Garden of Weeds

I am, at best, a haphazard gardener. I don’t mind planting the seeds and I certainly enjoy eating my harvest, but everything in between I could do without. This is evident if you wander through my garden at present. It’s taken me a week to weed the garden and I am not even done. About a third of it will need weed whacking it’s so overgrown. It’s so bad I am amazed that I am getting any sort of a harvest at all. Every year, I start out with grand intentions of weekly weedings, regular waterings, and timely harvesting. And every year, those habits last about two weeks before I find other things to occupy myself. The weeds take over, plants start wilting, and everything gets overripe. This year is no exception. I just spent four days weeding my garden. It was necessary since you couldn’t distinguish the potato plants from the pigweed and the only way to find green beans was to get on hands and knees and hunt through the waist high quack grass. About a third of the garden will need to be weed whacked because it’s so overgrown. (At least there isn’t anything planted there this year…) What puzzles me so much is why I let it get so bad. I am aware that weekly weedings would take far less time and energy (and result in less sunburnt shoulders) than letting the weeds get waist high before pulling them. My plants wouldn’t look so pitifully spindly if I would water on a regular basis. I wouldn’t have to deal with the sore knees and aching back. My fingers wouldn’t be pricked by the sticker plants if I were to pull them at two inches instead of two feet. It would be far easier to just get out there and do what needs to be done every week instead of waiting a month (or more). So, as I head back out into my garden tonight to pick the overripe green beans and peas, I vow once again to be a better gardener. Let’s see if my good intentions last longer than a half hour.

It's Not Easter

Yet, I'm on a daily egg hunt. Once summertime truly started, our laying hens decided the nesting boxes weren't cutting it. My egg count went from 6-8 eggs a day to 4...if I'm lucky... I've spent a few hours hunting for their hiding places. The most luck I'd have would be to find empty, crushed eggshells here and there. We figured the crows or the dogs were getting to the eggs, hence the random shell pieces everywhere. Until today. I got lucky after investigating a chicken chattering away in the weeds by the holding pen. The darn bird kept returning to the same spot despite my trompsing through the waist-high grass looking for a hidden nest. A lucky stumble showed a hidden chicken calmly perched on a small grass clump amidst a particularly tall weed patch. Now, out of all the places to lay eggs on our farm, the feathered fiends decided to make a nest in the middle of a rather large thistle patch. So, now I'm trying to figure out what to do. I don't really want them laying eggs there because it's not easily accessible to me, other animals have been getting the eggs before I do, and the cows are spooking when a chicken unexpectedly pokes it's head out of the weeds and begins clucking during chores. On the other hand, now that we know where the eggs are, it means less egg hunting for me. Guess I'll have to figure out what's worse.

New additions to our 'brood'

We recently 'inherited' a bunch of laying hens from a neighbor. They are moving and obviously couldn't take the chickens with them so we are the lucky recipients. It's been fun having these feathery ladies clucking around in the front yard. Just wish V would learn to stay out of the chicken coop and Mindy (the dog) would leave the eggs alone. Not so much when you go out to collect eggs and all that's left is a bunch of egg shells. Also hoping to see a decrease in the amount of ticks that come into the house. So far, not seeing any difference.

My Two Men

V's very much like his daddy. It doesn't matter if it's a toy tractor, a block, or even a shoe...If it can be pushed while making Brrrrr sounds, it's a truck or tractor. Blocks become hay bales. His toy schoolhouse becomes a second barn. L is like that too. He can often picture 'what could be' while looking at 'what it is' (something that has helped while we are drawing up house plans).

Another way V is like his dad is they both share a love of climbing and the steeper the surface, hey all the better, right? The exception is L sticks to climbing rocks while V climbs all available surfaces in the house. My couch, chairs, book shelf, his crib, our bed, the kitchen table, his high chair, the cabinets, the toilet, etc...Anything he can find a way up onto, he will. I'm just waiting to find him on top the fridge...

Reading is another love they share. L reads books like The Non-Toxic Farmers Handbook, The Untold Story of Milk, and westerns. V reads Tootle, Berenstein Bears, and, his favorite, Ten Little Babies. (He even knows which page has the little boy hollering QUIET.)

And I can't forget tractors and farm equipment. Both of my men have several tractors at their disposal, most of them are green, and both boys spend quite a bit of their days working with them. The only difference is L plows the fields with his tractors and equipment while V plows the living room floor. They also spend several hours peering at the latest Tractor House magazines.

V absolutely adores his Daddy. Heaven forbid he have to ride with Mom to the barn in the van...No, he's got to go with Dad in the Be-bup (V speak for Pickup). The last time Daddy took him in the tractor V was waving Bye to me while heading for the door wearing only a diaper and shirt with no boots. He wasn't going to chance Dad leaving without him. No sirree. He saw the guys plowing and discing the pasture yesterday and spent part of the afternoon trying to rig up a plow of his own. It didn't work so he went back to loading 'bales' (blocks) into his wagon.

I can only wonder if my little girl will be just as enthusiastic as her brother about all things Farm.