a little gardening, chickens....

Yesterday, picked me a couple more grape vines, when we after we stopped by Bass Pro...hubby and the youngest just needed a owl locator to use when they go out in the woods this Saturday and try to get a turkey during youth season....one is a concord grape and the other is a red grape....
The other grape vine I planted the frost has got alittle...I scrape alittle of the compost back and it has a little nub getting ready to come up....I have been covering everything up for the most part and keeping an eye on the forecasted temps at night ...At least the new roses I have planted and the grape vine and the hosta and day lilies......I think I might have lost one of the Hosta plants but not for sure....

Here is the square foot garden bed. just onions and lettuce and radishes in here....of course since my egg layers are free-ranged...they did scratch a little in the dirt ...note the chicken wire....the radishes aren`t exactly where I planted them at.....

                               
                                                          tulips getting ready to bloom

Frost got one of the roses I planted as well, the above picture, but as you can see it has some nubs on it....so it didn`t totally wipe it out....both of these roses are the two climbing variety I planted this year.

As you can see I finally got a kitchen sink in the garden, have been looking for one...wanted one for free , but found one at the local recycling place when my hubby took some old frigs off and yes, I did have to pay for it...but it came out of the money from the frigs....now I know what I want to plant in there , just need to find it....don`t really know  what it is called...irises are gonna be planted around it except in front....I am thinking some type of ground cover....maybe my creeping thyme , in which has expanded a great deal.....

               Where else to do put a sink in the garden ,...but by the toilet of course......
              Thinking about expanding the garden some more, but probably not this year.
              back behind the toilet to the tree at least a row of blackberry briars.

   The bed I have been working on getting filled...I have laid some feed sacks down , then put a compost on top of that and of course dirt......the front two little boxes in the bed are planted with potatoes...I am tring something I seen on pinterest...where you keep putting a square of wood on top and more dirt to how high you want the planted to be...then when the potatoes are ready to dig up ...just take the squares off....or rather boards off....we will se how this works....the last time I planted potatoes ...it didn't work...so hopefully this will...I have red and white potatoes planted...
                            
                                                  so on to other things going on here

                                           
                                      here is 3 little chicks I have held back...they are partridge bantam
                                                                               cochins

                                                        What to you do with extra boards?...........

                  

Build chicken pens , of course....The top pen is build mainly of scrap wood that my hubby picked up the other day...the smaller pieces went in the fire to keep us warm...that pen only cost was the screws...it houses my turkins....the bottom picture has trio of cochins....two of them are Columbian and the other is a birchen colored hen...that pen has two 2x 4 I had gotten and a pallet I took apart....I know the building ain`t nothing fancy and I don't say I am good at building, but I think it looks good...
Well enough for now...everyone have a great day!

busy,busy,busy....

It has been very busy around here lately. School has started here with both girls. I have been taking the oldest to volleyball practice every night...the games start next week...she has three games next week and of course I will post if they win or loose on here.. The oldest will be also working the concessions at some of the basketball games this year since she is a junior...goes towards their prom and senior trip...she will be working them thru out the year.....
now into a little garden....

      working on transferring all of the mint into the washer tub...so then the mint will be confined to the washer tub...hopefully it will stay in the tub....one of my projects for the garden for the fall.

here is a start to another project of mine for the garden.. a new iris bed...hubby is tired of mowing around the iris bed in the front yard...so transferring them to this bed...going to make it one long bed of irises, different colors.....love my irises.

                                     a little watermelon developing at least I think, better late then never..

                                              
                                               This rose the picture don`t do it justice

                    Our new truck, we sold the other one...it had over 400,000 miles on it and got this one the same day, so glad we finally have a full sized truck....one of my hubby`s coworkers says it`s a ford ranger on steroids , that`s what a f150 is, lol.

                                               now on to some animals and building

                                   This is a chicken coop I am working on....I had a weird request for our anniversary present this year...I got a drill....besides the truck....am planning on putting nest boxes on the back end of it....Bandit just had to get in the pic.....
                                                        now animals, chickens first....

                                                  
                                           A pair of Seabrights, I traded for ducklings for.
                                          Hubby was wanting some again, wanting to breed a silver and a
                                        golden and to see what color we will get, just his project....
                                    
                                                            now ducks.....

                                                  
                                                  Mary and Lillie snugglin, oldest daughter took this pic
                                        with her Ipod.

                                                        
                                                    just plain Lillie, .changing and growing up

                                            
                                                           Mary, growing up....

                                         
            This is shay and dawson, hopefully both hens, Elizabeth`s babies, named them after some of the cast members in Chicago fire....the little yellow...shay almost lost her ,she was so tiny after hatching, so we are keeping her for now and she just had to have a friend...dawson a chocolate colored one...I am all about chocolate this year.....

