Saturday, July 16, 2011

Seriously????

I now see why the term "poultry" comes before the other words in my blog title.  I am struggling with the other portions...ugh.  Seriously??  This should not be that difficult.  So to start on a positive note, the chickens are doing great!  Everyone seems happy and well.  The "babies" are not babies anymore and the teenagers seem very grown up these days.  No egg laying from those girls yet, but the more mature mamas are producing on a daily basis.  I've been letting the girls out to graze and they are doing a great job of grasshopper wrangling.  They stay away from the Jaws of Death, also known as Avery, and have daily standoffs with the cats.  The chickens don't seem to feel threatened by the cats...more like the other way around.  Our little rooster hasn't attempted crowing lately, but he does make for great entertainment running around chasing all the girls.  The hens are all much bigger than he is, but he makes up for stature with incredible speed.  One funny note was the other day, one of the Leghorns was trying to get a drink out of the red dog tub attached to the deck.  I watched as it seemed like an opportunity for something entertaining.  I was not disappointed.  Leghorn lost footing and into the water tub she went.  The squawking and wing flapping was hilarious.  My only regret?  Not having video on at the time.

The vegetable garden, on the other hand,  is stressing me out.  It seems, while I am growing a great crop of zucchini and tomatoes, I am also growing a bumper crop of weeds.  I have been out there regularly pulling, spraying, breaking, and mostly cussing.  None of these methods is very effective.  I think my awesome watering system paired with the great soil has kind of backfired.  Ugh.  Husband spent some time with some friends that have a pretty nice vegetable garden.  They used the black weed fabric and some raised rows to combat this problem.  Definitely part of the plans for next year.  Baby steps, I guess.  I really thought this would be the year for smooth garden sailing.  At least the infestation of vermin seems to be under control.

I spoke too soon...bah.  Upon further investigation, it seems I now have an ant problem as well as a grasshopper problem.  Really????  I went over to survey the garden...I'm sitting in one of my "new to me" lounge chairs typing this on the back deck...  I saw some really pretty ripe tomatoes and reached in to pick one.  Next thing I know, I am doing the jig, also known as ow, ow, ow, red ants, red ants!!  Stupid.  They are all over the place!  Munching on the bottoms of my tomatoes.  I am not sure how to combat this latest pest.  I'm thoroughly against spraying any sort of insecticide on the vegetables.  I am not an expert, and would probably only succeed in poisoning a family member.  Moving on through the garden, it seems they also enjoy cucumbers.  Only the pickling variety...wth???

Oh well...lessons being learned every day I guess.  A little jealous of the cat that is curled up in the wicker chair next to me.  He just caught and ate a mouse, had a scoop of some delicious fish flavored kitty kibble this morning, tormented the dog for a few minutes, and now gets to nap in the sunshine.  No worries, no stress, no wondering how to get rid of weeds or ants...of course he could wander out into the road and get flattened by a car, so there's that.  Thinking positively.

Weeds...they are calling...egh.