June 8th Update

 Still no rain worth counting. We may have had an two inches since last post. We are at least 11" down for the year. 

A graph from local station showing where we are in 2026 compared to last four years. We desperately need the rain. 

I have taken photos since last post so I thought I would do some comparisons. First from last post I planted the green beans. All photos about 2 weeks apart. Those are the potato bags I bought and used some potatoes we had that sprouted eyes, so why not. I had to add extensions to the bags but more on that later. 

The planted sweet corn has really been taking off and I planted a few watermelon seeds in between where a couple plants didn't come up. 

Onions are still going well. Hard to mess them up.

I had that one bed that I needed to clean out of weeds and get planted, and I just so happened to have a few plants from the island of misfit plants to go in. One that I am interested in was one of the leaders on another tomato plant that I put into a jar of water for a couple of weeks. It didn't look too good going into the ground but I planted it deep so fingers crossed it works out. 

Some of these went in where a brandywine died off from unknown circumstances. I just can't get them to grow here. I have one remaining and it's hanging on. 

Here is said sad plant that I planted. 

And here is the former weed bed planted out. 

The rest are tomatoes that we are starting to get some cherries off of. 

Here are the potato bag extensions that I made. I was going to but and cut some plywood boxes to extend the bags as they are not big enough to contain the plants themselves. Instead a found this siding underlayment and gorilla tape. I just rolled it up inside of the bag and taped it off. I added more dirt and they seem to be holding in place. 

Here's a couple overall views. I finally got the edge border down, then put down all of the cardboard we been saving and doubled up on the landscape fabric where I didn't cover with cardboard, then mulched everything. I was a long morning for me to get it done. 30 bags of mulch is what it took. I also picked up some nice bushes that I installed at the front and some daylilies that will be for another post. 

There's the girls' coop on the right.

I'd like to have another 8 beds for next year. 

WOF of the week. We'll go with waste of feathers. We've been letting the girls out more and more so I caught a couple cruising around. 

Sorry if this seems cut up but I will try to post more often. 

Another Weekend of Work

 Another week has past and our adventures from last weekend are here on display. I spent a lot of the weekend weeding the garden beds that weren't done, moving some of the transplants, and planting some potatoes we saved. I still have some transplanting to do so that will be this Sunday. 

Tomatoes and peppers still alive.

More tomatoes

Onion crop seems to be doing well. I cleaned out the bed behind this one and one to the side. This means I have to find some thing to plant in them. The way prices are I think we'll be doing a full year rotational garden. This fall will be cabbage, turnips, and lettuce. 

Got some green beans planted too. 

We've been alternating the watering from the front flower beds to the back garden. Our area is roughly 9 to 10" below our rainfall average this year. We desperately need rain. Here's a good photo of the yard. It crunches when you walk. 

Rose bush next to the girls.

Look hard enough you can spot some pears. 

A few peaches have set on. 

Some growth showing up. Ms. TD transplanted some dahlias. 

Something new this year. Going to grow potatoes in these bags. The reviews were good online so why not. I may try some more potatoes in a barrel. 

Reba on her egg. She pecked at me when I tried to get it. 

Someone had poop- butt so a spa day was in order. Thinking about starting a chicken spa for extra $. 

Ms. TD's front flower beds. Don't ask me what all is in them but I do know some of my daylilies are in there.  

A seeder we bought at a market a number of years ago. Or maybe an auction. I need to find some new handle for it. 

That's it for last weekend. As I write this on Friday evening, this weekend is planned out now. 

WOF of the Week. A throwback to dog park day. Watching the ball to come down.

Spring is Here

 Well it seems spring has arrived here in North Carolina, and it has come in warm. After the winter we had it is welcome to be sure. We have also passed the pollening (as we call it around here; waves of yellow and green over everything) so our sinuses are much better for it. With spring here we have started our outside adventures in earnest. I started the garden clean- up and Ms. TD has been dutifully working on her flowers as well as a new birding area. We also made a trip to the farmer's market in Raleigh this past weekend and I picked up some tomato and pepper plants as my seedlings have not done well at all ( a first for me) and some herbs, and found Pluto of Pluto's Inc., the best Caribbean jerk sauces and spices (met the man himself; check him out https://www.facebook.com/plutobliss/. He said he is getting his website redone.) I took some photos earlier in March for a post but didn't get it finished so we'll start with those. 

The girls have started producing a lot of eggs again. 

Bee doing bee things on the peach tree.

Cabbage plant that made it through winter.

My soil block that I make for my seedlings. Seeds seem to do better this way instead of the store- bought dirt. For some reason mine didn't this year. I get good bag dirt from Miracle Grow and some Black Cow, run them over a hardware cloth to remove any small sticks. 

Chips left over from screening.

Good clean dirt for the blocks.

Now to catch up from this past weekend. Tomato and peppers in this bed.

I like to plant basil with the tomatoes. Now I need to find some marigolds, which is surprising as we always seem to have volunteers everywhere. 

Onion starts I ordered seem to be settling in well. 

Some of Ms. TD's flowers.

Here's a little garden gnome we picked up at the farmer's market. My mother used to have them scattered throughout her gardens and landscaping. 

WOF of the Week. This is from the March photos. We have our biggest supporters watching us work.