And that was Summer

Really.  September already.  I feel like this, the Summer of 2013, has gone by in a blur.   Gorgeous weather for sure, and lots to do... So Much to Do.  Too Much.

My poor garden is so overgrown and crazy-wild, I'm slightly embarrassed by it.  I've totally neglected it for most -- if not all -- summer.  Other than watering it on occassion.  If it weren't for all the volunteer plants this year, I'm not sure I'd have much in there to speak of.  Half the potato plants and ALL the tomatoes grew all by themselves, with no help from me.  The chard and New Zealand spinach are out of control.  My lettuces are bolting all over the place.  Thankfully, some things like the carrots and beets don't really care if I pay any attention to them.  They are almost happier if I don't.  I did manage to harvest the garlic at the end of July, but it's still sitting, drying, with old dirt caking the huge bulbs waiting for a good scrubbing and to be put in the basement.

Thankfully the fruit trees don't need much attention.

Really, the only saving grace of it all is that nothing is really going to go to waste.  Sure, I'm not going to be harvesting or preserving as much for us as I would like, but the pigs and chickens will get several good feasts from everything I pull out of there.

So why did everything get so crazy??  I have 2 answers for that: pigs and unexpected chickens.  The pigs we have managed to feed almost for free if you don't count the time and money spent on gas gathering everything for them: greens and other produce from a local grocery store (a lot of it organic), expired bread and milk from a bakery and another grocery store.  Then we cook almost all their food, other than soft fruits and melon-y things.  Three HUGE meals a day.   They are getting big, but not fat, so I think it's a good thing.  The proof, I guess, will be in the... um... "pudding" ... so to speak.

And the chickens?  Yikes.  I was so proud of myself, having planned the 2 hatches of buff orpingtons, marans, and ameraucanas so precisely so as to have the hens laying by September at the latest.  And then came the gift of Salmon Faverolles and Mille Fleur D'uccles.  Two breeds I personally DID NOT plan on having this year -- or any time in the near future for that matter.  But, they were a gift for my bird-loving daughter from a very generous lady.  They hatched in mid-July and won't lay anything till at least January.  I did sell a couple Mille Fleurs and 6 Faverolles, but still.  I'm STILL raising chicks.  And one of the little "millies" has a severe cross-beak, so requires extra attention.  I can pass a lot of that extra care on to the Daughter, since they were given to her.  And the Fav's -- we ended up with 3 pullets and 1cockerel so that's nice, if we choose to breed them.  At this point, I would just like to concentrate on the marans and ameraucanas.  

Sigh.  Lots to do still.

I'm taking notes already for next year, mostly of what NOT to do.  Like no hatching birds after May, for starters.