Well I need to go and do the chores for the day, since a ballgame tonight.....everyone have a enjoyable weekend.....

update on garden , chickens

Thought would start with some flowers, these are growing beside the house, don`t really know what they are called, but think they are pretty.....

                          The volunteer holly hocks beside the house are leaning over with blooms

 

                                                            cherry tomatoes

I have been getting plenty of cherry tomatoes, I so like just washing them off and popping them in my mouth.....yummy....

                                           the pole beans on the bed frame aren`t vining like I want them to ...oh well still producing a few beans.

                                        Here is the pole beans going across the rope I set up in the garden....next year , I think I will plant them like this again , but on both sides...
       

                                       
                                        I haven`t picked that many roma tomatoes off the plants, the plants do look pretty though........they are full of tomatoes though...waiting for them to ripen.

                    
                                           Yellow squash is producing good.....I have gotten a few from them.
          I cooked them using them in a foil packet , put an onion sliced and salt and pepper and margarine  and then cooked in oven....yummy.

                          I haven`t gotten very many cucumbers this year...not gonna plant them like this I don`t think next year.....they are not vining like I want them to.....

                                       One of the mums are starting to bloom some....I can`t wait until they are    
                                                full in bloom.

                              
                                 These are doing good after I transplanted them

                                                Canna`s are blooming, at least these are.

           
                                              Rose of Sharon bush in garden in full bloom

This is the last of the blackberries, I am slowly waiting for them to finish ripening up

                          A new blackberry plant , I got and put in the garden...triple crown variety

                                           I need to transplant this one, further down in the garden , not in the walkway....their is two of them here.....We are getting much needed rain here today.....Thank you Lord for the rain......

 

                                                  Fred, one of my buff orphington roosters,...follows me around, the other one is named George.

                                              This is Daisy, she has two bantam cochin chicks, I bought so , I could get to stop setting, her chicks are about a month old and she is laying now, I have gotten two eggs from her so far....her chicks are not all feathered out yet.....can`t tell if they are pullets or roos yet....

I went out to get a picture of cheetah setting hard on the nest ...on a plastic Easter egg, don't want her to set, I keep taking eggs from her....will let her have a few when the next incubator hatches out, it is her first time setting....the picture above is a hen laying a egg on top of her almost,....wasn`t expecting this, I took a picture of the egg after the hen ...hummm drop it.....a nice brown speckled egg....
just laid.......literally......I took it from cheetah......

                                        Elizabeth  setting in the old dog house....she has a lot of eggs under her.
                              One of the chicken hens has laid a egg or two under her and I think she is setting on them two, I took a couple of them and put in the bator....still chicken eggs there though....will put them in the bator after she hatches out if they are still under there.

My youngest daughters new chick...I hope it is a rooster, that is what she is thinking....she got it at the local swap from the same person that gave her the last two.....she can`t put it with her two ...they fight it....It will eventually go out there with them two.......

alitte of everything.....

 First off , the garden.....the green horned tomatoes worms have hit...grrrrr. I have been picking them off by hand and watering them every day with soapy water, this is helping somewhat, still have to pick them off though.

 

                                                   The above pic of the tomatoes

 A couple of pictures of the hens and chicks in the garden. The one in the cooler I just moved from a washer tub, they wasn`t doing what I wanted ....I wanted them to grow out of the little holes in the tub. Was thinking on trying to find some glass pop bottles, to put in this cooler, don`t know where I could find any, that isn`t expensive. I replanted the little ones in the wheelbarrow to spread them out alittle.

                                 
                                        My one and only so far canna blooming, one of the clearance bulbs I got

                                     
                                                            Mums are starting to bloom

                                                      
                                                  Cucumbers are having to be trained to climb up

                                  
                                                   A daylily blooming

                                        
   this is a picture of the chicks that have hatched this week, two are which of are cochins...yay... they are from my Columbian cochin pair, I do admit their is a birchen hen in there as well.

                                      
                                            This is Mascara with her little one, in which am keeping for now
                                 have named her Mary, the oldest calls her Mary Margaret from once upon a time
                                    show.

             The above picture is buff cochin banty hens I traded for Muscovy ducklings to get these. will not trade with these people again, unless their birds are better looking then these were....they was half dead...I gave them some apple cider vinegar water and have given tlc and still have not put them with my chickens. Yes I did get two reds one as well. They do look better then they did when I first got them. I probably won`t use them for eggs or breeders this year.

                  last of the chickens, this is my standard cochin Big boy, he is such a sweetheart.

                                                                     Now on to quilting

                                              The center block is done except for the star...beading

                                                   January block is done except for the star( beading) and some of the branches for the tree....gotta try and find what I need to do the branches. also need some grass on there as well.

This is a start to the August block, I know I should to do the next month , but have decided to do the block with the lions on it, so I won`t use the yarn up for the mane of the lion.

Well everyone have a beautiful day.....