Insect Attack

Soap the garden! Squash bugs are in my veggies. I can't use pesticides, not that I would, because I have bees. These bugs have a piercing sucking mouth part that they use to suck the sap out of leaves. Thus leaving the plant weak and eventually to die. I have worked too hard this year to let that happen. I check my garden every day for things like this calamady. This morning every thing looks good.The soap did the trick. The bugs didn't do too much damage. Mainly I found them on the tomatoes, which I hope will bounce back. This is all part of nature and gardening.

Little Treasures To Pick And Scratch At

Roosters are funny looking creatures. They have a red bit that sticks out from the top of their heads, which is called the comb. And another that dangles beneath their chin which is called the wattle. And then they perform this little dance called tidbitting in which they make sounds and move their head up and down. When hens are choosing a mate they prefer roosters that have larger, brighter combs and ones that frequently perform the tidbitting behavior.

I have three roosters, but only one is the major. He struts his stuff and everyone in the yard knows where they stand with him. I have been thinking about naming him. I have had chickens many times and have never named them, but this rooster deserves a name. How does Benjamin sound? Maybe Tom, or dog? What about Major? Decisions, decisions! 

Sorry for all this talk about my being behind problems. But I just cannot seem to catch up. I am even failing in my blogging. I just hurry from one thing to another and my blog is suffering right along with everything else. Ironing not done, beans not picked, flowers not being taken care of etc. etc. I may never catch up. No matter. The sky is blue, the day is long, summer is here and there are good things waiting to be enjoyed. By the way, this picture is how I feel.

 Green Beans On The Vine

 Look At This Sun Flower

Freshly Picked Peas

Exercise and pure sweat and labor is what I call it. If you ever find your motivation waning, consider this dire statistic: Every day, thousands of workouts are abondoned by their owners. Discarded like trash, these workouts are left defenseless and exposed and most of them? Will die.
Not at this house and gym! If you think this is not a workout come and join me in this 95 degree weather, and I will show you what a real workout is. I have picked 28 pints of peas already. Today I am picking beans and  finishing up the pea picking.  Good Monday to all you bloggers out there.

Pull And Tug

Saturday I decided to pull my garlic up and check on my carrots. It is so dry in South Central Ky that I have started to water my garden. That's not a good sign. It is too early to be watering. We still have the month of July, August and September. If it is dry now what will the dog days of summer bring? The garlic was large this year, and I have it in the barn drying for a few weeks. I am going to leave the carrots in the ground for a few more weks and see if they get any bigger. Well, I have got to move the sprinkler so I will keep in touch. Let's all say a prayer for some rain. We really need it. 

What Is This Hen Doing?

Standing up in the nesting box looking around. That is what she is doing. I have pictures up of hens setting, so this lady can see for herself what the game plan is. They will soon be 20 weeks old. From 20 to 24 weeks is their age when they should be laying eggs. One of the roosters is already crowing. What a hoot! I think its time for you ladies to start laying eggs.Will post pictures as soon as I get some good news.

Brushed Nickel Faucet

David installed a beautifully crafted brushed nickel bathroom faucet Saturday. It looks really good. It now matches everything in the room. The knobs on the cabinet, the picture frames, lights etc. are all nickel. I think this bathroom will provide years of untarnished beauty without spending a ton of cash.

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew

A refreshing blend of instant, cold brewed iced coffee with a smooth carmel flavor. Read on. I was in Starbucks Friday, and they had a special going on  that if you buy a tall drink you receive a 5 pack of iced brewd coffee. Sounds good! I think I will try it. I am a sucker for anything that Starbucks creates. This iced coffee adds a sweet touch of flavor with ony 50 calories per 16ozs. Add a little half and half and you have a drink to die for. And it is only 5.99 for 5 packets. Sounds like a good deal to me and you won't regret it.

New Plowed Ground

We extended our garden this year. There just wasen't enough room for all the seeds that I wanted to plant this year. It seems everything is doing great. Peas on the vines, and beans on the bushes. What more could you ask for? The rain has come at just the right times and the weather has been beautiful. Cool nights with warm temps and wonderful sunshine. Just had to take this picture of the backyard in full bloom. Isn't it beautiful!

Susan

Life Is Like A Cup of Coffee - Inspirational Video Movie

Turn Up The Music

Every year Kevin plays for the Southern KY Dance Center which is located in Franklin. And every year we are the lucky recepients of free tickets. This year our seats were prime. Downstairs close to the stage. The performance was held at Van Meter Auditorium. The show was great and a packed house to boot!

