Friday, June 25, 2010

Random pix

It's the height of wildflower season here in north Idaho. The weather is finally moderating and we're having warm temps, so the flowers are popping like crazy. (So are the weeds in the garden - see below.)

These are daisies, my all-time, hands-down, bar-none favorite flower (they were even in my wedding bouquet). What a blessing to be surrounded by them this time of year!


The mix in our orchard/garden area - hawkweed, daisy, clover.


See all the pretty yellow flowers? Ug - every last one is western hawkweed, a nasty invasive species that takes over pastures and renders them inedible for livestock unless controlled. When we first arrived in Idaho, it was mid-June and I thought the yellow fields were breathtakingly beautiful. They're still breathtaking, but now I know better.


Temporarily bucketing the first batch of wheat out of the freezer. Some neighbors are planning on getting some 55-gallon food-grade barrels and said they'd bring a couple extra for us as well, and we'll store the wheat in those. Meanwhile, buckets work fine.




Lap dog in training.


Sacked out on Older Daughter's bed. What a life.




Younger Daughter found this outside a dumpster, being thrown away. We'll take it in to a sewing machine repair place and see if it can be fixed up. A superficial examination makes us think it's not in too bad a shape. Wow, what a find!


Quoth the raven, "Nevermore!"



My efforts at weed control. My garden may not be growing well thanks to our chilly wet spring, but it won't grow at all unless I get a handle on the weeds. It's such a massive task that I portioned off sections using rods in order to weed one section at a time. It's slow but at least I'm making progress.



Lots of worms, which is a good sign. (Sorry for the blurry image.)


Little by little.

6 comments:

  1. Oh....

    ..that poor pitiful put-upon puppy and the pathetic existence she's forced toendure.lol

    Great find Younger Daughter! Hope you'll discover little to nothing wrong with it.

    Impressive progress on that weeding, ma'am.
    Do you also use a hula hoe?

    We harvest the very delectible basil leaves of the ox eye daisies. They're even better than romaine lettuce in salads, and make a super snack while outdoors. A lot of stoop labor, but, like weeding, well worth it.

    A. McSp

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  2. WEEDS!!!! A lesson in patience and perseverence if ever there was one.
    Seems you've got both those attributes in spades. Congrats.

    Anonymous Twit
    USA

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  3. Patrice,

    Where do you get your food buckets, also, where do you get food oxidation packets to put in with the wheat?

    Thanks.

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  4. I used to own a hula hoe but it got lost somewhere and we never replaced it. I just pull the weeds by hand. That's why it's taking so long.

    AFA food buckets - grocery store bakeries! I have a sort of "circuit" of grocery stores I'll visit when I'm in town. Buckets with lids range from free to $2 each. I just collect them as I come across them, and they add up quickly.

    This is in addition to the 24 five-gallon buckets we bought prior to Y2K and which have been in constant use since.

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  5. We've gotten 55 gallon food grade barrels from a local dairy, where we were told they originally contained something added to the cows' feed and therefore must be the same food grade as for humans.

    Hope you can come across another hula hoe...you've got a lot of ground to weed.

    A. McSp

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  6. OK, the old fashioned way is good for a lot-- but that job calls for a tiller. Turn those weeds into fertilizer.

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