The tenacity of spearmint

This cutting has been in my kitchen window since late June.  It has been dried out from the heat at times and nearly out of water at times, and yet it is rooted and growing sprouts (underwater no less).  I love that it grows and takes over in the yard, but unlike vinca and Virginia creeper, it is useful.

I feel like spearmint sometimes.  When I carry water from the duck pond to the parking area garden.  As I replant beans again and again.  While working in the Ppatch until dark after getting off of work.

But I also feel like a hot house orchid more often than not.  The times that I look at weeds and overgrown vines in our yard and think it is too much.  When nothing comes up after we plant and replant pollinator flowers at the Ppatch.  When I let the seedlings I nurtured inside die because I didn't feel like planting them after work.

Maybe I should have been a Gemini.

With the drought throughout the farmlands of the nation it is more important than ever for us to produce more of what we will eat.  This year I increased our food budget for the first time in 5 years, and I expect that I will have to do it again each year going forth.  But now is also the time to make a difference where we spend it.  Meat from local farmers is much more expensive than from Costco, but I will know the animals raised have had the same good life as our own hens.  Vegetables from the farmers' market are in season and local, again higher in cost, but also higher in ethics and flavor. But if I wish to spend more of our budget on better items, it is necessary to produce all that we are able to offset the cost.
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These statements are not anything new or surprising.  We have already heard and read them to the point that the ideas have become ubiquitous, blending into the greenwash marketing, of well, everything.  But that doesn't make them less valid.

So today I strive to be more like spearmint. 

I hear chickens this morning . . .

and they are not mine!

my coop overfloweth

Today was spent in the garden.  Juju and I hit one of the local nurseries that was advertising buy 1 veggie get 2 free.  The starts were leggy and hail damaged, but I expected that.  I picked up 12 white cauliflower & 1 orange, 2 Brussels sprouts and 5 broccoli and 8 cabbage.  I also picked up a 2 pack of petunias and marigolds (at the suggestion of Earthchild Marie) that Juju and I planted in the Ppatch to hopefully give whatever is eating my sprouts second thoughts.  For this bonanza I paid $10.  Now I just have to get the brassicas into the ground before they die.

We got home from weeding and planting and watering the Ppatch just in time for a late lunch.  I am happy to report that all of our tomatoes and peppers are fruiting.  the dozen amaranth plants are growing (slowly) and the bush beans that made it past the initial sprout are thriving.

And the popcorn freaked me out.

When I planted sweet corn before we left on vacation I put 3 (new) seeds in each mound.  I had one sprout in most, 2 sprout in four, but none of the hills had all three seeds go for the gold.  So when I planted the tom thumb popcorn, from leftover seed from the history museum (I figure at least 5 years old) I expected maybe a germination rate of 10%.  So I planted the entire packet (intended for a small field) in two staggered rows 25 feet long.

Damned if they didn't ALL sprout.  I almost hate to thin them, but I am going to give it another day or two to see if  one or two stand out from the rest.

So anyway after lunch Juju and I took a break during the heat of the day (Iron Druid anyone?) before tackling the side yard and watering the lower garden.

Then the call came.

Would I be interesting in 4 laying hens from Aurora?  Their owner (a friend of a friend of a friend) got them about a year ago and her disapproving neighbor just noticed them and reported to animal control that she was keeping livestock.  (what a bitch right - not like she had noticed them for AN ENTIRE YEAR!)  so she had to find them a new home ASAP before they were confiscated by the city.

Like I had to think about it.

So during dinner a lovely and understandably melancholy couple (granddaughter in tow) came by to drop off 2 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Barred Rocks.

Am I ever thankful to have neighbors willing to be bribed with fresh eggs.  This brings our hen count to 16.

I hope the new girls are happy, Hubby and I moved them from the tractor into the coop after dark.

Maybe Juju should have named them Mutt & Jeff

Accentuate the Positive

Three days of rain and our melon plant has gone crazy.  I think in quadrupled in size.  It is covered with male and female blossoms and our fingers are crossed that summer lasts long enough for us to get some fruit.  There is a wood frame over it so worst case senerio it could be covered with plastic to help it along.

 On the side yard I had planted 3 old pole bean seeds I found in the bottom of my seed basket.  I have no idea what they are.  but they have outgrown the repurposed Christmas tree frame (it is meant for lights, not plants) and are reaching for the crabapple tree.  I carefully unwound the ends and directed them to the fence instead.  They are covered with dark purple blooms.

Gifts

 Our lovely neighbor Deb brought over a few plants today.  First up is Lipstick Strawberry.  It was created in 1966 by crossing a fruiting strawberry with a Cinquefoil.  The result is a pink flowering strawberry that fruits rarely and spreads rapidly, used primarily as a ground cover in less than perfect soil.

I chose to place the 2 plants with their runners in with the Ozark strawberries I planted earlier this year.  New runners from this cross pollination should fruit more and the pink flowers are a nice change from Ozark's white.

I also got to plant a couple Red Russian Kale (Yum)  Perfect next to the small Howden Pumpkin that gets dappled shade from the ancient apple tree in the back yard.

Carla Emery to the rescue

Potatoes in the parking area

For me the woman known as Earthchild Marie is something of a mystery.  Her 8 seasonal garden plans are shown in every edition of the iconic Encyclopedia of Country Living but no one seems to know who she is.  All other people mentioned in the tome seem to be woven in Ms. Emery's personal history.

But I am happy with the garden plans.  I am using them as a guide to jump start my garden year.

Wish me luck.