

We wrapped some tape around the tip

to mark 1/4, 1/2, 1, 1-1/2 inch so we

knew the right depth and then just

poked it right into the dirt and Kyle followed

behind and dropped seeds in the hole!

Worked great for everything else too!

(Except the carrots - we used the hoe to

drag a row for those...)

We planted green and purple bush beans this time.

We were very sad to hear the purple beans

turn GREEN when you cook them.

Then what's the point????

(grin)

We will be transplanting Kyle's little 

"feather duster" flowers into one of the beds

this week.

The next carton over is the lavender. It has a 

really long germination period - I think there

is ONE - or maybe it's a weed...

If you have REALLY strong glasses (or young eyes)

you can see the chamomile starting to come up too.

They are TINY!

The moringas are looking good!

No movement on the willow sticks I tried to start.

(also no picture - who needs to see a picture of

a bunch of sticks in pots??? lol)

We have an actual broccoli head!!!

I'm SO EXCITED!

We only tried broccoli once before and it was

a colossal failure!

This yellow pepper is KILLING Kyle.

It is taking FOREVER to ripen!

(And he's sure something else is going to get

to it before he does!)

This little guy is going nuts though!

We think they are supposed to turn

other colors before we pick them.

The picture shows red, orange, yellow...

But maybe these ones are all yellow?

Who knows...

The okra is coming up nicely, and we 

have some cucumbers on the trellis

at the far end of the garden!

We are planting some dill today.

And Rod has WATERMELON!

He's excited!!!

Then, while Kyle weeded another spot in the garden

(for more beans and the dill)

Rod and I built a frame to hold the cow's

manger. They keep ripping the legs off

and tossing it around the pasture.

So he built a frame and attached it so they

(hopefully) won't be able to do that anymore.

They are getting to that "teenager" stage 

where they think they are all that and a bag of chips.

And they like to push each other around.

And us.

They head butt each other all day long.

So I'm not excited to get in the pasture with them.

But I have to in order to take care of my rabbits.

So I like to feed them first and then while they

are busy eating their grain, I quickly do the rabbits.

But if their manger is off in the middle of the pasture

I have to brave the beasts to go get it.

This is going to be MUCH better.

It's tucked in a little alley behind the

barn and chicken coop so the 

horses can't get into it.

I was VERY happy with how it turned out.

The steers seem pleased too.

Nice face Jake!

All in all, a VERY productive day!