What did you do in the garden today?

[Sueby]

OMG, that's too funny! & gross. lol

I work at a college & we have ZERO testing. Not even your temperature. Thanks to my back I work from home most of the time.

 

[WthrLady]

Blog has been updated. Suzie is happily sleeping on a patio cushion on the back deck, beagle nose working overtime even while she sleeps. She inhales so much, I'm surprised she doesn't inflate like a balloon animal.

List of chores still hanging over my head. I need to run to the post office, but am waiting on the dryer to stop before I go. We are lacking in the rain department, so I'd like to mow as the grass is starting to slow down and I'll maybe get two weeks between mowing. Lack of rain is terrible for the people who love green lawns and for the smoke situation, but awesome for the harvest.

I have pulling the tomatoes from the garden on my list of chores as well as pulling them out of the volunteer patch.

The iris' need trimmed down and the daisies and russian sage need cut down. Sigh.

 

[WthrLady]

OMG, that's too funny! & gross. lol

I work at a college & we have ZERO testing. Not even your temperature. Thanks to my back I work from home most of the time.

The university doesn't have mandatory testing unless you are on the football team or work with them.

The only ones on campus that have tested positive are the greek houses and their out of control social behaviors. No cases have been linked to classes. But the city is requiring the student teachers from the campus to test. Oh well. It is what it is, whatever it takes to get to tomorrow. The kids have no option as teaching is a mandatory requirement for graduation. SO they are at the mercy of the city.

 

[NewBoots]

I'm pretty sure that she is in touch with her dinosaur roots! That noise was beautiful!

I know, right!? I love my EEs, her sister makes a similar noise when on the nest and they are both characters. That video was made at 4 in the afternoon so she's not in a hurry to get to work.

So glad it was raining - was it a lot? The sun here has had erie rises & sets from the smoke. It's so high up in the atmosphere that it's not doing anything but making a haze on the sun.

It was just a bit of drizzle and too little to even register on our rain gauge. So we're like @penny1960, and hoping for some real rain on Friday. That said, it was nice to even get e tiny bit of rain. And glad to hear you and DH came up negative.

one chicken died yesterday.

I'm sorry for the loss of your hen. We haven't had it happen yet but I'm realistic enough to know it's just a matter of time.

I dry the oregano, thyme and parsley on the stem then pull the dried leaves off. It's so much easier.

Your tip makes perfect sense. My herbs were pretty ordinary this year, just enough to be sure I have some for fresh use through Fall, other than the rosemary, that'll be here to use all winter.

Not much going on in the garden today, I'll go out and pick tomatoes a little later and we'll see if I get energized enough to go pull up the old kale, cabbage, and squash. Then there's the compost waiting to be turned over so I can get to the stuff on the bottom that should be ready to use. Waiting on the bid on raising up the greenhouse and putting down weed barrier and gravel. The grass is growing through the floor like crazy. Oh and the guy that'll be doing the work wants to be on our egg list as well. The ladies had better get on the ball, it's still 5 laying daily out of 10. I have 26 pounds of tomatoes in the freezer, another 5 pounds or so and I'll do another canning. Though I'm getting spoiled with all the fresh salsa I have for now, I need to make some canned salsa as well.

 

[WthrLady]

I tossed 10 pounds of tomatoes to the hens this morning instead of their normal scratch. I got the stink eye. I'm pretty sure we've reached the 'feed us another tomato, and they'll never find your body' stage of the summer.

Although the teenagers can't get enough of them. So there's that.I put my biggest, meanest, hardest to break broody in jail this morning. Man is she Pi$$ed. I think if she had access to a phone, I'd be on someone's hit list.

 

[Acre4Me]

I tossed 10 pounds of tomatoes to the hens this morning instead of their normal scratch. I got the stink eye. I'm pretty sure we've reached the 'feed us another tomato, and they'll never find your body' stage of the summer.

Although the teenagers can't get enough of them. So there's that.I put my biggest, meanest, hardest to break broody in jail this morning. Man is she Pi$$ed. I think if she had access to a phone, I'd be on someone's hit list.

I tossed 1 small and ripe cherry tomato in with the fifteen 5-week old males. The brave ones pecked at the first one tentatively, then decided it was worthy of taking. Chase ensued! I then threw in a second one. The very cautious remaing cockerels test pecked it and it took a little longer, but then they decided it was worth taking! Lol, all new treat to them, so no stink eye!

 

[Sueby]

Funny, I just threw a handful of Sungolds in to the girls, 10 cherry tomatoes, 4 chickens - one grabs a tomato & they all chase her around leaving 9 tomatoes sitting there. Silly birds.

Sorry for the loss @Acre4Me. What do you think of your Barred Rocks? I'm getting one in the new batch, but haven't heard that much about them.

Question on chicken quarantine - do you guys think it's worth bothering with a quarantine if it's only 25 feet apart? It's a lot of work & effort to put in if 25 feet means nothing anyway. Just looking for your opinions...

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

Where are they coming from? That’s what I would consider first. I have three BR hens. They are ok in temperament but they do have their moments. They were quicker to alert to hawks than the RIR’s. So I’m a bit confused with the gag reflex and the Covid testing @WthrLady. I was tested a little over a month ago and got the up your nose to the back of the throat test and it totally cleared the area that triggers the gag reflex. It looks scarier than it really is. Of course I also have experienced a bronchoscopy wide awake and that was up your nose and down into my lungs.

 

[Sueby]

They are coming from a relatively local farm (within an hour). I have always gotten my birds from the same place & so I never bothered to quarantine, but I'm done with the production reds so I found a new place that has a variety. She sells a lot of birds & most complaints I find about her are about her demeanor & timeline, not about sick birds. She's been around for years & years.

 

[Wee Farmer Sarah]

They are coming from a relatively local farm (within an hour). I have always gotten my birds from the same place & so I never bothered to quarantine, but I'm done with the production reds so I found a new place that has a variety. She sells a lot of birds & most complaints I find about her are about her demeanor & timeline, not about sick birds. She's been around for years & years.

The main thing I would be concerned about is Mareks. But I really know nothing about it. If her birds look and act healthy then they should be fine.