Growth, banding, watering

As I was cleaning the well house and burning the feed sacks we had allowed to accumulate in the well house, I sat on the porch of the little coop as the fire in the trash barrel raged and began looking through my pictures to find a particular image of my Bible reading schedule. I had been catching up on my Old Testament reading as I worked (Listening to it on my phone) and I needed to know if I had reached the point of being caught up. I did I not have the image I needed to confirm my progress, but I stumbled across a picture of the grape vine when I relocated it to the flower bed beside the garage. The before and after images capture the growth over a five-month period.

I have had this grape vine for about seven years, and I has never been so full and lush. It was originally planted at the farm in Bowie, but I dug it up and relocated it at the back fence of our yard when we bought this house. It never did well in that location. Now that has changed. I believe I has found a place it likes. I am constantly pruning new growth from the shots to keep it contained to the trellis, but that is a good problem.

Mama and I took time last night to put colored bands on the legs of the younger chickens in the large coop. We have hesitated to let them out for fear they would get mingled with the older hens and we would lose track of which age group they belonged to. With the bands, we are able to quickly identify the different age groups of chickens Mama has. Now, when Mama feels they are ready, she will open their coop gate and allow them to wander with the older chickens. If they do not all end up back on “their side” of the coop, at least we will know which group they belong to. This weekend we will band the youngest group of chickens and all our flock will be identified for future reference.

Over the past few days, we have had opportunity for rain but have not gotten a drop. It has rained all around us, but not at the farm. It is to be expected this time of year, but it is disappointing to see the dark clouds and hear the thunder but not get a drop of rain. At least, I can water where needed to keep things alive. It takes me less than an hour to get everything important wet enough to survive the heat for another day. Unlike West Virginia, where I was chided for watering in the evening, here we have to water in the evening for the watering to do any good. It is a relaxing chore. Something I do not mind doing before I settle in for the evening. Right now, I am watering every evening I am available, and it is paying off. Our sunflowers are blooming, zucchini is still producing, we still are getting cucumbers, and the okra is starting to produce. Our butternut squash is staring to produce – at least the one remaining plant is trying to reproduce itself.

Blueberries, blackberries, and peaches are picked and processed. Figs are starting to grow on the fig tree, but there are not many so far. They usually ripen in late august. Now I just need to keep the trees and bushes healthy through the next seven or eight months so they can produce again next year.

Lord willing.