Had to show off my first Morning Glory of the season 

 Can you believe how tall this Sun Flower is and it hasen't even bloomed yet?

Our Sugar Pear tree is loaded down this year

What's Wrong With This Picture?

You guessed it. Sound the alarm! Chicken out of the pen. I don't understand it. As soon as they are free they want to get back in, but don't know how. So I have to chase them around the yard and try to catch them. Have you ever tried to catch a chicken? Quite tricky. Finally I give up, and have to call David in. David isn't exactly fond of the chickens. Together we capture her, and I clip her wing again. It isn't 5 minutes, and another hen is out. What is with this deal? David and I proceed to repeat the process, and back in the pen she goes. The two escape artists are locked up, but who knows what will happen later today. Stay tuned.   

BEECAUSE

Look closely! Hive two is swarming. Swarming is the nautral means of reproduction of honey bee colonies. A new honey bee colony is formed when the queen bee leaves the coloney with a large group of worker bees, a process called swarming. About 60% of the worker bees leave the original hive location with the old queen.
When the hive gets ready to swarm the queen lays eggs into the queen cups. New queens are raised and the hive then swarms. Can you believe it? Two times of Nozema and now this. What is a beekeeper to do? Swarming to a beekeeper is like losing all of his calves to a cattleman. You have heard the saying: A swarm of bees in May is worth a load of hay; A swarm of bees in June is worth a silver spoon; A swarm of bees in July isn't worth a fly. I don't expect honey from this hive, but we will see. Such is life in the times of a beekeeper.
Happy Monday to you guys!   

 Capturing The Flock

 Proud Rooster

 Roosters Rule The Roost

Backyard Chickens

Chickens are easy to raise, whether on the farm or in your backyard. They need shelter, feed and water. They are especially fond of spiders for bugs to eat. Chickens also have a pecking order. They can be very mean to others lower in line. This is a fact of life for chickens.  I am very excited about seeing my first egg in the nest. Have a great day! 

 

Let's Get Down To Earth- Soil... The Source Of Life

In Kentucky, they call it clay and in a negative frame of mind, it's called mud, but to most gardeners, soil is commonly referred to as earth. So, what do most of us think of soil? We push it around with bulldozers, jab it with garden forks, shovel it into wheel barrows, and drive on it with four wheelers. We sweep it under the rug, wash it off our hands and kick it off our boots. We treat it like it's a nuisance! It's in the wrong place so we move it, wash it off our cars with soap and water and throw it into holes. 

Soil is vital for all living things. Soil is the source for all fertility. It is the source of life. For me, in a very real sense, soil is alive! It's always changing, always growing. Soil is essential to all plant life, and without that, we would have no food to feed our livestock, or ourselves. 

The functionality and health of soil is important for the things we want to grow. Organic matter, minerals, water and air are four elements that make the soil what it is. The climate also plays a big role in the formation of soil. When nature works on her own, she only crates living soils. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, soil is us.

 

Starbucks Opens Chain Of Raw Vegan Juice Bars

Starbucks, the coffee shop renowned its seemingly limitless coffee varieties, is opening a new chain of juice bars in response to the growing health trend towards unprocessed and whole foods. In late 2011, the coffee giant also bought out Evolution Free, a juice company. Health foods now represent a $50 billion industry, and Starbucks has been very public about their intent to expand into the market and establish themselves as a major player.
The juice bars will offer fruit and vegetable options which can be mixed according to consumer preference or in tried and true menu options like "Spiced Carrot" carrot, blueberries and cinnamon to produce natural fruit juices that are high in dietary fiber, vitamins A, C and E, and antioxidants. Thicker smoothies can be supplemented with protein ingredients such as juiced wheat grass and nut butter to help provide customers with a more nutritionally balanced meal. They think the market demand is high enough to warrant its own set of chains, not just an extra few fruit options on the menu at their coffee shops. Sounds good to me!

My Hive Is Humming

Summer is the time for honey, and blueberries. My friend Julie called and I picked 16lbs. of berries from her farm Saturday. It was a perfect morning. Gentle breezes, cool temps and sun shining. These berries will be turned into smoothies and coffee cakes. Altogether I have collected 12 pints of honey from hive 1. I put a super on hive 2 and we will see what transpires. I don't think I will be taking honey off again until July or maybe August. We will see how the honey flow goes.
Happy Monday to all you bloggers out there!