Saturday, July 10, 2010

Farm and Garden Weekly - week of July 4

On the 5th, Tom put up some 'fairy lights' - the white twinkly ones - along our front porch. Before he began, he checked the robin's nest, and it was perfectly empty. Naturally we never saw the babies fly, but we are happy the whole time was uneventful and seemingly successful. We saw one of the baby robins, and Tom even saw the mother feeding it, but no pictures. :<( I'm not sure I've ever heard or seen as many robins as this season. This week we have experienced the hottest weather so far this summer. Up here we call it 'bad sleeping weather' and that is so right. Even with two fans it is still uncomfortable. Today it is finally cloudy after a rain last night, but muggy, muggy. I think I heard cooler next week.

We could rename the place 'daylily farm' this time of year. Everywhere I look there are orange daylilies.

Not terribly good photos, but I wanted to give an idea of the color that surrounds us


And now the other colors have begun opening. I paid no attention to size or color when we planted them, and each year I am thrilled by what is a surprise and a memory at the same time. If you love them as I do, you may enjoy going over to the sidebar under 'letter topics' and clicking on 'bowl of daylilies' and 'lily of the day.'



The zephyr squash is coming along great


The yellow pole beans love this hot weather


Is that a sweet pea blossom I see?


The garlic is ready to harvest, but we've picked a couple and they were somewhat rotten. It doesn't seem like there has been too much rain, so we don't really know what's wrong.


The tomatoes also love this hot weather


If I could afford a greenhouse, I would grow lettuce year round. As I may have said once, it is my salad. I don't mix anything with it. I don't 'dress' it. I like it plain just like the rabbits.


I'll close with his week's egg count: 54.

23 comments:

  1. Your place looks so colorful Nan. It must be a joy to stroll around the garden this time of year. It sounds lively too what with the robins being so busy. The hens too. They have been busy girls.

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  2. Nan I went to see your Bowl of Daylilies and Lily of the Day and I am astonished at their beauty and variety. I know there are a gazillion different kinds/colors, but seeing your 'up close and personal' was such a glorious treat. Thank you.

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  3. Hi Nan! The daylilies are gorgeous-I love the orange one in your header! You lettuce looks fabulous too! Thanks for sharing! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  4. I've often thought how nice it would be to keep chickens. (Edward, however, does not share my fascination and would therefore cause some small problems, no doubt.) But seeing your "egg count" for the week reminds me to ask something I've often wondered. What DO you do with all those eggs? Breakfasts and baking aside, do you share them with your neighbors? Sell them somewhere?

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  5. I love your column. Are you sure you don't write for a local newspaper? Your readers would love you and come to anticipate each entry!
    I love the details and think you have a casual and rustic approach which appeals to me. Love the lettuce beds....so beautiful! The lilies are also lovely and leisurely as they sprawl on your property.
    Great egg count. We have been giving away our eggs as the chickens, despite the heat, have been laying faithfully six eggs a day times seven (no day of rest for them) which would equal 42...my count for the week:)
    Great report!
    Joanne

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  6. I love Day Lilies. It is just too bad they don't last longer!

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  7. You know I never found any occupied Robin's nest this year either...I always find one or two..interesting. Loving the color explosion in your yard!!

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  8. Hope you get some cooler weather soon! I loved looking at your garden photos -- very inspiring! Annie

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  9. Such beautiful pictures - I'm envious. Out here on the left coast June gloom is having an adverse effect on my tomatoes. Alas! BTW, I loved the Mary Oliver poem the other day.

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  10. Your garden looks lovely.I must get day lilies, you have inspired me. I love fairy lights too. And I must take photos.....

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  11. Our peas are pretty much finished up, but we enjoyed them! Our garlic is also ready to harvest, it is looking good, so fingers crossed! The weather here in eastern Ontario has been soooo hot and muggy, last week we had a record breaking heat wave for 4 days, not so bad now, but still fairly steamy.
    Have a wonderful day
    Niki

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  12. This week I've done my 'strolling' through the windows, Lisa. :<) Last evening it was cooler and we finally sat out on the porch.

    Jill, I am so pleased you visited the other posts. I just love those flowers!

    Sherri, thank you, and hope your weekend is great, too.

    Pamela, most of them get sold. Tom has lots of customers at the school where he teaches.

    Joanne, what a dear thing to say. I'm going to email you about a book I think you'd love, which was indeed from newspaper pieces.

    Thank you, Erin. It is beautiful with hardly any work. :<) The daylilies take care of themselves once they're in the ground. I just divide them once in a while, and that's it.

    Diane, they're just so amazing though because one will be coming, one in bloom, and one gone by all on the same plant.

    Staci, that's a good description!

    Annie Joy, I'm happy they are 'inspiring' - I really should write about the ease of my garden, as I just wrote above to Erin.

    Candy, I'm so glad you liked the poem. And sorry about your tomatoes.

    Cait, and the wonder is that they are so care-free. They don't seem to care what kind of soil they're in or if they are in partial shade or sun. Marvels!

    Niki, I miss the taste of peas this year, and strangely I haven't seen any local ones for sale. Maybe people keep their peas for themselves!
    I think we've had the exact weather.

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  13. I love your header of the colorful lily!!!

    BTW, to answer your question on my blog, the titles of my books, reviews of my books, and my bio can be found in ABOUT, which is located on the upper right corner of the main page of my blog. Enjoy!

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  14. Thanks, Gigi, I'll check it out!

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  15. Oh my goodness, what a beautiful garden! Congratulations.

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  16. Kathryn/plantwhateverbringsyoujoy.comJuly 13, 2010 at 11:19:00 AM EDT

    OMG! You made a raised bed of rock?? Amazing! I can't believe I've never seen that before. I love that you eat lettuce without any dressing. I'm like that with arugula.
    I devour it daily. (You call it rocket, right?) Lovely!
    And I will be back, too! :)

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  17. Thanks so much, Linda.

    Kathryn, that stone planter was here when we bought the place 29 years ago. We've tried lots of things in it over the years and lettuce seems to grow the best.

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  18. Lovely and productive. I like the book posts too, and the raspberries!

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  19. That's a lot of eggs!

    You've inspired me to post a weekly garden stroll. Hope you stop on by.

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  20. Susie, thank you, and am so glad you enjoy them.

    Les, I wonder if you'd like to join Aisling's Sunday Stroll:

    http://quietcountryhouse.blogspot.com/

    For just now she is on an 'hiatus' but surely will return. I did this for quite a few entries. And I will certainly come by! I enjoyed all the plants last time. I can't grow anything, and I mean anything, in pots. I've tried and tried all sorts of things in all kinds of containers and zilch! So I greatly admire, and am interested in, what others grow.

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  21. Thanks for the link, Nan. I'll pop over later this afternoon.

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  22. Okay, Les. I'm going to send you an email about this.

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