With Silver Bells and Cockleshells

...and pretty maids all in a row...

Well, that's not how my garden grows.  Unfortunately. (Mary, Mary Quite Contrary)

The grass and weeds have taken over!  And the rain, we've had so much that my garden has been a swamp, though it is finally draining.  My poor tomato and eggplants have yellow leaves, they've had so. much. water.

Chris plowed up a big section of the backyard with his tractor, and we "installed" (one held, while the other used a rubber mallet to tap into the ground) a short picket fence to keep the chickens and dog out (more on this later).  We had it straight, pickets fairly the same height, and pretty square.

Not super pretty, because it isn't super straight (maybe next year), but functional.

And then it rained a lot, and there might be a wet weather spring there near the garden (because the ducks have a swimming lane there occasionally)...

and now the pickets look like teeth with newly installed braces.  They've followed the slope of the yard and are no longer a pretty straight line but at least they're spaced evenly!  I corrected the height as much as I could, it's still pretty wavy, and then we covered the entire garden spot with several bales of straw to keep the weeds out and future moisture in.  I planted seeds from Baker Creek, bought some plants from Chicken Holler (a local heirloomy kind of place), and caved and bought more seeds from Lowe's and Walmart, even though they weren't heirloom, organic, etc.

We planted tomatoes, eggplant, okra, yellow squash, cucumbers, zucchini, Bok Choy, Rainbow Swiss Chard, bell peppers, beets, carrots, and all the herbs you can possibly think of, a grape vine the chickens had decimated elsewhere, and some lavender.  Then we left for vacation.  And came home to WEEDS!

Overgrown mess.

Not enough straw to keep anything suppressed, but it definitely holds in the moisture!  Many seeds did not come up, except the Baker Creek seeds, which most all germinated.  The plants were all still there, but so was an unexpected amount of grass!  I've replanted most seeds, but looks like I may just have to buy the herb plants.  I'm not having any luck with them.

As for the grass, it's good old fashioned weed pulling time.  My fingers and nails are stained brown, despite scrubbing and soaking (who wears gloves, you can't tell what you're grabbing).  But weed pulling, oh my goodness, it is so satisfying.

Frustration at work?  Chop those weeds with the hoe before pulling.

Lots of words hurled through the air about Minecraft and PS4 games?  Enjoy the solitude of pulling weeds in the heat (nobody wants to be outside then).

Need some time just to think and organize your brain?  Maybe you just want to talk to Jesus, weeding is the perfect time.

They may come find you, but they won't stay long, because weeding as a speculator sport?  BORING.

Hallelujah.

Today, a ray of hope came in the form of sunshine yellow squash tucked sweetly underneath beautiful bright green leaves.

 Postage scales are legit, right?  Haha

We collected two pounds, nine ounces of squash (plus two okra).  I want to weigh each gathering, I'm so curious how many pounds of healthy, delicious food we can raise.

We have a multitude of green tomatoes, and it looks like the beets and maybe Bok Choy are  going to make it.  Everything else is a bit chancy, though the okra is doing almost as well as the squash, just not producing much yet.  There is nothing like two pounds and nine ounces to motivate someone to get back out and weed more...and replace the herbs with plants and not seed.

We NEED fresh marjoram.  Need it!

As for the picket fence, it is only 24 inches in height (found at Lowe's), before being tapped into the ground.  And guess what?  It works like a charm!

The chickens will not cross it.  It's pointy, and they will not fly over something that they cannot roost on first.  Pointy equals danger and scary.  Why keep chickens out?  They are walking, hopping, scratching, pecking garden desecrators.  If they don't eat it, they will uproot it while scratching, and then eat it or it's roots.  Or both.  They will eat the little fertilizer balls that come with the plant, then dig it's roots out.  They will strip a beautiful plant of it's leaves, leaving it standing there bare and wondering.

Who me?  Yes, definitely you.

And the dog?  He's a Collie, and unlike Lassie, he just does not jump.  Ever.  Nor dig.  He will not dig or purposely get wet or dirty for anything.  City Slicker, for sure.  Dumpy the cat is a different story, and I've found a couple of "buried treasures" but he does keep the bunnies out.

We've had raised beds, but not a real garden since our very first house, when we raised way more tomatoes than we could even give away.  We've had quite a few fails and learning lessons, I'm ready for some success!  Our takeaways from this experiment have been...

1.  Picket fencing (even short!) works great for keeping chickens and ducks out (and OUR dog, but maybe not anyone else's).
2.  Straw works great as a topper to keep moisture in.  And maybe weeds out, just make sure you cover the garden with a very thick layer.
3.  Better quality seeds and plants do better.  You will save money in the long run to buy the better seeds.  Save yourself some work and frustration.

Do you have a garden?  Do tell, I'd love to hear your tips and advice!

Lord Willing and the Creek Don't Rise...

"I'll be there, Lord willing and the creek don't rise", my grandmother, MeMe, would often reply when invited to something.  I never really thought of it in a literal sense, until now.  She wasn't kidding,  the creek did rise, and we were stuck!

It started raining Saturday evening, storming through the night.  We left for church Sunday morning with just a slight drizzle.  As we headed down the drive, we discovered it had rained more than we thought!  Runoff from the night tumbled down ditches, made little rivers across our yard, and cut streams into the gravel road heading down the hill.   Our yard had a mini pond next to our real pond, where the ducks promptly started swimming (they refuse to swim in the real pond, but that is another story).

On the road out, the little bridge over the creek was completely covered.  We turned around and went the other way, the long way, but had to turn around as that road had water flowing over it as well.  Cars ahead of us were not crossing, though some were considering it before turning around.  With two future drivers in the backseat, we made a point to emphasize "turn around, don't drown", and did just that.

We went back home, got cozy, and enjoyed the novelty of being stranded.  We missed church and a birthday party, but spent a relaxing morning drinking coffee and eating lunch on the porch, watching it rain.  We kept up with road conditions and photos of area flooding with the county sheriff's department Facebook page.  Our road had officially closed, and then our water went out!  A main line in the Illinois River had partly washed away.

When the rain let up, we went for a hike to see the small wet weather waterfall in the woods that we could hear from our house.

I'm always amazed at how water, though changeable and fluid itself can etch rocks and change landscapes.  Always reminds me of that concept, "small gains over time"...

When the rain had completely stopped for awhile (and we had a nap), we ventured out.  The flood water had receded as quickly as it had come, and the road was open again.  How lucky are we to live on hills, where we really only have trouble with the occasional flash floods overwhelming drainage systems.  We've thought a lot over the past few days about those with true flooding and loss of life and property.  I cannot imagine.

Here we are Wednesday, the water has been on and off all week as they make repairs.  We're on a boil order, but at least we know we can bathe and flush the toilet as needed (that made me feel a little crazy!).  I always think back to the old days, before people had running water, how hard just bathing and basic sanitation must have been.  It certainly makes one appreciate modern conveniences!