Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Hot....Humid...

Well it is official we are surviving without air conditioning. It has had its moments but overall it is doable. With air management in the house and watching the temperature outside we can sleep at night and get some things done during the day. However the next while will be a real test. Daytime highs in triple digits and high humidity.



 The chickens laying has dropped off and I cannot blame them. They vanish for the day around 10:00 am and go to places shady or in the breezeway of the barn. Then as if by magic they reappear briefly around 2:00 pm and tank up on water, vanish again to return at 4:30  or so to graze and catch bugs. They love the windfall apples and my organic bug control of Japanese Beetles.  I check the corn twice a day, morning and night, I was picking the beetles into a bag then feeding the chickens. They found out where I was getting them and now they follow me to the corn and devour any beetles I find. The chickens are demanding! Beetle snacks NOW!

 In the Breezeway, avoiding the worst heat.

A hen in the shade of the Tobacco barn just out of the breezeway.
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Most of the Barn Swallows have hatched a second clutch of babies and it is pretty amazing to have no mosquitos and very few flying bugs of any kind around the farm buildings until you see all the swallows perched on the fence. There are 5 nests in the rafters of bay two and here is the latest set of hungry mouths!


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The Hummingbirds are loving the new feeders. There were no feeders here before and now we have a huge amount of Hummingbirds whizzing and buzzing around our front porch.


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Our squash row is doing well....we ran it full length of the south garden, 200 feet of different varieties. They can vine out into the field and  not overwhelm the garden itself.

There are Golden Hubbard, Blue Hubbard, Potimarron, Pennsylvania Crook Neck,Thema Sanders,  Gutamalen Blue, Pink Banana, and Candyroaster to name a few.
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Yes the Godzilla of Tomato's, the Litchi, are doing especially well. None ripe yet but when they start ripening its going to be a good test to see just how useful and tasty they are. There are loads of tiny fruit on these unusual plants.


25 gallons of our apples have been processed into juice, sauce, pie filling, apple butter and dried snacks. There are many many more apples to deal with and the windfalls are being gobbled up by the poultry. They love the bruised and slightly soften apples on the ground. Plus it is nice and shady under the apple trees, often with a light breeze that makes the humidity much more bearable.

On that note it is time to refill the dehydrator and get back to work.

God Bless you all and be safe in these troubling times. Remember to keep hydrated and watch your salt intake...you need more salt when you sweat as much as we do in his crazy weather.


And just a bit of duckness to brighten your day!


12 comments:

  1. I love reading about - and seeing - your tales from farm country. Takes me back to my boyhood. :)

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    1. I am glad you enjoy our blog...Ralph keeps saying weeding was easier when he was a boy!

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  2. You could put in a couple of small window units and cool the parts of the house where you spend most of your time. They don't use much electricity and make a world of difference. Nor do they cost much, around a hundred for a good one.

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    1. We have debated the AC long and hard...we had a very good and affordable window unit in Virginia.
      However we also found going outside was much more difficult when we used it so we decided we would use fans and keep the house warmer. It is not as enjoyable as AC! the interesting thing is we have not had any summer sniffles, the fans expunge the heat from the house at night and we sleep well plus going outside is not nearly so shocking. We have found that much better when we have to work.
      I can't say we won't break down and get AC but for now it is better for us without it. Do you have window units?

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  3. Be safe! This heat wave is a scorcher!

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  4. It is that! We make sure the waterers are all full and I feed the poultry frozen tomatoes in the afternoons worst heat. I have some bags in the dee freeze from last year and since the new crop is almost here it is a good use for them. You stay safe too!
    Its like a poultry popsicle treat.

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  5. Could you do one of those swamp coolers? I don't like A/C myself, but have a portable one that I run for the dogs when I'm not home. :) I also put ice cubes in the duck water - just because it's such a hoot to watch them! You two stay as cool as you can - it's been one hot summer.

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    1. Humn We will have to try that. The ducks splash gallons of water out of their trough/ponds. It's hilarious to watch and they expect us to refill the troughs right away. The "turducky's" Dusty, Goldwing and Underbite think they are turkey's until they hit the shallow pond-bin...they annoy the poults by splashing them when they are drinking. As to the swamp cooler.....it's a very good option.

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  6. triple digits?
    Yikes!
    We are getting close, but usually top out in the 90's.
    Stay CooL!

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    1. It's nasty but the mornings are decent. We get up earlier and the poultry seems to as well, then afternoon is siesta in the shade....little groups of birds...all sleeping until it's cooler:) How do your sheep deal with heat?

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  7. Your map showing the temps are a little too low for what we've been having in northern Minnesota. We've had quite a few days (especially this past week) of up in the nineties. Waaaay too hot, thank you very much. Hope we aren't going to see the triple digits as you may be having. Gak! Our poultry has either been in the pond or sprawled out in the shade of the little woods on the north side of their pasture.

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    1. I think the poultry have it figured out! The corn loves this heat though and so do the sweet potatoes. We had a horrible day today with the humidity! Stay hydrated! God Bless!

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