The winner of the Devine Gardens August drawing is DP of the Syracuse area.
The Garden of Weeden should be the new name for my garden. The weeds got ahead of me early and I haven't gotten ahead of them since. But, I have been getting a lot of vegetables this year. The root crops have done really well. I also have had kale almost the whole summer. The tomatoes got early blight in early June; they are producing but not that much. The green beans, cucumbers and squashes were planted late and have really had a hard time catching up.
This is our first summer having cows. The plan was the chickens were supposed to eat the fly larvae to control the fly population. I guess the chickens didn't get that memo. The 3 chickens that were left after the red fox ate the others were very lazy little chickens who wanted their food put in front of them. Two more chickens disappeared a couple of weeks ago. Now we are down to one chicken. I'm hoping to get a few more in a week or so.
The flies on the cows are a nuisance. The cows are fed minerals and kelp to keep them from getting pink eye. The mineral feeder has felt underneath for aromatic oils to be put on to it and I've been rubbing the oils on the cows that will let me. Because the cows aren't given chemicals that will disrupt the ecosystem it is harder to control the fly population.
Mike and I have the posts pounded in for more fencing. We have also been building a handling facility for the cows which includes a corral, crowding area and a working chute with head gate. We need this because we don't have a way to give vaccinations or any other medical attention that the cows made need. Also, we don't have a bull so will need to be able to do artificial insemination as soon as it is up and running.
If you get to the New York State Fair visit the Master Gardeners Tent. They have included Devine Gardens vermicompost in their display this year.
I hope you all enjoy the last gorgeous month of summer. All this good fresh food is so scrumptious.