Weekend ritualistic self-torture

Nice and cool this morning, but it's turned into a bugger of a day - muggy, hot. Texas.

We finished putting the fingers into the chicken plucker and had quite a few fingers left over. Mike's finishing the rest of it today (or getting really close to finishing). The 'rest of it' involves pulleys and a motor to drive it, etc...

This morning, we fenced off the main garden so that the goats would have another area to eat today. We are managing the pastures and have about six different areas that can be gated or locked, so it works out great. This is the first year we've really gotten into moving the goats around, but it's working out well and we've got some fat goats.

Mid-day -

Just finished hoeing up an area to plant the perennial vegetables in - the onions and the artichokes. Will probably move the ten or so asparagus plants in the fall to this new area, but not during the spring.

Also mulched the potatoes again - they are growing like crazy.

And checked the gourds in the backyard which are filled with both good and bad bugs - shield bugs bad, wheel bugs good. leafhoppers bad, ladybugs good. So we're going to leave them alone. I might spray them with molasses water and bt later to keep the worms and the ants away, but I've already got a ton of egg gourds on them thanks to the bees. The bees are so heavy with the orange pollen they get from the plants that when they go back to the hive at night, they can barely make the landing platform.

Just watered the grapevines and the one surviving blackberry plant.. correction, make that two, but the other one is still in the backyard area which means it's survived us - and several years of neglect. The fig tree seems stressed (either too much water or not enough will do that), yet there are four figs on it! We also harvested our first peach from the peach tree in the front yard (one of several, as well), but we're not going to get very many this year... just not a good year for them. Maybe next year. Because we've got bees, now, the trees will have more fruit. Just not this year, although for the first time, the trees are absolutely gorgeous. We've had to spray them several times with bt to keep the web worms off of them, but it seems to have worked.

The pear tree, although it had fire blight last year (which is purported to be the death of a tree) has wonderful new growth this year. I sprayed the tree with a combination of orange oil and bt last year, because I think that fireblight is caused by creatures, not a disease. All I know is that it seems to have worked.

We had a happy hour with some of my friends last week and when we got home, we discovered that the goats managed to get into the front yard and backyard and destroyed many branches of redbuds and the oaks, and tore up my herb garden as well as some prized bushes. Luckily, we had nets around the fruit trees in the front so we didn't lose any branches. Goats love to browse, which means eathing grass and bushes and trees, oh my.

Later in the evening:

I made crackers - great recipe that's very forgiving. And it's very simple. Water, oil, salt and flour - then some kind of seasoning. Easy to do and you can make all sorts of flavors. One batch fills up one baking sheet.

Shoveled dirt into the cart to put down on the raised bed (onions, artichokes, etc..), but will need to turn it again because the weeds have taken control of it, as always happens when you turn your head for ten seconds.

Sat out and watched the goats in the evening. Their bellies are so full that they can barely move and all the females look very pregnant again, but they're not.

Planning on planting the basil, the beets (it may be too late for them in texas), the Salvias I've grown from seed and a few more things from the greenhouse before it gets too hot.

And then there's the goats that need to be tagged and given their worming medicine and their hooves need to be trimmed and we need to go grocery shopping.

Gah.