Summer Gardening… Part 3 Solutions and Discoveries

so did you figure out what was the mistake in our fancy

2014 garden ?

our visitors could ALL too easily GET in..

and did

Enter Triple L

Lovely Literary Lady

Triple L for short

she came this summer a couple times..

and one of the projects the teens worked on

was the saving of the garden

from 

the fowl

and Zeus

trying to get the fowl

but yet resist the temptation to "GET" the fowl..

for beams the young adults all just got beams from the forest

they chopped down

or collected previously chopped down

holes were dug

and meshing hung

Princess built that lovely gate..

but there are FOUR entrances to this large garden…

and 

we still needed proper fitted gates..

will proper gates be gotten too?

the plants are growing GREAT in this no dig garden..

and the only weed issues we seem to really have is in the walkways

we need to find time to do more mulching..

At the farm,

as you remember we have that great wood chipper…

so we make our OWN mulch..

it takes time

and we have to gather our scrap wood ..

making sure its safe for plants…

but it's sure a blessing..

I don't have great expectations for the first couple years of 

gardening here at the farm.. 

I expect to FAIL

F -First

A- Attempt

I - in

L- Learning..

we NEED to fail..

it's how we will best learn this soil.. this hill…

this light

this planting zone..

and it's SO freeing to be ok with that..

these teens LOVED the freedom given to them!

they couldn't believe how little were my expectations..

and in the end they BLEW me away!

In digging to put in another post

excitement was struck!

what looked like a METAL box

could it be buried treasure

would we be millionaires??

oh MY!

eagerness and excitement ensued...

when the rational voice of the 

NOT so young Adult

asked the very bold question..

"Everyone up to date on their Tetnus Shots?

we are looking at RUSTY metal kids

in farm country…so get gloves on"

in response

"ok"

"ummmm.. Tante Nika… I ummmmm"

and off to the ER we went

leaving the buried treasure to be looked at later

gardening turned archeological adventure 

on pause

one tetnus shot later

and a good wound care cleaning kit 

we were able to discover that beneath this metal lid

was dirt..

yep..

someone just tossed it there..

and dumped dirt

and then grass..there was NOTHING to this…

but it sure was 

EXCITING

the walkway to the garden finished, plants growing

gate IN..

things are looking 

GREAT!

rustic

but practical!

and my birds are VER intimidated by it all

see the morning glory is growing!

look ...staring toward the garden..

plotting

as summer went..

things just kept growing and blooming!

and Zeus

got better at just POINTING out the birds..

it's so hard to be bird dog…

with all these blasted birds everywhere!

Welcome to the Family… ZEUS

so so allergic..

to so so many things..

Things we love

things we want

some of us have allergies to wonderful things like..

gluten

casein

soy (ok so that is not so wonderful)

one of us is allergic to grapes

yes..

grapes!

so sad

and cats

dogs

beets

red dye #40

onions

certain medicines

and

oodles of yucky things..

like 

certain pollens

dustmites

perfumes

certain chemicals

blah blah blah

it's UBER annoying

but

we find ways to cope

maneuver around things

and do most everything in life we want to do.

I research LOTS and find substitutes for foods

and beverages we love

so the pain of not having pancakes 

IS NEVER FELT

because we have them 

OFTEN

they are just gluten free pancakes!

and they are delicious!

As for pets…

so far we are all ok with the rabbit

and the ducks

the horse lives in a barn…

so far no problems there..

but…

still they long.. long for a puppy..

and so I researched 

and researched

for

a

breed that would fit our families 

VERY specific constraints…

and my answer had been

one of three breeds (check)

PSP 

(portugese short haired pointer)

ESP

(english short haired pointer)

GSP

(german short haired pointer)

it had to be

hypoallergenic

great with kids

a bird dog/gun dog/hunting dog

not hyper

and...

What I found was…

a

hypo allergenic

english shorthaired pointer pup

aka gundog

aka hunting dog

aka bird dog

aka acceptable breed

yep..

a weekend with Leeloo did the trick

they've hoped and dreamed…

I had said

WHEN...

WHEN Little Man is potty trained (check)

When we find the breed we want (check)

and only in spring or summer (check) 

one that is already crate trained (check)

preferably on sale.. not a high price (check)

so…

welcome to the Family!

Zeus