Thursday

Beginning to get some salads from the garden!!

Each peach, pear, plum...

Remember those pears I showed you? Well, here's what they look like now!! WOW!!

We also added a plum tree to the OAH! Here she is! She's a Candy Rosa Plum:

And here are those tiny peaches you saw...isn't nature amazing?

What's wrong with this picture?

We had some store bought eggs from a recent visit with my mom, who is a bit squeamish about using "real eggs" in her cooking. Yes, you read that right, my mom went to the store to buy eggs even though I had TWO dozen in my fridge. Anywho...we had these white eggs hanging out in the fridge when my wee one asked for a boiled egg. I never boil just one egg, so I plopped the last three white eggs in the water along with three of our beautiful brown homegrown eggs.

Now, I've certainly noticed that our egg yolks are a much deeper yellow than the store ones, but I was SHOCKED when we peeled up one of each and put the yolks side by side. That pale yellow yolk doesn't even look appealing, does it? I don't think I'll ever go back to generic, mass produced white eggs....how could I?

Garden update...

The blackberries are blooming...


And the potatoes went crazy after three days of nice, slow rain...


I love this time of the year!!

Calling in the good guys...

Our praying mantis order arrived today!!

The eggs were much bigger than I thought they'd be. If you click on this photo, you can read the instructions that came with them.


We took them right outside and found a nice, sheltered bush to wire them into...can you see them?


Here's a close up. I used copper wire to securely attach them to the branches of this bush in filtered sunlight...just as the instructions said. These bushes are right beside our garden, so I'm hoping as they hatch they'll stay near and begin eating aphids and potato bugs!


We'll be keeping a close eye on these and with any luck we'll be able to see some of the babies hatching out of the egg. I'll keep you updated!

Recycled Ollas

So, this year I thought I'd plant a few 2-liter bottles and see what happens...a cola tree perhaps??? LOL! Seriously, we live in Oklahoma...land of crazy weather patterns. Every summer we go through a period of drought that wreaks havoc on the garden...especially larger plants like tomatoes. After much research, I found this information on ollas from one of my favorite blogs, Little Homestead in the City. After reading, ollas seemed like a great solution to my water woes; however, the cost was a bit much for me at $29 each!

Back to researching. I soon found several websites with instructions for recycling pop bottles to create a homemade olla! PERFECT! So, I set out making a few of these little beauties to deliver aqua straight to the thirsty roots of my tomatoes and peppers! We'll see how it goes...my goal is to get bookoos of tomatoes to can my own spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, and ketchup!!

The view from here...

How does your garden grow? Here's a shot of what we've got going so far...hoping to put in green beans & corn very soon!


We got a few new guests out at Willow Run! Three new baby cows! Here's a shot of the girls peeking into the trailer:


The newest residents meet Smokey and Red.


Here's a view of the front pond...so pretty...


Smokey & Red have really settled in and are enjoying the green grass!

This could be the year!!

It is just beautiful here today so I headed out to the backyard with my trusty camera in hand and discovered a few tiny surprises that made me more excited than a lotto winner...seriously...

As many of you know, we planted fruit trees before we unpacked boxes when we arrived here on the OAH. Knowing that it would be several years before seeing fruit, I've watered and weeded, and given many pep talks to these trees...after all, growing FRUIT is an investment in time. It's a wholly different undertaking when compared to an annual veggie garden...serious stuff, people.

Anyway, back to the walk I took today...check out what's been happening out back!!


The blueberries will be blooming any day now! Yes, I know this is a bush...not a tree, but these take some time, too!


That's a tiny pear!! No kidding!


Apple blossoms...the first blooms on our apple trees since we planted them!


A teeny peach was hiding inside this blossom!


I'd like to pause for a moment to thank all those who have made these garden developments possible...thank you precious little buggies! Ummmm...could you get off that dandelion, though, and head over to the fruit trees? (Look at all the pollen on his little bum! :)


Our apricot tree is our healthiest tree...it really seems happy with it's location and all this crazy Oklahoma weather. Grow little tree, grow! Can you see that lovely little baby apricot?

Could this be the year we finally get a decent fruit harvest? Maybe! Stay tuned to find out!!

(Also, I'd like to apologize for being a bad blogger...I know it's been awhile since I've posted. Thanks for your patience and for sticking with me!)