A very pink evening

 
Peppers are starting to flower and I got celery in the ground.

 
Broccoli got in and tomatoes are loving this heat.

 
Brother Doug helped me plant, carrots, onions, basil, oregano, dill, thyme,  parsley, spinach and lettuce from seed. We cover them in straw to create a warm, wet environment to germinate the seeds faster. It also cuts down on weeds by blocking the out.

 

The sky turned a really crazy pink tonight so I ran outside to capture some photos. The sun painted the garden a haze of pink and the sky rumbled with thunder.

 
Just crazy cool and an eerie calm before the thunderstorms.

 
Fence and latch in the pink glow. I like the latch pic best of all.

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Celery, Onions, Pickles and stuff

I was able to get some broccoli, cabbage and onions sets planted when I got home this evening. I mound up the soil, add some organic manure and pop ’em in the ground. I like to separate root vegetables.It’s easier when you have to dig them all up.

 

The chickens enjoy foraging for worms and bugs while I plant.

Cucumber Patch is filling in nicely. Can’t wait till the fresh dill comes in. Mindy likes dill pickles, I’m a bread and butter chip man myself. Here’s a very simple recipe for dill pickles:

DILL PICKLES RECIPE (CRISP)

2 c. water 1 c. white vinegar 2 tbsp. canning salt 1 bunch of dill in each quart jar Boil first three ingredients 5 minutes. Fill quart jars with cucumbers and dill. Pour boiling brine into jars of cucumbers and let set 5 or 10 minutes. Pour liquid from these jars back into kettle and boil again 10 minutes. Return to jars and seal.Set sealed jars immediately into boiling water. Set off the heat and allow jars to cool completely in this pan of water. WATER NEED NOT COVER THE JARS. 1/2 to 2/3 up on jars. Do not process. This can be multiplied 10 times for 8 quarts of pickles.

 

Chickens are funny little creatures. They’re like little robots. Their movements are very stoic. I let them out to roam around after work when I go to planting. They just kind of hang around and scratch and eat worms, bugs and other stuff. It also cuts down on the amount of pellets you have to feed them cause they feed themselves. It’s a real “win/win” situation. That is until tomatoes start coming in then they just go after the fruit like a moth before a flame.

 

Wild blackberries are coming in too! We’ll make jelly. I won’t eat it but Mindy and our friends dig blackberries. I’m a strawberry man myself.

  

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