Egg-cellent!

In the midst of all of our crazy packing and cleaning, we found a surprise this morning.

Look what I did!

McCormick laid her first egg! We weren’t expecting this until October or late September at the earliest! It was a great surprise. She seems very proud.

This is today’s haul. The tomatoes are hanging on for dear life while the jalapenos are pwning.

One of these things is not like the other

Jaydee even seems impressed by his sister’s accomplishment.

What is this madness?

Life is moving super fast and exciting as we gear up to move in two weeks, pack, get some eggs, and gear up for fall and the best time of the year (October – Jan)!!!!

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Hot Chickens

Just a quick recap of Sunday.

They love playing in the dirt

The chickens still love running around, even in the heat. They even go to the gate in their pen when you go outside, waiting to be let out.

Ready to pick

Sunday’s Pickings

We had a good haul. The tomatoes never last long in the house. The moment they are fully ripe, we slice them up and eat them as is. Also, we have no idea how the red jalapeno happened. Neither of us noticed it until it got this bright! They smell amazing though. Very peppery.

Fruits and Veggies of our Labor

The garden is fighting through the three digit weather we are having. Nick and I have been watering it as often as we can. The newest hurdle we are learning to overcome are ants and aphids. Our plants are getting eaten by hundreds of little devils and I had no idea it was even happening. Nick researched what we can do and we are taking environmentally friendly steps to take back control our garden!

Happily the plants seem as stubborn as we are. They are still providing us with surprisingly tasty food.

Delicious

I accidentally picked the green one before it could start to blush, but I’m glad I did. It was super juicy and tasty. The two red ones on the right are our first ripe tomatoes and they were amazing. We ate them both last night with just a tiny bit of sea salt on top.

These are our first three jalapenos. The plants are going insane! We have so many more coming in. Also, they smell great and spicy. The taste is amazing, but when the heat kicks in…my eyelids even started sweating.

Nick took a bite out of this one. Then went straight for some milk.

Cooking with them has been great so far. Brings down the heat just enough so you can enjoy the taste.

Our next goal…making our own pickles!

Teeny Tinies

It has been quite a week. Super busy, lots of updates! To start with, we have a plethora of new produce coming in.

Baby Jalapenos

Baby Cukes!

Getting big

I’m realizing how many mistakes I made with the trellises and tomato cages as the plants outgrow their little environments. I do like how wild the garden looks. Vines everywhere, leaves going wherever they please. Next time I will try to have a little more planning and organization just to help the plants be healthier and happier, but the chaos and freedom will still be happening.

Crazy plants

The plants are taking a beating in this heat. I can’t imagine how things would look if it was as hot as last summer. I’m just excited to get past July and August and closer to fall. Nick has been watering the plants at least twice a day to help them survive.

Feeling the heat

I love all the green in the garden and am so happy our first garden is doing as well as it is. Next year, maybe we can figure out a way to keep the wasps away!

Gardening Updates

Nick has taken charge with the gardening since I am away more from home (new job!). He is doing an amazing job!

I am just blown away by the beautiful flowers that the fruit and veggies are producing. It is very exciting.

The cucumber plants are getting to be taller than me. They aren’t growing straight up, or they would be way taller, because I didn’t set up great trellises. So, they are growing sideways a bit. Whatever works. You live and learn!

Ignore the pig tails! It is hot outside

Then, there are the tomatoes and jalapenos.

Nick has already promised that he will eat the first jalapeno that we pick whole. I’m looking forward to this moment. Big time.

So, this being my first trip into gardening, I am learning what not to do next time. I planted multiple plants in pots, and am realizing this was a terrible idea. These plants need space, so I’ve done some testing with re-potting and replanting. The soil in our backyard is not great. It is very clay like and has tons of rocks. I planted two tomato plants and a cucumber plant just to see what would happen. Surprisingly….super surprisingly, they are doing amazing.

And our baby chickens are all grown up. They no longer go “peep”, they now make chicken sounds like “bak bak” and “BAK!!!” when Nick chases then for “exercise”. Lol.

They love to eat the vines

Cucumbers!

We’ve got cucumbers! Watch out! So exciting.

Hooray! So exciting.

Lately

Well, my life has had a huge change recently. There has been some relief, anxiety, stress, but mostly hope. I have been working on my own work, portfolio, and branding non stop since last Wednesday. As stuff comes together more, I will post more about it, but I really want to just keep working on it for now.

Besides that, here are some updates from the past few days when I take a break from my compy and sketching.

Some tomato plants are flowering.

Lots of rain

Some peppers are coming in.

Of course, the ladies.

So, as I complete and work on more things I promise to update, but for now I will return to working next to an open window with kitty. Thanks to everyone for all the support and love as I move onto the next steps in life.

Goodrich Farms: Flowering

The news is the jalapeno plants are busting out some flowers. Guys, this is huge. I’ve never grown anything in my life. I’ve killed a cactus plant and a bamboo plant. Now, these are the jalapeno plants that Nick bought me, so they didn’t start from seeds, but I see it as a win.

Speaking of winning, the cucumber plants are starting to actually tendril. Low and behold, one of them is flowering as well. I started these in newspaper pots as seedlings and they are still alive. Life achievement points just went up.

And of course the chickens. They are still doing well. Hopefully getting use to the weather as we hit the mid 90s. I have to watch them around my plants, though. Generally they eat the bugs and sparse grass we have on the ground, but McCormick tried eating some leaves off my cucumber plant yesterday. Silly little monsters.

Hey guys

Goodrich Farms: Decisions

Two random decisions have been made this week.

The first one was me deciding not to baby my chickens so much. They need to learn how to acclimate to the weather (while it is still reasonable and not too hot) and they need to realize that kitties are not their friends. A neighborhood cat got very interested in our babies and the babies were interested back. Until the kitty tried to get his paw through their pen. Thank goodness the pen is strong enough.

I wanted to run outside and scare the cat off, but I had to see how reliable the pen is. Thank goodness it worked.

The other decision I made was to move a group of my plants outside. Some of the leaves on my tomato plants and a cucumber plant were getting white spots on them. Through some internet research, the opinion I have come to is that the plants aren’t getting enough direct sunlight or air.

How a noob sets up her garden. No judging please!

Their first day being outside showed the tomato plants doing well, but the cucumber plants got a little droopy. I’m going to test out different locations with different light and shade to find out which works best. Hooray for learning.

Exciting moment, the jalapeno plants are starting to flower! These are the plants that Nick bought me and they use to be so small!

And the chickens are still enjoying their free range time. Hardcastle hates going back to her hutch. She just wants to stay free all day.

 

 

Goodrich Farms: Chicken Preteens

Those little monsters are growing every day. We’ve moved them outside and they love it.

They get to spend more time in their temporary big pen and more time in their permanent pen that will attach to their hutch. They love their hutch.

Oh hey!

Devouring any and every insect!

When Nick or I open the top to check their food and water, they like to fly up on the lip and walk around. Probably looking for bugs to eat, but I like to think they wanna hang out with Nick and I.

First night outside

Just exploring around

Bring the bugs!

Side note, my kitty apparently loves jalapeno plant leaves. Not good!

Kitty aftermath