Sunflower Hill Homestead: Growin', Growin', Growin'

Everything here is growing. Mostly the grass... But other more useful stuff too. And much cuter things. Like little Liam who is getting big and healthy. He is, in turn, making me grow too, which makes everything more difficult. It is completely worth every second, but has been a bit painful lately. Apparently, I have pinched my sciatic nerve. I've had issues with it before but never knew what it was. I have scoliosis and had to learn to stand a different way and not be too hard on myself to prevent it from bothering me too much. Pregnancy and a changing body doesn't make that possible. Brad and Keegan have been doing all of the heavy lifting... and a lot of the bending over and picking up of things.

The rain has finally stopped for the time being. The heat and humidity has remained. I have been trying to get stuff done inside. I have been systematically going from room to room and deep cleaning. All of the windows are done inside and out. With our old style storm windows that is a real chore and doesn't get done as often as it should. It looks so nice when they are all clean though! All of the curtains and blinds have been washed. Shelves have been emptied, cleaned, and organized. Things are looking pretty good! Keegan has been helping a lot. I made a list that was supposed to be for me, but he has been working on it too to gain extra video game time. I don't like him playing for extended periods of time and not moving or looking away from the tv. When his time runs out if he wants to play some more he picks something off of the list to do to earn more time. He has also been reading a lot. He is working on Ender's Game right now. I am trying to convince him to read The Giver. It is one of my favorites from when I was younger. The you-pick fields officially opened yesterday. I'm trying to control the insane urge I have to go immediately. I need to finish my to-do lists before I start something else! More convincingly, not everything is ready right when they open. Hopefully I can hold off for at least a week... I may have some kind of strange veggie picking addiction.

Here are my three completed bean/squash arbors. The 4th will hopefully be completed soon. I love the bright sunshiny color! I think they will be beautiful once they are covered in green vines. Most of the beds they are straddling have yet to be planted. I have been putting feed bags over them to keep them weed free until then.

Some of the Rattlesnake Pole Beans are already twining up the arbor.

The butternut squash is looking good too. It will be time to start tying them up soon.

The remaining carrots have started blooming. They have surprisingly big, big pretty flowers. I am going to collect seed from them before I clear that bed.

Some volunteer gourds have come up in the compost pile. The vines are big and healthy and have big white blooms on them in the evening. It amazes me how little care gourds need.

Something has been digging in my cucumbers! UGH! These are the ones I have replanted 3 times! I suspect the chickens. Fixing the faulty electric fence charger has moved higher up on Brad's to-do list. Naughty chickens...

Some of the cucumbers are up and healthy looking. Hopefully there will be enough for pickles.

The tomatoes are looking great! I tied them up again yesterday and checked them for insect damage. Only a couple of plants had been chewed on. I picked two huge tomato horn worms off of them. It is ridiculous the amount of damage a single horn worm can do to a plant. Total devastation in a couple of days. I think I caught it in time to save those two plants.

The peppers are looking big and healthy too, but they are showing damage from some sort of chewing insect. I looked but didn't see the culprit. The neighboring broccoli has identical holes. I am going to keep a close eye on them and perhaps spray them down with soapy cayenne water.

The corn is up, although you can barely see it in this pic. It isn't looking quite as healthy as I would like, despite the hole for each seed being dug deeply and amended with compost. I'm considering adding compost tea and some more mulch and see how that works. I really need a bale of hay!

The kale from last fall is still doing great. Now that the chickens have other green things to eat I have actually been able to enjoy some myself. I have been harvesting a giant bunch of new leaves about once a week and sauteing it with dinner.

Tabby, our oldest Bourbon Red turkey hen, has gone broody. Luckily, she chose an amazing spot! She is in the fenced in bottom portion of the chicken coop. She is safe from predators, on the ground so her babies won't fall out of the nest, and close to food and water so she doesn't have to leave her nest for long to eat and drink. If she won't do it in her own coop this is the best alternative. Tallow, our Blue Slate hen, on the other hand, is nesting somewhere else. I haven't figured out where yet. She shows up every morning but sneaks off again before I can follow her. Hopefully she won't be eaten for being so stubborn...

Being broody seems to be a recurring theme around here. These two girls have been especially stubborn. I move them out of the nesting box at least once a day. They fluff up and fuss and then head right back. I'm not worried enough about it to go to extreme measures. I just hope they don't get too hot in there.