Good harvests lately

We're still getting ripe nectarines, a few each day and now plums too. The hazelnuts are getting closer, I sort of feel like I'm playing "chicken" with the wildlife, how long dare I let the hazelnuts ripen. I really feel it's a bit too early but I reassess at least once a day. Most of the dinner I made today was from garden harvest, all sorts of good summer squash, green and yellow beans, bell peppers,  cucumbers, potatoes and more went into a salad, veggie lasagne, roasted potatoes, stir fried veg. and boiled green and yellow beans. Their is a definite chill in the air some mornings just lately and I head back to work tomorrow. I'm glad to have gotten some of my large projects completed but some will have to be fit in (here's hoping!) this fall.

Nectarines and plums, not huge but home grown and delicious!

The pumpkins on the giant plant are starting to ripen.

The chickens are laying  pretty well though a little slower than spring. I think some are starting their molt.

Hazelnuts just a few with a little brown like this, I'll wait another day or two, I think!

Dipsy the Frizzle, who does things her own way molted over the summer and is looking good and refeathered now. 

White silkies always look so dirty dust bathing then they stand and shake and the dirt comes right off and they're beautiful again afterwards!

More dust bathing beauties.

Bunnies munching away.

Cleaned the coop this weekend, head rooster Mo approves.

The birds enjoying their day. 

You can plant and transplant trees in summer

Summer isn't the absolute best time to plant or transplant trees and bushes but it can be done and the trees can thrive. You just never know, we've planted fruit trees in mid-summer that have done fine and planted a tree in spring, the optimal time for our climate, that died. There are many variables but right now, middle of August is the right time for me to plant a 4 in 1 plum tree that I found at a very low "clearance" price. It's also the right time to transplant a fruit tree that is dying in its present location.  The keys seems to be digging a very large hole, giving the trees (or bushes) or more specifically their roots a good soak before they go in their new hole and adding lots of good dirt and well aged compost to the new hole. Also watering the summer planted trees or bushes well and regularly for the rest of the summer is very important. Planting the 4 in `1 plum was pretty straightforward, it was from a plant nursery and really needed to be in the ground weeks or months ago. It was in too small a pot and very root bound but the tree itself looked healthy and a good size, possibly a 3 or so year old tree. I dug the big hole, with plenty of chicken and duck helpers, watered the hole to check for good drainage, filled the hole partway with a mix of good dirt and aged compost, added then the tree that had been soaking to the hole. I helped the roots spread out some and then added more good dirt and aged compost to fill the hole. I made sure to leave the rootstock/graft site (the bump on the lower trunk) above the dirt. I watered it very well and spread some mulch, well actually used duck shavings around the base of the tree to hold in moisture.

As for the tree in need of transplant it's a fruit tree, possibly a pear, that we planted several years ago, it never thrived and looked to be dying so it was time to try a new spot. Again I dug a really big hole and the whole process was the same as for the newly planted tree. The only difference is that hubby wanted to dig up the tree so he could ensure that most of the roots were kept intact and the dead branches were pruned off. The transplanted tree seems content in its new spot only time will tell if this will save that tree and if it's actually a pear tree. It's pretty skinny and with all the green background you can't really see the tree but it's there in its new spot!

The ducks got a nice bonus of the hole the transplant tree was dug out of, they enjoyed the hole and enjoyed it even more when I filled it with water for them!

Do the cats want to be turkeys?

As usual the wild turkeys have been around. I finally got some okay pictures of mama turkey and her 8 little poults. Kitkat and Rufus generally seem entranced with them, maybe they think these birds should be in the fence like our chickens and ducks? For awhile the baby turkeys were able to get through the wire fencing but now they are too big, I'm sure mama turkey is happy about that since she can't get through the fence!

Time for the bunnies to move.

