5.25.2012

May: Post Surgery, and Garden Progress

The beginning of May brought surgery to relieve a trifecta of issues: frozen shoulder, bursitis, and a bone spur causing impingement, all in one shoulder. Recovery is still ongoing, and many thanks to Spouse and one of The Aunties for flying out and taking care of the farm and myself while I careened between the recliner, the flexibility (i.e. torture) chair, and the bed while in a drug-induced haze. Sorry, no pictures of THAT.

Sicilian Buttercup hen. Say, is that
a katydid leg sticking out of her mouth?
The earlier work on lawn/pasture seeding is still in question. The millet (which was included in the pasture bermuda mix to shade the bermuda while it grows) is doing well, but the bermuda growth has been slow. Hoping it didn't get too hot, too fast for good growth. A large portion of the lawn/pasture is also still covered in wildflowers: salvias of all types, bee balm, a variety of daisies, "Mexican hats", and more. I love watching the ducks and chickens rooting around between the clumps of flowers in the morning, hunting for grasshoppers, crickets, and katydids. Later in the day, the ducks rest in the shade of these wildflower clumps, quietly waiting out the afternoon heat.

Plums
In the orchard, the apricots ripened early and the trees are now resting for the season. Not much harvest on the apricots, peach & nectarine trees this year, as I forgot to spray the dormant oil until it was too late. On the other hand, one plum is going gangbusters, and one pear and one apple are doing well. The other plums, pears & apples seem to have decided that they did their duty with cross-pollination, and so have taken the season "off". Too early in the season yet to tell for the figs, but almost all the figs have fruit forming, even the small ones we rooted & potted from another tree last year. And of course, the Meyer lemon and Mandarin orange are doing well. Still want to add some regular lemons & limes to the potted tree populace.

Dona F1 tomato, ripening.
The volunteer tomato that was transplanted from the compost pile is an absolute MONSTER. The "Dirty Girl" tomatoes are doing terrific as well. The San Marzano tomatoes are growing surprisingly slow; I may need to do more research on their growing preferences. Maybe it got too hot, too fast? The Dona F1's are fruiting nicely, and I expect to taste ripe fruit in the next few days. All the other tomatoes are chugging along just fine.

The sweet potatoes are looking good, and the beans and corn are growing, but the squash, okra and eggplant aren't quite sure if they'd rather live or die.

Young bunny. I'm ignoring its destructive powers for now.
The brood of newborn bunnies didn't stay in the one tomato bed for long - they grow up fast - but I think one of them is still hanging around. For a wild bunny, it lets me get fairly close, so was able to take a few photos the other day. CUTE!



9 comments:

  1. Wow! Hope you get to feeling "all doctored up" and ready to kick the world into gear fast, without all the pain. Bermuda... once it sets in... no sweat. Getting it to take off takes the patience of Mother Teresa. Just hang in there. In fact - you may do good to see a couple palm-size patches this year. I thought we'd never get it going in this clay soil over here. But after seeding in 2010... we're pulling out the sprinklers this year. In the meantime... make sure to water AWAY from your flower beds. The runners can smell water for a mile. If they make it into your flowerbed... it becomes a homicide mission. lol

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    1. Thanks for the Bermuda grass info, *whew*! Thought I had screwed it up :-).

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  2. Okay, your pain and suffering aside... we both used the word "trifecta" in our posts! Kind of cool, yeah?
    Now, back to a more appropriate reaction: I hope you heal quickly, easily. At least we know you feel well enough to write a lovely and newsy post!
    Love the Sicilian Buttercup Hen... what a beauty.

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    1. Thanks for your kind regards. The Sicilians are small & flighty, but they lay fairly well (medium-sized eggs), and manage the heat here with no problems. And "trifecta"... well, we're both nerd-goddesses, right? :-)

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  3. Ugh! Shoulder drama is the WORST! Hope things are feeling better. Also, how can you resist just putting baby bunnies in your pocket? The cute is too much!!

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    1. They were/are so adorable! Was too worried about Mama bunny rejecting the brood if they smelled like me too much, so other than that one photo op, I had to leave them alone. But oh, it was hard to do so! So much *squee!*

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  4. Ouch! Hope you're soon on the mend!

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    1. Thanks, Reya! Physical therapist says I'm doing really well, so I'll take his word on the matter :-).

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  5. After studying a patient's medical history, physical therapists observe the patient's posture, strength, motor function, breathing ability, coordination, and balance. Click here for more info.

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Of Mice and Various Snakes and new Duck Feed Station

As mentioned in the previous post, our region is experiencing a near-Biblical plague of mice. "It's due to all the moisture we had...