Sweaty SC Farming

Hello from steamy, sultry, sweaty South Carolina. While we haven't melted yet, our gardens still need some tending (especially water) in all this heat. Our hydrangeas mope every day, but our lilies are happily blooming at the mailbox. Not bad for cheap bulbs I got at Aldi a few years ago!

I was finally able to visit the farm plot for the first time since the end of April and the garden was exploding! I set up some wind support for the corn, trellised the black beans, and trimmed the unruly tomatoes (and got a blister, oops!) Speaking of those tomatoes, the "Taxi" variety is LOADED. I've never seen that much fruit set at one time before! We'll be canning and freezing tomatoes before we know it! Two of the sungolds were ready to sample right off the vine. The zucchini will be harvested in mere days as will the cucumbers. The tomatillo plant is covered in blossoms and  a few fruit. We're also harvesting a half cup to a cup of mulberries every few days and have our eyes on the beautiful raspberries and blueberries that are setting fruit. The summer bounty is nearly upon us!

In the animal world, this heat means our ladies are not laying as much and are just lounging in the shade most of the day. In spite of how stifling it gets in the coop, several of our ladies (Amelia, Matilda, and Alice) are going broody and wanting to hatch eggs. Maybe the heat is making them delirious, but right on schedule miss Millie went broody again last week. Like a bellwether, she tends to make everyone else want to go broody too and we can't have that in a layer-only flock. So we decided to give her to a good friend who needed a broody hen and Millie is quite pleased to have 6 fertile eggs to sit on. 

Poor little Daisy had to go to the vet last week. She was showing symptoms of UTI and one of her cysts had gotten really irritated. While the antibiotics worked their magic and she's feeling a lot better, it's looking like she'll need surgery to fully remove the problematic cyst in the near future. $$$ Better start saving up! In the mean time, she is soaking up all the cuddles she can get despite the hot weather.

At work my postcard exhibit is almost set up and ready for viewing. Just missing one display case and then it'll be up for locals to reminisce about old Greenville until August 1st.

With the little extra cash from plant and herb sales at the markets, my farmer surprised me with two more cute succulents! So tiny and fun to have in the window sill.