sunflowers and squash

 

The sunflowers have begun to bloom, and I'm not sure why, but just seeing them there makes me very happy. The echinacea is coming up, although not as quickly as those sunflowers did!

I realized that I need to be checking the garden every morning - as you'll see in the last picture, one squash was trying to break a world size record... and this one was being carefully guarded by a spider. I'm happy to see the spider, although I did ask it to move away from the squash so I could pick!

 

The first zucchini was ready, and one lone dragon tongue bean. I've planted more bean plants, beneath the shade of the older ones, and once they're bigger I'll take the older ones out and hopefully get more of these lovely beans.

I also found some odd copper-colored dots that look a bit like braille. I'm assuming these are eggs of some kind. Anyone know what?

 

Update: I just discovered these are squash borer moth eggs - which I need to get rid of. Suggestions are to spray with soapy water each day, mostly around the stems, where the eggs hatch into caterpillars which bore into the stems, causing the squash to die. I'll be out there later in the day, spraying with peppermint soap and water.

some november hill updates: composting and tears

On Sunday I rotated horses and mowed/dragged the front field - noticed immediately that the first of several compost piles I started back in the late winter is now fully composted. My plan was to reduce the work load and make small compost piles along the edges of the fields so that we don't have to make the long trek down to the woodland/labyrinth paths all year long, and to put the compost where we actually intend to use it - for the most part, to fertilize the fields.

I wasn't sure how this plan was going to work, but I decided to give it a try while saving up for the O2 compost system that I hope to get at some point.

On Sunday I discovered that my plan is working. That first pile was black, crumbly compost and when I use the harrow behind the mower to drag this material out over the ground, there is virtually no hard labor involved.

This morning I headed to the back field to check those piles out. The first one I made in back is also black and crumbly, and when I rotate the horses back around in a few weeks, I'll do the same thing I did up front - drag, mow any weeds, and pull that lovely compost out to fertilize.

The thing I love about this is that the piles can be made where the compost is most needed. I have not turned the piles. All I did was pile manure/stall waste around four feet high, put a layer of mature compost on the mound, and flatten the top of the mound into a slightly concave shape so it catches the rain. It's amazing how quickly the compost is forming, and wonderful that when I walk around to check the piles, there are no flies. You can smell when it's working - there is no odor of manure. It smells like compost!

Added benefit: horses are beginning to drop manure next to the piles. Perfect way to start the next pile or even add to the existing pile, depending where it is in the compost process.

On another note, Rafer Johnson has had leaky eyes off and on this spring. I suspect he is still adjusting to the pine pellet bedding we switched to, and probably the fact that we made the change during the peak pollen season did not help matters.

Maire, from PoniesAtHome, shared a tip on her blog a few weeks ago. Make chamomile tea and use as an eyewash. The tea bag itself makes a nice compress as you're washing the eye. Rafer submitted to this very non-donkey experience, and when it was over, he was wary, but then decided it felt pretty good, so he came back to my picnic table treatment center to see what else I had up my sleeve. I discovered that the homeopathic remedy allium cepa works wonders for Rafer. After one dose he is a firm believer in the tiny syringe of distilled water and remedy. We love homeopathy on November Hill.

I was going to take a few photos of the Italian sunflowers, but we are having thunderstorms this afternoon, so I'll save the sunflowers for tomorrow.

And check out this very nice read over at the Thinline blog.

on semi-hiatus for june

Well. It's nearly June and I thought I'd be ready to blog like crazy having been away during the month of May.

But there is still so much to do here I am planning to stay on a semi-hiatus on into June. There's one post I really want to write, so I may get to that mid-month or so. If I can get my writing projects to the next phase I'll be doing lots of book-related blogging, so in a way this is the calm before the storm. :)

Meanwhile, a sample of one of the things that has been going on around here,  the pinwheel garden, with watermelon mounds against the back fence. We still have two "spokes" to build, and I have more mounded beds to plant, but I've been harvesting dragon tongue beans for weeks, and today, the first yellow squash.

Hope everyone is heading into summer with green grass, enough rain, and only a few insect pests. Back at least once in June, and hopefully full force by the beginning of July!

what's going on during my blogging hiatus: redheads gone wild part two and nest-building

(all photos are courtesy of my very dear and talented red-haired daughter)

mayday! mayday! on hiatus until june

With several writing projects that need my attention, a barn full of equines that want the rest of the springtime barn cleaning to be finished, fields that need mowing and fence lines that need weeding, a house that needs cleaning, and lots of good books that need reading, I am taking the month of May off from blogging.

I'm also seriously considering disabling Facebook during this time, as I can easily get drawn into posting photos and mini-blogs on there.

I'll never give up reading email, though, so if anyone needs to find me, that's the way to do it.

Enjoy the spring!

ADDENDUM:

Although I'm on hiatus here, there are several new blog posts coming to mystic-lit, so use the sidebar link to go over and check them out!

I also recommend reading The Carrot and Purple Pony to keep up with what's going on in the world of the FEI.