OMG the fluff on that little ones head!!I was such a bad girl today. Stopped by Atwoods to check on feed prices and picked up 2 baby polish chicks to give to my co-broody girls. My daughter loves the one we have. I'm trying to figure out color on one of them. Maybe gold laced?View attachment 2770198View attachment 2770199
I grow bush type squash (limited space) & they had VB last year but were large enough they survived it. & I just did plant a couple regular squash vines, hoping all the beetles & borers have settled in at the neighbors already.There are alternatives to summer squash . I only fry or add to cucumber salad . Lots of uses other than those so alternatives may not be for everyone . Armenian cucumber is good fried . Tatume squash is a small round one that the vine roots readily and survives borer damage . Ornamental gourds can be fried when small . There is a moschata called Trombocini I think . Long and good fried when small . The night blooming gourd can be fried when small . Sometimes called snake gourd as it is long . A late planting like about now can sometimes avoid borers . I raise a cross I made with ornamental gourd . The vines take over but some are not bothered by borers .

Mine didn't divide as much as I thought they would, but the ones that did I got maybe 2 or 3 bulbs from each. They just got HUGE! I have them curing now down at the shop so I haven't tasted them yet.I'll definitely save the little round gold ones, they aren't super easy to chop but they have a nice flavor. The giant ones didn't multiply this year, I got no more than 2 per planted bulb this year. That said, I will still plant some of them next season, it's hard to beat the giant shallots. And I keep finding more little round gold ones that I'd stuck in any open spot.
I LOVE cowboy candy! We don't eat sugar here so I haven't made any in a few years, I miss it. Last year at my Christmas jam making party we made a jalapeno jam (but with mixed peppers instead) & it was delish! Have you tried anything like that? People loved it so I think we'll be making it again this year.I want to make a bunch of cowboy candy and I only have a few assorted peppers so I caved in and bought a couple pounds of jalapenos. I'll add my assorted in with the jalapenos, some are sweets and some are hots so it'll make a nice mix.
Morning all, it's my day off so I haven't even ventured outside yet. When I do get off my butt I'll go pick some cukes for soup (@Wee Farmer Sarah I'm just going to pick a random recipe off the net) & bread. I have some beans I need to pick for dinner, the beans are really starting to produce now! Getting regular sungolds too. I have a couple onions starting to lay over so they won't be long before I have to harvest.
My new squash are coming up well, as are the new beans. They need to hurry, having empty beds stresses me out, I feel naked LOL. I see the lettuce is popping up, I'm going to put the shade cloth over it this weekend &

it looks like I may get a real cuke in a few days, Yay! The weather is really nice right now. The smoke from the fires out west has cleared out for now. However, the fires are still burning so I'm sure the smoke will come this way again. DD helped with letting the littles out of their pen yesterday. They were a little frightened and only lasted about 10 minutes. I'll wait a day before their second venture. My neighbors who have free ranged their chickens to death are away on vacation right now. Their house sitter let the chickens out to free range and I'm pretty sure they haven't come back. The rooster came back after 36 hours, but I haven't heard the egg song from there since Monday morning. I usually hear them. But it's been very quiet over there. Let me know how the cucumber soup turns out 