Progress and Summertime Fun
So, our garden has finally become a source of happiness instead of worry and disappointment. We have more straightneck and zucchini squash than we know what to do with and tons of green beans, too. We’ve also got pumpkins starting to turn orange, four different kinds of tomatoes, jalapenos, green onions, red onions, okra, watermelons, cataloupe, two different kinds of cucumbers and some lettuce that has survived the hot weather. Soon, I’ll be planting broccoli, cabbage, more radishes, carrots, cauliflower and brussels sprouts. Our corn was completely decimated by the sqirrels, so we’ll try that again next year. I don’t know what they did with the corn. There weren’t any ears yet, but they gnawed the corn stalks off about two inches off the ground. We started out with forty-five plants and ended up with four. I finally tried red pepper on the corn that was left, as I heard it might work. C said he said saw one of the squirrels running away from the corn squeaking and jumping in the air. We haven’t seen any squirrels in the garden since, so I guess it worked. We actually got a permit to shoot them from DNR, but they disappeared for the entire month that the permit was good for. A few days after it expired, they came and killed it all. Now, I’ve never shot an animal and I’m not sure I ever could, but I was so angry about the corn that I thought I might be able to. Even A, who wants to save all the animals in the world, was using a slingshot, trying to whack the squirrel that we had chased up a tree. I think we might have better luck next year. We just got a beautiful black lab puppy named Diesel. I don’t think he’ll mind chasing squirrels for us. Also, we need a fence next year. I had to replant green beans because the deer seem to find them irresistible and ate them down to nubby stems.
The kids are having a great summer, swimming at friends houses and playing manhunt (a nighttime version of hide and seek) almost every night. I feel bad for R. There aren’t any kids in the neighborhood that are even close to her age.
In chicken news, we have finished the coop, at least until we have to insulate it this fall. The chickens should be laying their first eggs around the beginning of August. I can’t wait!
That’s all for now!
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