Growing your own basil isn't all it's cracked up to be. In the winter time, we have, in the past, brought the plants inside. BIG MISTAKE..they smell like cat pee....YICK. I'll grow my basil outside the best I can...stupid plants don't like me either....and dry what I need instead of trying to keep the plant growing and using fresh basil all winter...that smell just is NOT worth it.

My homestead is overgrown at the moment...tractor isn't working right and when time allows, that will be fixed. In the meantime, the essential parts of the yard have been cut with a week whacker so as to avoid snakes on the path to the barn, chicken house, etc.

The garden is planted with plans for a bean tepee to go up tomorrow night. The tomatoes have really taken off as have several of the herbs and watermelon. The chickens were laying 12-17 eggs a day, enter heat wave. The laying has slowed down, so we are stepping up the laying mash and have added fresh dirt to their scratching yard. I have read that sometimes the soil becomes depleted of the minerals and just needs a new layer. Our front field is FULL of wild blackberries...can't wait for them to be ready to pick. I'd say we have about 4 to 5 times more than we have ever had before. I think this has to do with having the field brush-hogged....did everything a world of good. I'm not seeing so many strawberries this year. The apple trees are loaded with blossoms and the younger trees seeming to have made it through the winter fairly well. We lost 3 trees to rabbits/deer but that was our own fault for now fencing around them to protect the bark and tender branches. We also lost 3 hens to the high humidity and temperatures about 2 weeks ago. A fan has since been added to the henhouse to help circulate the air. They have a screened in window and an open door to the outside 24/7 but they all seem to have wanted to huddle in the henhouse when it was so hot...not sure why. We opened the door to collect eggs and a dead hen fell out.....not good. Not good at all.

I planted some flowers...the wave petunias are new this year....I'm curious to see just how much they will spread out!

That's all for now....
Signing off from Elderberry Lane....

Michelle