Weeds...

8/24/12
Baby bunnies are still in place, still moving, so I think the BPU is working.  Henry is wearing his shock collar all the time now when we're outside.  Screaming like a banshee at him doesn't seem effective when he's got a baby bunny in sight!  We had a massive thunderstorm last night, too, so maybe the BPU even helped protect the bunnies from that.  An inch and a half, with almost non-stop lightning, and scary-high winds.  It was wild....

See the tiny spruce seeding in the middle left?

I went to check on Fred's so-called veggie garden to make sure my 4 plants survived the storm.  Out of 8 blue spruce seedlings and two lilacs, I still have 2 of the spruce and both lilacs.

And he calls this a garden...

Between the extreme heat and the drought, I guess I'm happy with the 4 that survived.  And, I think Fred pulled out a couple by mistake as he was weeding earlier.  He denies everything...  I say "weeding" with some hesitation, since the weeds are now over-my-head tall!  I took my hedge clippers out and whacked away a safe zone around each of my survivors - it took some searching to even find them.  I gotta figure out where they're going to live permanently and get them transplanted soon - before Fred loses patience and mows the whole weedy patch down!

Squash growing out of the manure strip

The veggie garden is kind of a joke at this point.  He'll get squash yet, and has gotten some kohlrabi and beet greens, but the rest were total failures.  It was mostly eaten by critters or overwhelmed by the heat or buried under weeds.  He's really got to do some serious thinking and planning for next year.



I like the idea of growing our own veggies, but it really takes constant work and determination  I don't think it's cost-effective, but I like the thought of learning how to grow at least some of the food we eat.  My two tomato plants are doing well and we shouldn't need to buy any tomatoes for a while (next, I need to learn how to can!).  They're in the bird garden near the house, so I can weed and water conveniently.  The bird garden has berry-producing shrubs for food and should also provide some cover over the winter.  There won't be much this year, but it should get better each season.