It’s been a difficult couple weeks. Between high temperatures and lots of little set backs it’s all been rather discouraging. At times I feel like we’re closing in on our end goals and finishing all the major projects and then other times all I can see is everything that needs to be finished and improved. I guess we’ll just keep chipping away at things and eventually it will all get done.
July 17th-23rd
Heat warning all week, so we just survived. Lots of watering… plants and animals.
July 24-30th
Predators
Unfortunately, we lost of baby gosling to a predator. It’s been really discouraging. With momma goose #2 currently sitting on 5 eggs we’ll have to remove any that hatch and put them in an enclosed brooder as we can’t risk any more deaths.
Barn Build
Some progress. Truss’s were delivered and now we’re just waiting on a lumber delivery. Once we get the final supplies hopefully it will be smooth sailing from there…
Garden Troubles
I’ve had some issues with the blossoms falling off the eggplants. I decided to move them out of the greenhouse, as I think the intense Summer heat is causing them stress. I’ve also noticed that the honeydew melons are forming fruit but then they turn yellow and fall off…perhaps caused by heat stress too, or maybe pollinators aren’t going in the greenhouse.
We are having a ridiculous amount of trouble with earwigs this year. Despite the temperatures they continue to thrive and eat whatever comes in their path. Diatomaceous earth is not working, and while I have been able to over seed crops that have been eaten it has set our garden back in several areas. I need to research more effective ways of controlling the population.
Also, during the heat wave all the blossoms fell off the cherry tomato plants before setting fruit. These are container plants that were established outside. I’m hopeful that since it’s early in the season they will bloom again after recovering from the heat stress. Fingers crossed for some cooler weather.
Speaking of tomatoes, there is a pronounced difference between the beefsteak I planted in containers and the tomatoes that are in the ground. The ones in the ground are HUGE and thriving, while the beefsteak are producing lots of fruit but as a whole look quite awful. Next week we absolutely need to build the hoop house with removeable sides for the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants.