Summertime in Home

• So, our melon patch is pretty much a bust. I think out of the 15 hills we planted there are about 5 left, and only three of those are thriving. Some sort of wilt got them. I'm hoping some actually produce melons. These are the heirloom melons from Seed Savers Exchange - supposed to be extra tasty and unusual. My new work hours (ok, and other things) are contributing to the weediness of the garden. I plan on spending a good amount of time weeding Friday, and then I will feel better. Peas, lettuce, soybeans, zuchinni, basil, and corn are going great. I need to focus on how nice it IS rather than what I'd like it to be....

• A month or so ago there was a coyote hanging about the property. It's my fault, really. One of our hens had been broody, and she finally gave it up and came off the nest. I was late for work but wanted to get all the old eggs out of the nest, so I put them outside the fence in the grass, and told myself I'd get them when I got home. When we got home the eggs were gone and there was scat on the shells. We saw the coyote 3 or 4 times in the week after. The dogs would bark their heads off and it would just stand and stare. It was during that week that we realized the female Rouen duck was missing. She was probably sitting in the woods, laying an egg when he found her. The male Rouens seemed dazed, standing on a log in the pond. Today I noticed that there are two female Mallards down there with our boys. They are way smaller, but from what I could tell they seem to have paired up.

• Last weekend Paul decided it was time to make a new picnic table. He got plans off the internet, bought all the supplies, and got to work. I helped him hold things so we could get it all bolted together, and it turned out so great! I am really impressed...and he did it all without a chop saw!

• When we first moved here, I planted two kiwis on the garden fence. They love it there, and have vigorously taken over about 40 feet of fence. Kiwi is a wild grower - sending out shoots that can grow several feet in a day....but this year I finally figured out how to manage it. At least several times a week I go out there and snap off the shoots. The fruit seems to be growing bigger, and the goats love to eat Kiwi snacks! Now I need to figure out how to manage an out of control fig tree!