They Came, They Saw, They Toured

I think we had a successful garden tour yesterday. I was exhausted by the end of the day—I talked to a lot of people and I am not used to being out in the heat like that—but I met quite a few new people and answered many questions. The lavender shortbread cookies seemed to be a big hit. My baking skills are minimal, but it’s hard to screw up a recipe with only three ingredients, one of which is butter. The husband was happy that there were a few left over for him to eat.

My friend Robin was my hostess, and she sat and greeted people as they came in. We got to catch up after not seeing each other for almost four months.

Racer snake stayed out of sight, as did his garter snake friends; I checked the zucchini before the tour to make sure that no one was hiding under the leaves waiting to scare the living daylights out of a guest:

Racer snake completely ignores me when I am out there, but the garter snakes see me coming and slither off to hide.

I picked the first zucchini yesterday! The avalanche will not be long in coming.

I am trying an experiment. We can’t grow sweet potatoes here, but apparently, the leaves are tasty and good in stir fry and sautes. I had a couple in the house that had started to sprout, so I popped them into a pot and put them in the garden. The first leaves have poked through the dirt:

We’ll see how they taste.

I need to step up my baby rooster training efforts. One of the Barred Rock pullets managed to get from the separate space into the big coop yesterday. The baby rooster knew the pullet was not where she was supposed to be and was pacing back and forth, obviously agitated. I scooped her up to put her back with her friends—which made her squawk—and he started to come at me. I calmed him down and told him what a good rooster he was for looking out for his hens. I want him to be assertive about taking care of them, but he has to direct his instincts in the right direction.

It’s a process. At least he’s been watching Dave, which is good. I want to find a home for him. I’d keep him but Dave doesn’t like competition.

I hope things calm down now. I need some peace and quiet. The co-op sale has been scheduled for September 23rd and 24th, although I said to Robin that I may not sell there this year. I don’t have that much inventory and my cousin is getting married the weekend before. We’ll see.

I’ve figured out where I want to run away to for a few days—the trick is going to be shoehorning a trip into the schedule between Zoom interviews of interim pastor candidates and having to play piano at church on Sundays. The new Homestead Foundation website is just about ready to launch, too. I am getting together with the treasurer this week to get the e-commerce links set up, after which we’ll be able to take donations and sell memberships.

But first, sewing.