What's Happening on Augsburger Farm: May 2012

This weekend, I went outside and took a pics of what's happening at Augsburger Farm.

The irises are blooming beautifully. They always remind me of my Grandma. :)

 

Blackberries, wild or not, are blooming all over the place.  Butterflies and a couple bees were at work here.

One of the kitties, Sweet Pea, is contentedly watching the robins hop about on the grass.

Orange Poppies. Short-lived flower, but I love them!

Chives blooming in the  herb garden, with mounds of Oregano behind them, Lemon Balm to the right, and Walking Onions in the back. I really need to get out there and finish up whatever I am going to do in the herb garden this year!

In the main garden, the 5 Color Silverbeets/Chard are coming along. Also, I transplanted some sunflowers and Florellenschluss Lettuce that came up volunteer in the garden. I hope to get the garden planted by the end of next weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate!

In case  you're wondering.....I neglected the poor indoor-planted chives and they died. :( So, the outside ones are definitely faring better.


I discovered either some volunteer Zucchini or Butternut Squash coming up. I am trying to decide whether to let it grow, just to see how it turns out, or to get rid of it.  Since I had both types planted in the garden last year, chances are pretty good that this is a cross. They might grow edible squash, or they might not.

And...what my kids tell me is "The King's Moon" was out the other night. They took this pic.

What's happening on Augsburger Farm?

This week: little hyacinths blooming...

 

Cats napping in the garden and stretching upon awakening...

And the lilacs are near to fully blooming!

Pear Tree is in Full Bloom

I went out this morning after the kids and hubby were sent off to school and work...

 ...and found the Pear tree in full bloom.

I had to take a pic of the beds of clover.

 

And a pic of my trusty companion.

Yesterday, as I was working in my herb garden, I found a young grasshopper---in March! Aah! I wonder if this means the bugs will be extra bad this year since the winter was warmer and they are getting a head start....or if they are going to go through their life cycles and die "early" and give us a break. Time will tell...

Here's the wee grasshopper. Sorry for the blurry pic, but I'm limited in what I can do/see with my point and click digital camera outside!
(and if I'm going to be working in the dirt with my bare hands...there's really not any point in a manicure, is there? ;) )

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A Mini Farm and Garden Tour

Thought I would introduce you to part of the crew on our homestead, as well as some of our garden plots.

I was out in the herb garden two Wednesdays ago checking out the status of my plants. At that point the chives weren't even coming up. I sighed, bummed that it wasn't Spring YET and started tearing out the old growth and what did I find---Radicchio that had overwintered from my lettuce mix last year! Spring really is here!


Here is a pic of my herb garden. Not much is coming up that is visible on the pic yet. The chives are peeking out of the ground and if I could eat potatoes I would be cutting some of those chives already! Maybe on a salad instead...



I also found a few praying mantis egg sacs that I will leave for this year's natural bug-control. I will NOT bring them into the house. Please see Randy's blog for what happened last year!



Here is Mama Kitty looking cute for her pic:



And here is Sweet Pea out in the old shed taking his sunbath(can you see him?). Both kitties are pretty much banished to outside our living area due to my allergies. I've kept them around though, and rest assured they are fed and cared for and earn their keep on the farm catching varmints!




While I am at it, here is our veggie garden plot. It has yet to be tilled, as our soil is way too wet still. That box is a sort of raised bed that Randy built last year for potatoes. I think I am going to try sweet potatoes in it this year.
To the right and behind the plot is our chicken house and chicken yard. We let them out this time of year, but (try to) keep them within the confines of the fence when our garden is producing, or else we sacrifice a lot of plants and produce!


And here are our current chickens. We thought we had 3 hens and a rooster, but yet again we have more roosters than we need. The roosters are Americaunas, the brown and black is a suspected mix of Americauna and ?(We think she is laying brown eggs instead of the green/blue Americauna eggs, but not sure yet. She is supposed to be Americauna), and the black and white speckled one is a Silver Wyandotte. Last time we had a bunch of Americaunas, we had a rooster that developed months sooner than the other rooster. They hatched at the same time. We were sure we had just one rooster....until the other one started growing spurs and eventually crowing. It makes me wonder whether there is some hormone control or something in the species to allow for a dominant male without all the fighting or something. I will have to research that sometime.

So, our second Americauna "hen"...is a Henry. :)