end of may

we have tried some new gardening tactics this year.

the tomatoes are mostly in new ground. it was a considerable effort to make new gardening spots where only rocks lived before. one of the new rows doing nicely so far. i like the asparagus backdrop.

the foreground highlights the new raised beds. we'll be doing more of that next year.

another innovation is the deep mulch from mowing the yard.


these tomatoes have a double dose of compost we'll be doing more of that also.


amish paste were the earliest tomatoes we planted. here is one of half a dozen fruits of this size.

they are a little larger than a quarter.


this is the crazy alien hat-trick. we have been avoiding this mostly because it looks so funny..

supposedly this discombobulates the moth that lays the dreaded vine borer.

yummy deep mulch of yard clippings.

another thing that we are trying is widely spaced single rows with a large no-tred-zone.

the tomatillos are filling their little protective covering. we'll have fresh salsa very soon.


kassi is the true garden helper. she can be counted on to pick an evening salad.


we planted another double row of beets.


jocelyn is looking very healthy these days.


the broiler chickens are looking very tasty.

they rarely stand up.

we love our chicken tractors. they are so easy to move and attend. their feeder easily holds twenty four hours worth of feed.

i had to add that little piece of 1/2" pvc pipe across the bottom to keep the waste to a minimum.

we use recycled plastic soaker hoses for our watering needs. great care must be taken during handling since they get leaks easily. we'll likely keep this technology for years to come. we use hose manifolds to water several rows at once. these hoses need to be run in parallel. each manufacturer seems to have different flow rates. we buy what ever is on sale that year. one small innovation that i'm trying is to put a piece of tarp under the manifolds. this makes it possible to detect leaks and doesn't allow weeds to hide in the tangled hose/manifold mess.


we are trying a black plastic mulch this year on the melons and sweet potatoes. i had better examples of this but they also contained photos of tabitha.

the beans had spotty germination. there are new reseedings crooking up in between.

we love some cucumbers.

fresh sliced cucumbers with mayo on toast, that is all the lunch i need.

the kittens are deep in that really cute stage. meet rose tyler...

meet the doctor..


teh sun-chokes are doing well. they need to be tied up soon.


obviously kassi is still asleep other wise i wouldn't be able to take this shot.


tabitha's flower herb bed.

the other half.