Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[ShrekDawg]

I also had no idea a skunk would kill chicks. How are you ever going to get the smell out of the coop? I've read that while it's not their strongest sense, chickens do have a sense of smell. Poor little things!! A dead coop mate and skunk aroma wafting through their coop.

Jim, hope the rest of your day went better. It's so frustrating when a computer eats your work.

And, @ShrekDawg, hope the heat has broken for you. It's a delightful 63 degrees here and I've opened the windows to let all the cool air in that I possibly can.

My sister had to get two bags of IV fluids to treat her heat exhaustion, which also triggered a migraine (hers are so severe she's sometimes hospitalized). She said she's never been more sick in her entire life and was actually bargaining with God, promising to make up for any wrongdoing she's ever committed if she could just survive. Hmm, guess she must now live an exemplary life!

Yesterday was marked by weird weather. First, it would be drizzly, then there were sprinkles, followed by a torrential downpour, followed by bright sunshine and steaminess. Then, the whole cycle repeated several times. Forecast calls for no rain today or tomorrow; maybe I can knock down the jungle that sprouted up while I was away.

It has thank you!!! It’s been like 68 today and yesterday

 

[jvls1942]

we had a thunderstorm while we were eating supper.
had the door open the whole time. Annie had grilled some meat and it set off the dinner bell.
on wednesday, i planted 12 , 16ft rows of corn.
got finished about 15 minutes before the rain started. on thursday it rained on and off all day
the seed is old, so i don't know if it will even sprout
if it doesn't. i will spread buckwheat all over the patch and wait until next year.
the peas are blossoming.
i dosed the tomatoes with a drink of fish emulsion
why does it take forever to fill a 2 gal sprinkling can, and takes only a few seconds to empty it ?
barb, now is the time to take advantage of carolyn's promise to God .
i learned a long time ago that skunks will kill poultry. I had 5 geese sitting on eggs. the skunks moved in and killed 3 of them. i eliminated a couple of skunks after that.
65F yet this morning. cloudy.

 

[jvls1942]

another cool morning. 63F. I could get used to this.
My brother Dave was a medic in Nam. he told me that the best thing to drink for dehydration is milk. i will stick to the water, i can't stand drinking milk.
today I will pick some rhubarb. Annie said she would bake a pie. she just made a pot of kale zoupa, like they serve at Olive Garden, only better.
I was going to send some photos of my garden. the computer isn't cooperating with me. i will work on it.
more blossoms on the peas today.

 

[jvls1942]

this is my whole garden. the white poles are the optimistic stakes, 5 feet tall. hoping the tomatoes get that tall.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Jim your tomatoes are almost to the top of those poles. Looks like a bumper crop in your future.

 

[jvls1942]

there are baby tomatoes on the plants. I hope you are right about a bumper crop,
I trimmed some more of the bottom branches and tied up the tops
I took pictures of all the beds. but they somehow do not show up on the computer,
we had a thunder rain come through at 2AM today
at 8AM it is 71F already, Annie has the lawn all mowed, now it can grow again. we have burdock growing all over. time to start the weed eater.
have a patch of milkweed. watching for Monarchs .
more pea blossoms every day and a couple of strawberries are turning pink. sending out runners already,.
beans should start flowering soon.
that's all the news I have,. slow news day. lol

 

[Callender Girl]

Congrats on your baby tomatoes! My tomatoes are one of the stars of my garden this year. Also doing extremely well is the mixed lettuces.

One of the highlights -- and a main reason I wanted to take the homesteading and garden tour to England - was a visit to Charles Dowding's Homeacres gardens, where I learned that I have been harvesting leaf lettuce all wrong my whole life.

Instead of whacking off all the leaves in a fell swoop, Charles gently pulls off the outside leaves. The remaining lettuce plant eventually has a bare "trunk" as new leaves continue to grow and can be harvested again and again.

Doing my best to accomplish things before the heat and humidity get too intense. Wish the little morning sprinkles would stop so I can mow the rest of the yard. I've done the side where the poultry live; of course, the birds get the royal treatment!

Burdock is only one of the yard intruders I'm fighting. There's at least three kinds of thistle and curly dock. On the other hand, I have surrendered and allow the catnip, motherwort and mullein to take up residency. And, I am having a good crop of native milkweed.

Carolyn seems to be nearly completely recovered; she wisely passed on going to the lake with her husband and friends during yesterday's extreme weather. Maybe heat exhaustion made her a little smarter