Went to a garden party, to reminisce with my old friends...

We just got back from a three hour adventure to our garden (not a three hour tour on the S.S. Minnow)..hehehehe..and whew, what a productive morning!!! Extremely exhausting due to the heat, but very productive!!! We cleaned out the dead leaves and branches in "tomato forest" and did some weeding too so that the fresh air and sunlight can get to the tomato's once again...

It is so hard to believe that just two months ago, our veggies were "just" starting to break ground, and now, it is so lush and green!!! Fortunately, we have only had to water once from our well since early June. Mother Nature has been very kind to our little homestead's garden and for that we feel blessed to have had another successful season so far. We were even able to pick corn today, so tonight we will be eating fresh again, thanks to Jan's garden!!!

Until later...R Dean

June 8th picture of the garden...

August 1st picture of the garden...

Purple Cherokee heirloom's...can't wait to taste one of these bad boys on a slab of cow with a big thick onion!!!

BIGGGGGG...Summer Squash!!!

Papa Zuch and Jr. hangin' out together!!!

Basket of beans and assorted tomato's...the yellow one's are Pear's (see the resemblence to a Pear in their shape)....very tasty!!!

SEVENTEEN CUKES...HOLY COW!!!

Ten ears, two zuch's and three squash...

Ya'll be cool now yah hear...Peace!!!

Can't believe its been 11 days...

since I last posted...time fly's...Everything is going well at Coop De Ville, the residents seem to have settled in very nicely. Still have some exterior work to do on CDV before I will declare it complete, well really, it probably will never be "completely complete", there will always be room for improvements! The four-leggers seem to be more tolerant of the new residents, however, I am far from letting the chicken's live a "free-range" lifestyle yet, that would certainly foreshorten their lifespan...

Not much more to report, the grass and the garden are growing at warp speed, which we feel blessed about, well at least the garden part. The problem with the grass is if I cannot cut the entire property at least within a few days, it is like starting over again...arghhhh...but we are getting so much free water (from rain) that we will not complain!!!

To say the mosquito's are abundant this summer would be an understatement, it is now second nature to spray your legs, arms and neck before you venture out, so tomorrow morning's garden trip will be an adventure in anti-mosquitoism...but most definitely worth it!!!

Until tomorrow...Peace R Dean

Sunrise series...it just doesn't get any better than this!!!

Russell Crow and his girls...

Pecking around in the morning while a four-legger loiters outside!!!

New 2 gallon waterer for inside the coop...

A look from inside the coop...hmmm...scary looking shadow, kinda looks like Freddy Kreuger!!! YIKES!!!

Tussle time...the four-leggers doing one of the three things they do best...play, the other two, eat and sleep!!!

Nitschke standing in a bucket of water to cool off...he's a nut case!!!

A jam packed garden and still growing...

Garden variety sunflower...

Reaping the rewards of our garden...

The end to a great weekend...

Well, we didn't finish everything we wanted to, but we still had a very productive and relaxing weekend! Yesterday, we went into town to visit the Manitowoc Farmer's market. Although it was a beautiful day to do so, we were a bit disappointed in how little there was to choose from in regards to fresh produce. We "heard" from one vendor (that did not sell produce) that some of the vendor's go to Milwaukee to purchase the produce to sell at the market. That was surprising "if true" because one just assumes that at a farmer's market, one, it is local's selling their own produce, and two, it is grown locally. Anyway, it was still fun, and we persused several shops while downtown. One shop in particular caught my attention, a home brewery store. As I become more well versed in self-sustainability, I become more and more interested in what I can actually make myself instead of purchasing it from the store. Two things that first come to mind, beer and soap, so more to come on those subjects soon!

Today, we worked together in the garden pulling weeds. I pulled weeds from between the rows of tomato plants and Jan pulled weeds from other area's of the garden. It was fun, and like I told her later, very eye opening for me, because I have not been involved in the garden to this extent, she has always done all of the work besides tilling. I truly gained a lot more respect for how hard she has worked the last two season's helping to bring our garden's to fruition! I look forward to continuing to help her!

Hopefully this week, we will wrap up Coop de Ville! We'll keep our fingers crossed! Until we meet again, hope you enjoy the pictures!
Peace...

Sweet Basil and a couple Banana Peppers picked from the garden today...

The makings of our fresh salad's we had for dinner tonight...

Asoapi from Five Bee's Soap Art purchased yesterday at the Farmer's Market in Manitowoc...

One of our Sunflower's in the Strawberry garden...

The SS Badger car ferry coming into port yesterday...