The garden is doing really well, things are finally starting to look like plants! Our first crop of lettuce in the greenhouse is long gone, replaced by lots of tomato plants, the blackberries in the greenhouse are growing, and we've already tasted the first strawberries! Outside the greenhouse, our outdoors crop of lettuce is getting gorgeous, the potato plants are shooting up and filling out with gorgeous foliage, beans and peas and greens are growing, and the cherry trees are laden with young fruits. Our hens are doing wonderfully! We now have 10 Buff Orpingtons (got two from Red's mom that are a couple weeks younger than the original 8), they're about 3 months old now and SO BIG! They look full grown, but they aren't done yet! They're probably only around 2-3lbs right now, if that, and Orpingtons can get to be around 8lbs! They are a hoot to watch, fun to hang out with, though don't wear sandals (and especially not crocs!) cause they love to peck at toes! The very best is letting them out of the coop in the morning. They fly and flutter and run around, so glad to be out in the fresh air!
We've had quite a few run-ins with bears this year, far more than usual, and have had to stop composting for a while until we can get some electric fencing up. We've never had problems with critters like this before. We had a couple visits last year from bears, but there was a period of about two weeks where we had a bear almost every night, and several visits during the day, which is not so common around here. We even had a bear rip the cam-strap off our trash can, which has never failed us as bear protection before, so now we keep the trash locked in the zircon up the hill. We haven't had any trouble the past two weeks or so, but for a while it was getting pretty ridiculous, and we now have a rule that no one goes outside without the dog (at any time of day or night). Whiskey has definitely earned his keep, chasing bears away! I'm just thankful we don't have any grizzlies around here, that our bears are relatively smaller and less aggressive black bears.
I'm extremely excited, because a big order of all sorts of fabrics is due to arrive this afternoon! I'm going to be rebuilding Red's work clothes wardrobe from scratch, and I'm actually really excited about it! I've made pants before, but never anything with a true tailored waistband and fly. It should be a really fun challenge, and I can't wait to take it on!
In the meantime, some pictures of the garden and hens, taken today!
The lettuce and onion bed!
Blackberries climbing in the center, tomatoes around the walls, strawberries everywhere else
Pole beans
Some of the many potatoes!
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