Morning Garden Buzz

To look at our lawn now, its hard to find good green grass. With no rain to speak of for nearly a month our lawn in suffering. The only true green grass is around our septic sprinklers. Which I will have to talk later about some interesting analogies I have about that. :)

Anyhoo, the purple hyacinth vine is wonderful. I love its purple veined foliage. It has remained beautiful in spite of the infrequent waterings. We don't tend to hang out there much since wasps have made a home there. I haven't wanted to spray much because of my birdies. I don't want them poisoned PLUS the wasps have helped with the spider population. I don't mind spiders, but everything needs a balance. The wasps aren't too aggressive, so they're ok for me.

I love Morning Glories. :) Yes, they are aggressive, but you just can't beat the beautiful shade of blue! I have plenty of plants to share in the spring too. HeeHee. Last year they bloomed profusely, but this year has been a light show so far. I think the late freeze and current dry conditions have played a role in it.

Look at my bumblebee! Not too good of a picture though. It just wouldn't hold still long enough for a good shot. It LOVES the upright verbena in our yard. I have been amazed at what a wonderful plant this is. I was blessed by a friend who passed this amazing plant on to me. I've seen more honeybees this year and they love this plant too. I love my bees. :)

We're 6 Weeks Old!

Life through the eyes chicken:

"Look at our feathers! We're getting them in our heads now. We are finally coming out of the "ugly" stage and looking like real chickens. Our personalities are blooming daily. We really like to gather around our human family when they come out and get some attention from them. "

Funny birds. :)

Next is the famous "Benny" the chicken. We used to be able to tell her apart from the other chicks by the light socket design she had on her back. Now the feathers are coming in, we can only tell it's her by her tiny tail feathers. She barely has one. Although her personality shows up immediately. She's loved to sit on our laps since day one, so needless to say getting affection is important to Benny. She is FINALLY getting along with the others. The few weeks of isolation has made her rethink her role as aggressor within the flock. She now happily runs with the rest without pecking them in the face or grabbing their feet. We love the peace. :)

Check out the coop we built. I know, it lacks luster now, but I plan on sprucing it up to be more homey. Can't have a boring coop for these fine ladies. More updates later... (at least when the temps her drop below 100 degrees)

Help, I'm being overtaken!

Scary looking vines? The light green vines on the ground of the picture on the bottom are sweet potato vines. One little plant has taken over that side of my yard. I liked the look of this vine when I saw it at the Dallas Arboretum last year. I had no idea that it would grow so much AND it's only July! There's no telling what it'll be like by September.

In with the sweet potato vine I have morning glories, calla lillies, sedum and even rosemary that I started this spring. Hard to believe with the sea of green.

Lantana, lantana, lantana... I LOVE this plant. It doesn't complain a bit that it's 100+ degrees and really dry. It just keeps on bloomin' and spreadin' just fine. The only thing it complains about is wet feet, but then I do too at times. :) A must for those who cringe over all of the watering you have to do in July here.

Tomatoes & Okra

This year I decided to try something new with some of my Celebrity tomatoes. I had read that planting them outside the compost bin really made a big difference in the plant. Boy, did it!

To explain the "why" this is true here goes... First of all, the compost bin here holds most of my household compost such as veggie scraps, egg shells, coffee grounds etc. I add other things such as weeds, some soil and yard waste. What happens is that while it all breaks down into lovely compost it rains and washes the compost and nutrients into the surrounding soil. The added bonus of attracting earthworms makes a huge difference in the soil too. I've only had to water the tomatoes these past few weeks as rain here in Texas has all but stopped. No fertilizer additions required and it has plenty of blooms. I like this!

Next is my Clemson Spineless Okra. This is my first year trying this variety. It only grows to 4 ft. tall. This thing is a must to those wanting plenty of okra with little problems. I was told this is as easy as growing weeds here. :) The only warning is to watch for the ants. They'll be all over the place! If it's fire ants, be especially cautious because I have the bites to prove it. Gloves are a must here.

My Chickens

I never knew how much fun chickens could be! If I'd known this I'd gotten them years ago. :)

These pictures were taken about a week ago when the chicks were 5 weeks old. They have seemed to grown tremendously over the past week, so I'll have to add new ones soon. We have 7 all together now, 6 Production Reds (brown ones) and 1 Gold Wyandotte (the black one). They are hysterical to watch.

They love to play a game I would compare to football. Every time I drop something in their cage, one grabs it and runs with the rest chasing it trying to take it away. I threw a sucker stick in there and laughed so hard when they ran with it holding one end with the other raking against the side of the pen. It reminded me of a prisoner clacking a tin cup along the bars. Back and forth they'd go, one snatching the stick away from the other. For days they even began to hide the stick down in their bedding until I came out there to check on them. Then over to the corner one would go to scratch out where the stick was hiding and run with it.

Who needs television for entertainment with this bunch.

Companion Planting

Well here I am experimenting a bit with my raised bed garden. I planted bush beans, tomatoes and some marigolds in this bed. I've been really impressed how well the marigolds and green beans have helped one another. It's like, "Hey, that really works well!"

Last year my green beans were nearly eaten to the ground by many different leaf munching insects including the grasshoppers. When I planted the marigolds this year, not only have the green beans flourished, but the marigolds are triple the size of the ones planted in other areas. Now I know they truly are friends. :)

Teeny Tiny Tomatoes

We LOVE tomatoes here. In fact, that is the one vegetable my husband always asks if I've planted enough of them. The eager anticipation of fresh from the vine ripened tomatoes is mouth watering!

This year we've planted several varieties including Celebrity, Rutger's, Dark Cherry and these little gems that I have pictured. I'm really not sure of the name. The plants were volunteers from last year. I had gotten some from a fellow gardener, composted a few, then here they are...new plants.

The tomatoes are marble sized or smaller, but delicious. I like the fact they ripen so fast that the grasshoppers fail to get them fast enough. It's the small victories I celebrate!

Growing organically and living with grasshoppers has it's challenges, but the fight is worth it.