Sally's GF3 thread

[Sally PB]

Our rain stopped. And it looks like this is it; the rain they were forecasting for Tuesday is probably going south of us. I think we got about a quarter inch, at the most. Not enough, but I am VERY grateful for what we did get.

In other news... the garlic scapes for dinner were delicious!

 

[Sally PB]

For now, I'm ahead.

I dug out the last of the of the carpet of brome invading the garden. The quarter inch of rain softened the top 2" of clay enough to get a shovel under the root mat and lever it up.

I've been using some of the dirt for my Big Dirt Project, where I don't need to worry about brome grass growing.

DH built a green house.

I am slowly adding dirt back to the sides for winter insulation. I should have taken a picture of how it looks today, but it was lunchtime and I was ready to head in. Looking back at this picture, I can see how far I've come.

The tomatoes:

They still look so tiny! But some do have flowers, and one has a pea-sized tomato.

The row closest to the fence is row 1, and the plant farthest to the east (right) is plant 1. Flashback to Mr. Groll teaching us about ordered pairs in math.

But I don't know if I started at the lower RH corner because it was Zero Corner on a mold base, or because I'm a knitter.

 

[Sally PB]

Chilly enough in the house to have a fire in the wood stove!

Tomorrow will also be in the low 60s for highs. The meteorologist said "we're in the donut hole" and the low pressure system is spinning around us. We *might* get a brief shower, but not likely or not much. There are other chances of rain in the 8-day forecast; I hope those produce.

It's nice not having to water the plants!

I spent some time weeding around the asparagus. The cilantro that has reseeded itself there for the 4th year is flowering now. The honey bees have found it! You go girls! I won't be pulling it up until it's done flowering. And once the plant flowers, the flavor is gone, so bee food it has become.

I've also been going over the asparagus for asparagus beetles, their eggs, and the slimy slugs that hatch out of them. The darker ones with the white spots are easier to catch. The bright orange ones you have to get when it's cooler -- like now -- as they're more likely to fly away. The grotesque slugs have no defense at all. Or maybe they're going for the "Eww! Gross!" defense, which doesn't work on me. I wear old garden gloves and squish them where they are.

 

[aart]

The cilantro that has reseeded itself there for the 4th year is flowering now. The honey bees have found it!

Will the honey taste like cilantro?

 

[Sally PB]

Will the honey taste like cilantro?

I have no idea! I think they have enough variety of flowers that no one thing will flavor the honey.

Since this is their first year, I don't expect to get any honey. You need to leave them 60 lbs at least for the winter. If they make more than that... we might get some.

 

[Sally PB]

Tomorrow is coop add-on day. Hopefully we get it done in one day, like we did the other side. This side is a little more complex, as we'll have to cut openings for the nest boxes. I'll try to get pictures.

The itty bitties will go in the coop on Sunday, probably. I'm going to give them a few nights without the heat plate first. Tomorrow will be the first night; it's chilly enough that we're having a fire in the wood stove again tonight.

I also have to put up the fencing for the "look, don't touch." I have a couple days to get that done. Then a couple more to get the fence up in the run.

We got a trace of rain today. I had dog blankets on the clothesline. I left them out through the brief shower, to taunt Mother Nature into raining more. She fell for it for about 10 minutes.

 

[Sally PB]

Before

After

A lot of things went better when we did the "west wing" (to the left). We thought to make the siding lines line up is the most obvious one. The rest of them are "well, that went better/more easily last time," or "that isn't quite the same as the other side."

Widget, the Jubilee Orpington off to the right, was VERY vocal during the entire day. She wanted to get into the coop to lay, and the pop and people doors were closed. I had moved the nest boxes into the run, but they just weren't the right place to lay.

The nest boxes are back inside, but on the opposite side of the coop for now. Snowbird, my rooster, checked them out and told the ladies that they were acceptable and approved.

The new wing will be the "look, don't touch" area for the littles. They'll probably move out next Sunday or Monday. I turned off the heat plate this afternoon.

 

[Sally PB]

I forgot to say that I really, really like the rhubarb jam! I mixed some in with my yogurt today. DH still hasn't tried it. If I ask him to try it when it's not his idea, he is very likely to say, "It's ok." Meaning, nothing special. And that will be his opinion of it forever.

If it's his idea to taste it and he likes it, then it will blip on his radar every now and then, and he'll ask for it. If he still says, "It's ok," then I know that he doesn't really care for it and I don't ask again.

See what happens when you're married for 34 years to the same person?

 

[Shadrach]

Chilly enough in the house to have a fire in the wood stove!

Tomorrow will also be in the low 60s for highs. The meteorologist said "we're in the donut hole" and the low pressure system is spinning around us. We *might* get a brief shower, but not likely or not much. There are other chances of rain in the 8-day forecast; I hope those produce.

It's nice not having to water the plants!

I spent some time weeding around the asparagus. The cilantro that has reseeded itself there for the 4th year is flowering now. The honey bees have found it! You go girls! I won't be pulling it up until it's done flowering. And once the plant flowers, the flavor is gone, so bee food it has become.

I've also been going over the asparagus for asparagus beetles, their eggs, and the slimy slugs that hatch out of them. The darker ones with the white spots are easier to catch. The bright orange ones you have to get when it's cooler -- like now -- as they're more likely to fly away. The grotesque slugs have no defense at all. Or maybe they're going for the "Eww! Gross!" defense, which doesn't work on me. I wear old garden gloves and squish them where they are.

That always having to water the plants due to lack of rain gets old very fast.
I filled the water barrel that over the early spring was briming over from the rainfall with a hose from a tap this afternoon. I mean, good grief, this is England; it always rains in England.

 

[Sally PB]

Before I forget, I need to write this down. Hard boiled eggs in my Instant Pot worked really well.

The eggs were piling up. DH suggested hardboiled. I'd read about doing them in the IP (or other pressure cooker), so thought I'd try it out.

1 cup of water in the pot.
10 eggs on the trivet.
5 minutes high pressure.
5 minutes natural pressure release, then release the rest.
Lift out the trivet and put it in cold water. Not ice water, because I never have ice on hand. (Really. I don't make ice.)

Yolks were just the way I like them (dry, but not too dry), and the two I had with lunch peeled very well.