Water n' weed, Weed n' water!

Seems like that cycle is never ending here on our farm. I was set back in my tracks early this morning when I went to take a look at the few herbs that I had planted just a couple weeks ago, over near our greenhouse. Lo and behold, the pigweed is waist high! Way too tall to pull out (it has the sharpest bristles on it-they can hurt big time) so the weed whacker will come in real handy! Pigweed and Johnson grass are our nemesis. But the good news is that the herbs are thriving even under those conditions. Will be planting more that are perennials as soon as we get a rain that blows in ....from somewhere soon I hope. Too hot right now to plant anything that is not absolutely essential. When conditions are this extreme, even with irrigation, the plants get stressed and that will set them back, so you really don't gain much by planting in this kind of heat. If we do plant, it will be very early, irrigating things really well before and after planting, or late in the afternoon so they can have overnight to adjust somewhat.

Everyone we know is at the lake or enjoying a nice cool dip in a pool somewhere, this week end and boy does that sound good to me right about now. But someone has to stick around to water the veggies don't they?

As our harvesting, cultivation and planting continues throughout the summer, we are in the planning stages for our Autumn/Early winter CSA from the farm. Many of the delicious root crops that are enjoyed in the autumn and winter, must be planted in the heat of the summer to take advantage of the long hours of daylight to get them off to a good start. Once we have the summer solstice in June (on the 21st I believe), the days grow shorter and the daylight hours decline. In the winter time with it's short days, less sunlight and daylight, everything grows more slowly.

We had to move our poultry fence today, into a shady nook in the pasture. It was dreadfully hot for our hens, just as it was for us. But they are happy and content with their new shade! Egg laying declines when they get too hot, just as it does when they get cold in the winter. Gotta'keep those hens happy!

Guess that's about all of our news for now, until the next visit..

Blessings,

Judy