Catching Up-Farm Update

Apples, Blueberries, Chickens, Chicks, Flowers, garden, Gardening, Grapes, Pond, Reflections, The Farm, Wild Flowers

To get caught up on my posts I’ll start with a look around the farm These pictures were actually from last week so I’m still a bit behind. 🙂

Chickens

Our youngest chick hatched on June 29th.

My husband named her or him (it’s still too early to tell if this is a hen or rooster) Strawberry because when he took the flock some strawberry tops that I had trimmed she grabbed one and gobbled it up. Strawberry was probably less than two weeks old at the time. He or she still sticks close to momma, not necessarily because it is still being trained or cared for by momma, but it doesn’t have anyone its own age to hang out with.

These are 2 of the chicks that hatched on May 12. They are beginning to look more like adult chickens and we are certain that one is a rooster. My husband even heard him try to crow one day.

Rex is our roo from last year. He is the daddy of all the chicks that hatched this year. He is a bit of an odd bird. He does the normal crowing sound of a rooster (Ur Ur Ur Ur URRRRR!) but also makes a loud cawing sound (Arrrr!) that I have never heard a rooster (or any chicken) make before.

What’s Blooming

Hibiscus in bloom.

Cosmos.

Wild flowers

The Pond

On some of these hot days I’ve found a dip in the pond quite refreshing and a pleasant way to get in a workout.

Garden News

Keeping the gardens alive has been a huge challenge this year. The weather has not been kind. Both June and July were very wet and all of the plants have been stressed at best. My husband has spent many hours weeding and fertilizing. Doing anything he could think of to keep things alive and growing.

I think he’s done an amazing job. I really thought we would have more crop loss than we have.

Acorn Squash

Another type of winter squash.

Sweet corn and Melons

Tomatoes (they may be small but they taste great!)

Sunflowers

Cucumbers and Eggplant

Green beans and Beets

Fruits

We had an amazing blueberry crop this year. We began picking in June and just finished picking last week. I lost track of how many we harvested as we were eating them fresh, freezing some and having friends and family pick and take what they wanted.

We have some apples that are looking good and if we can keep the birds away, we should have a decent harvest.

We also have a lot of grapes that are looking good.

We have put netting over them to try to save as many as possible for us. Homemade grape juice is one of our favorites!

Thanks for visiting.

13 thoughts on “Catching Up-Farm Update”

  1. What beautiful pictures. A shining example of a labor of love. I bet Brat is cute .I wanted our rooster to be nice , so I have hand fed him treats from the time he was tiny. He comes right up to me whenever he sees me, but he is pecking harder when he takes his treats

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  3. What a beautiful farm you have. It is hard work, but the fruits of your labor are paying you back!
    I would take a dip in the pond after working on the farm! How fun!
    Beautiful pictures!

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  4. It is clear to anyone that reads this post just how hard the two of you work to run this farm. The chicken stories did make me laugh. I like the reflection on the pond and all the flowers Ruth, especially the Hibiscus. They are lovely and tropical looking. You both must be exhausted from working in all the heat we’ve had this Summer, so no wonder a quick dip in the pond is so welcome.

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    1. We are really enjoying the cooler temps and low humidity this week. It has made working outside much more enjoyable.
      Here’s another cute chicken story. When my husband goes to open up the coop in the morning he just slips on some flip flops because he’s coming right home – not staying to work. One of the young chicks has started coming up to him and pecking his bare feet. It will then sit down and want him to pick it up. It really seems to like his attention. We started calling it “Brat”. He says he hopes it settles down some because when it pecks his feet it grabs skin and it hurts.

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      1. I hate to see the heat and humidity return … it feels like September in the morning these days.

        That is a funny story Ruth. It looks like “Brat” has set its sights on giving “kisses” to your husband. 🙂

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