Our three large rabbits live in a converted dog run cage during all but winter. I have moved this cage from time to time trying to find a perfect place based on whatever we were using it for at the time. It's been the big bunnies for a few years now. I thought it was in a good place then we found that it flooded badly in the spring with all the snow melt. This meant the bunnies couldn't be moved out there until things dried up, about a month later than I wanted to move them out. So it has to move. It's just so heavy though! The boys and hubby said last time I had them move it that it was THE LAST TIME. So what to do, once I get an idea in my head I want to do it. I knew that once I started this I would have to finish it in the day so the bunnies could be back in for bedtime. I also knew that if I let the bunnies loose in the fenced chicken yard that I would most certainly have a terrible time catching them again so I better get what I want done to make it worth the effort!

I took off the heavy duty tarp and various roof pieces then gave it some thought. For anything else now the kennel door must be opened and the bunnies will have freedom.

Taking apart extra roof parts.

Roof tarp, it's a very heavy weight tarp,, has held up well. 

I got up my courage and opened the kennel door. Matilda, our wildest bunny, took off like a shot. the other two, Stella and Lilla were calmer about it all and stayed nearby curious about what i was doing. The chickens and ducks of course were very curious!

Bunnies out, curious chickens and ducks in.

So many helpers.

I started cleaning, digging out the cage until I got to the fenced flooring (has to be or they'll dig out!). I then worked on loosening the dirt around the outside of the cage so it would move a bit better. Part of the weight issue when we've moved this before might have been built up hay and soil stuck to the fencing.

KitKat peekaboo

I see you!

The weight does add up...though it's just plain heavy too, chain link panels covered in welded wire and hardware cloth a fenced roof and a fenced floor. It's heavy and big. Once I got the kennel loosened right up and all dirt removed I found that it was not quite unbearably heavy and maybe I could shift it myself with the help of a dolly. It only had to turn 90 degrees and move maybe 15 feet or so.

Found the floor.

The dolly really helped and I got the kennel moved to it's new position!

I should have shut them in at that point though Matilda was still out

Then the chickens claimed it.

New.... for us!

Bunnies outside looking in at chickens in their cage.

The bunnies were in fact curious and in and out a bit but the chickens would not leave. They love new things.

Finally I had to scoot all the chickens out so I could put the bunnies in for the night. I didn't want to leave the chore of catching them until late because they are very hard to catch.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out and I don't think this area will be prone to flooding. Also being right off the taller main fencing I can easily put the tarp-roof at a good angle for rain to run off. I may try something more permanent for roofing, didn't put all the extra parts back yet so I can think about options.

Pulling up a couple stumps and...more buried glass.

I've been digging up and pulling out a few stumps in the orchard area. I'm doing this mainly because the hose gets caught on them when I head out that way to water the blueberry transplants. Things were going fine until the last stump, then I encountered more buried glass. Unexpected buried glass. I had my hands around the stump to pull and got cut! There was glass intermingled with the roots of that stump. I bandaged up but had to finish the job, I couldn't leave exposed glass for the chickens and ducks to potentially get into. I had to go back to it and ended up with half a bucketful of glass and a rusty old hinge when I followed this latest glass trail. When I was sure as I could be that all the glass was cleared I cleaned up very well and rebandaged the cuts. Only one is deep and it's not too terrible just sore. I may just take the rest of the day off. Before the glass incident I had made a nice sitting area for the birds. In the morning they like to gather on an old fallen log. I added two more similar logs to that area so an even larger group can perch and gather comfortably if they so choose. I also dug up some areas of the run that have hardened dirt, by turning the dirt it encourages the birds to pick through that area and loosen it all up again. the area nearest the coop tends to harden quite a lot due to that being the most walked on area and also the build up of shavings in winter when I make paths through the snow with the shavings.

Glass and a hing, what on earth was buried here long ago? 

Glass and stumps all cleaned up from this area now it's safe for the birds to peck and look through.

New improved morning meeting area for the chickens, will they use it all?

A pitchfork is good for loosening the hardened dirt nearest the coop. 

Birds enjoying their day.