whilwinds...
Today started with me having to finish grading a number of papers that students had submitted on the eve of the course sessions closing for one of the universities I teach for online. Final grades were due today at noon...I spent most of yesterday grading papers that were last minute submissions...about 12 hours total yesterday. I finished grading all papers and submitting grades by 12:10...fortunately for me, the university is on a time schedule 3 hours behind my time. Thus, it was all good.
Then, as we were getting ready to leave to go to the library and to get allergy shots, we found a chicken in one of my raised beds: the bed with most of the veggies in it. I was disgusted. I had already placed chicken plastic caging as a temporary fencing around each bed to keep chicken and neighbor children out...and there was a chicken in the middle of the bed. I guess I should be equally perplexed that they were locked in last night and were roaming around this morning. So, I had to hit the ground running. My younger son went outside to move the chicken from the bed. Most of the buttercrunch and romaine was destroyed. :/
Upon working to re-establish more secure fencing around the perimeter of the bed, I noticed how awful the veggies look. These beds were planted just after spring started. Then an awful chill set in and has not quite let up yet...then it rained buckets for two days straight. Cold air, lots of wind, and lots of rain all at once are not good for newly planted veggies. I hope they will spring back to life as the weather improves or reburst with new growth. I hope. I hope.
The tomatoes look equally pitiful. I did trim them back a bit on the stem shoots that did not look like they would recover.
In one of the beds that had been a makeshift sandbox of sorts for a neighborhood child who randomly wandered into my yard (RIGHT AFTER I had planted some seeds), there are some sprouts. The sad thing about this one bed, is that it is one of the ones prepped for soil and such since about December. I had carefully planted the larger veggies like corn and such to be on the south side and then veggies that could be in partial shade were next and so forth...all the way over to veggie plants that needed to be in full sun for a few hours a day. The neighbor child played in the bed and informed me she had found corn seeds...she has also turned up the bed several times over and rearranged corn seeds as she continued to search for me...My carefully planned raised bed garden was soon a mixture of soil and seeds with no rhyme or reason to it. I have no idea what is where now or what will grow and what was damaged. But, things are blooming and sprouting...I do not know what it is or what it will grow to become. :/ Might make for some interesting growth patterns. We will see. :)
Since I was already working outside, I continued. I cleaned the nesting boxes and re-pine-chipped them...I weeded the front flower area in front of the porch. I set out the pomegranate and blueberry trees where I wanted them planted. I picked a spot to plant the new concord grape vine and the two raspberry vines. I tried to look for a place to put the trellis for the luffas...but, I had no luck.
Speaking of luffas...my younger son noticed that one of them has spindled its way through the curtains between yesterday afternoon and this morning. The weather will have to warm soon...because these things needs to get planted...SOON.
I did get the roses planted this morning....4 of them.
I also figured out how to keep the chicks in their bin...I put caging over the top of them...It is held in place by clamps on two sides and the brooding lamp clamp on a third. They got clean water and food and pine shavings. The can create quite a mess in no time flat.
We did manage to get to the library and accomplished one algebra lesson today...Not much academic accomplished, but lots of needed outside stuff accomplished.
Then, as we were getting ready to leave to go to the library and to get allergy shots, we found a chicken in one of my raised beds: the bed with most of the veggies in it. I was disgusted. I had already placed chicken plastic caging as a temporary fencing around each bed to keep chicken and neighbor children out...and there was a chicken in the middle of the bed. I guess I should be equally perplexed that they were locked in last night and were roaming around this morning. So, I had to hit the ground running. My younger son went outside to move the chicken from the bed. Most of the buttercrunch and romaine was destroyed. :/
Upon working to re-establish more secure fencing around the perimeter of the bed, I noticed how awful the veggies look. These beds were planted just after spring started. Then an awful chill set in and has not quite let up yet...then it rained buckets for two days straight. Cold air, lots of wind, and lots of rain all at once are not good for newly planted veggies. I hope they will spring back to life as the weather improves or reburst with new growth. I hope. I hope.
The tomatoes look equally pitiful. I did trim them back a bit on the stem shoots that did not look like they would recover.
In one of the beds that had been a makeshift sandbox of sorts for a neighborhood child who randomly wandered into my yard (RIGHT AFTER I had planted some seeds), there are some sprouts. The sad thing about this one bed, is that it is one of the ones prepped for soil and such since about December. I had carefully planted the larger veggies like corn and such to be on the south side and then veggies that could be in partial shade were next and so forth...all the way over to veggie plants that needed to be in full sun for a few hours a day. The neighbor child played in the bed and informed me she had found corn seeds...she has also turned up the bed several times over and rearranged corn seeds as she continued to search for me...My carefully planned raised bed garden was soon a mixture of soil and seeds with no rhyme or reason to it. I have no idea what is where now or what will grow and what was damaged. But, things are blooming and sprouting...I do not know what it is or what it will grow to become. :/ Might make for some interesting growth patterns. We will see. :)
Since I was already working outside, I continued. I cleaned the nesting boxes and re-pine-chipped them...I weeded the front flower area in front of the porch. I set out the pomegranate and blueberry trees where I wanted them planted. I picked a spot to plant the new concord grape vine and the two raspberry vines. I tried to look for a place to put the trellis for the luffas...but, I had no luck.
Speaking of luffas...my younger son noticed that one of them has spindled its way through the curtains between yesterday afternoon and this morning. The weather will have to warm soon...because these things needs to get planted...SOON.
I did get the roses planted this morning....4 of them.
I also figured out how to keep the chicks in their bin...I put caging over the top of them...It is held in place by clamps on two sides and the brooding lamp clamp on a third. They got clean water and food and pine shavings. The can create quite a mess in no time flat.
We did manage to get to the library and accomplished one algebra lesson today...Not much academic accomplished, but lots of needed outside stuff accomplished.
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