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| Edge of a local field. |
The garden is doing well in spite of the lack of rain and the heat we've had. I have not been fond of the high temperatures and humidity this summer has brought with it. It seems like we went from winter to summer with no real spring this year. On the up side, we've been pretty much been living out of the garden. It certainly has helped with the grocery bills these past couple of months! We also had a nice surprise from it as well. We purchased some composted horse barn muckings from a local farmer and it appears that it also contained sunflower seeds. We have sunflowers all over the garden - and that doesn't include the ones we intentionally planted on the back edge! The garden is gorgeous with all the happy yellow flowers all over. (Why did I think of Bob Ross when I wrote that?) We planted the Giant ones and have some that reached 11 ft tall, but the ones that were in the compost were smaller and many were multiheaded. I saved some seeds from those.
We are doing a trial of both cherry tomatoes and bush beans for Seeds Savers Exchange (SSE) and have been having fun watching them grow, taking notes and tasting them. I love trying new things and am looking forward to seeing what I'll get for next year's trial.
There is a downside to living here. We are in a quite transient area, so people are always coming and going. Because of this, we have tons of stray cats - especially here near the farms. According to the vet, people think they can just drop them here in the country and they will find shelter in the barns and have plenty of food to eat with the mice, etc. Sadly, a house cat doesn't always fare well since they've been always sheltered in a home and never outside.
We currently have two that have adopted us. One is a feral female that I have been working with since December. She came to our house so skinny and it was below zero here when she first showed up. I put food out and some shelter, but she never used the shelter - no matter how cold it got. She had her ear clipped (a practice done here on feral cats to mark they've been fixed). She has come a long way in trusting us - but still not totally. There is definitely a wild side to her that I don't think will ever go away. Even after all these months, she still afraid of hands reaching out to her and any sudden movements. You can approach her slowly, but only on her terms. She's taught me a lot when it comes to patience and trust.
The other was pretty much a kitten that would cry in the bushes when I would go out to feed the feral. I put another dish out for the little one and she'd come after I left. Every night she would cry and slowly would come to eat but boy did that girl run! Then she was gone - but we heard a cat crying like she was trapped, so we went searching. We finally found the cat was closed in the neighbor's garage. I went and talked to the neighbor and she told me not to worry - her daughter was involved with the local no kill shelter. But for over 3 weeks we heard the meows and no little one showed up here. I was sure it was the same cat. Then one day, the kitten reappeared and no more crying in the garage. She settled and became more friendly as we watched her grow larger. Sadly, not from eating, but the little one was pregnant!
We got her tamed down, coaxed her in the house with the door always opened and one day, she came in and didn't leave - she decided to have her kittens that same day in our living room. I put her in a box and we helped her deliver 7 kittens. She was exhausted after 3 and didn't try cleaning the rest, so we cut the cords and did it for her. That will be 6 weeks ago tomorrow. Six of the seven survived. I don't know what happened to the one. I discovered it away from the others dead. I felt awful. It was only a week old.
Now we have a house full of fun, playful babies. We are working with a shelter that says it will be so easy to find them homes as kittens are quickly adopted. I hate to see them leave, but going through this shelter is the best way to home them. They do background checks and require references including ones from their family vet. I will definitely miss them though.
