I was getting spoiled by the lovely weather in the 70's with low humidity...it was very unlike the typical June in PA. That weather came back in vengeance last week, bringing some severe weather with it. Apparently, there were actually 6 tornados that touched down in Southwestern PA on Saturday evening. Our power was out for about 12 hours, but many folks in the state did not have their power restored for several days.
JP and I took a drive around the property on Sunday in the Gator, looking for downed trees. The only thing that we found is that 2 of my hens disappeared. I did find feather trails and the remains of one of them the following day. I was concerned that their electric netting was getting shorted out by tall weeds and debris that they had scratched up against the fence, making it less effective at keeping out critters. I spent about 6 hours on Monday raking and scooping up gravel and returning it to the top of the chicken yard near the barn, and weed eating around and under the fencing. So far the remainder of my flock appears to be ok.
My flower garden is thriving without being mowed down nightly by the deer. My rose bush is tiny, but prolific, and the rest of the garden is filling in with plants that have already or will soon flower. It makes me so happy!
My vegetable garden is looking good as well, although things are growing more slowly than I expected. JP mowed the fields, so I had plenty of grass clippings to mulch things with. Unfortunately, the lawn sweeper gave up the ghost after 5 (?) years of hard use. We have purchased another one, but I need to put it together first. :(
I got a lot of nice strawberries, but something got my last few. I harvested the first half gallon of blueberries yesterday, and am planning to bake some muffins today.
I also harvested herbs from my little herb garden last week - parsley, oregano and mint. The mint was made into iced tea, and I dried some of the parsley and all of the oregano. I've been using a bunch of the parsley and some fresh thyme in cooking recently as well. I also cut some sage and hung it to dry - I might get 2 harvests out of it.
My potted and hanging plants outdoors are filling in and looking very good!
Meanwhile, JP and I have been working on taking down the pool. I got weary of being the only one taking care of it AND the only one ever getting in it BY. MY. SELF. We are clearing it away and putting in another much smaller one. We are also switching to a saltwater pool, hoping that the maintenance will be tenable.
JP recently purchased a 10 lb bag of mayocoba beans - they were originally grown in Peru, and are high in protein, and cook up super creamy. I decided to can them so that they would be quick to fix into a meal, so I started by soaking them in water in my biggest bowl overnight. The next morning, they had increased in size so much that beans were spilling out onto the counter and the floor! I think I canned about 16 quarts!
I need to close and get to work. I have that lawn sweeper to assemble, muffins to bake, work from home that is scheduled for today, and grocery shopping.
Enjoy the growing season!
