Been a while since the last update, but not a lot to report.
1. It's been hot and humid all summer, so I haven't been able to work on projects too much because the heat/humidity quickly becomes more than a person can handle. This has caused me to be a bit overwhelmed with the huge to-do list, but I've kind of been just doing what it takes to get everything through the day.
2. I've decided to let the garden go for the summer. A lot of stuff has died out, but there's still some crops and plenty of weeds growing. My little strawberry patch was full of baby plants & runners, but a lot of them have died, even though I have been giving them a bit of
water.
*Note to self- don't try to grow green mulch in the paths next year because they just get filled with crabgrass that throws seeds everywhere.
3. Next year I think I'm going to try a different layout of the garden because everything just grew into a big mess and was difficult to harvest and it took a lot of time to make my way through everything and gather the ripe crops. I finally quit because it sucked being covered in sweat, itchy from the plants & bugs, while seeing the sun set knowing I still had other chores to do. My brain works better with more organization.
4. Bugs are everywhere. Stink bugs, squash bugs, leaf footed bugs, sharpshooters, possessive/stinging pollinators, grasshoppers, caterpillars, mosquitos, flies, harlequin bugs, fire
ants, aphids, and, last week, swarms of Japanese beetles showed up for the first time. Bumblebees have made a big comeback, which is great until you grab one while harvesting. My dragonfly swarm is back this year, but haven't made a dent in the mosquitos and gnats. The ladybugs seemed to fade out in early summer. The biggest pain is the fruit flies that have invaded my house!
5. I decided to not do a fall garden. It's still 100°+ each day, and I figured there's no sense in just feeding the bugs more. I still have a few kale plants from last winter, and may do some more greens in October.
6. A big % of the produce ended up being pig & poultry food this summer because I just didn't have the time to preserve it. Then, the aforementioned fruit flies would try to infest stuff from the garden as soon as I brought it in. Definitely not what I'd hoped for but at least it saved me on animal
feed and wasn't totally wasted.
7. Bought some 3ft garden fencing on clearance, and am going to try to
fence in the big garden space and let the geese, ducks, and maybe the silkies have their way in it over the winter. Hopefully they'll find/eat pests in the mulch and weed seeds, plus clean up the old plant remains (saving on feed). Since my annual garden is attached to the forest garden I'll need to protect some stuff like strawberries and small shrubs/trees before I let them in.
8. Vines, oh my gosh! They've been excellent producers, but man do they take up space. Will definitely need to come up with a better trellising system before next spring.
9. Still need to improve/expand the poultry
yard and coops when I can source the materials.
While this may sound like a "negative" update, it's not all bad. I've just been a little overwhelmed with the daily stuff and other stuff that pops up and needs attention. It's caused me to become a little burnt out (literally, with the Texas heat lol). I've only been on this homesite for a little over a year, so I'm still trying to design and implement the right system, which is hard when my hands are already full. But, I hope, it'll get better as I keep going.
Soon I need to sit down and start refining my plan to identify the priorities and what tasks will give me the most bang for my buck when it comes to simplifying and saving time.