the garden

borage in bloom

After a very successful spring garden, my summer garden is creeping along.  There is nothing ready out there.  I have tons of green tomatoes, lots of baby peppers, and squash and cuke blooms, but nothing ready to eat.  I am so thankful for the recently opened Home Sweet Farm Market where I can get farm fresh goodies until my garden kicks into action (this is also where I am selling all of my goods- cough, cough)!  And don't even get me started on the stink bugs!  I am out every night picking off stink bugs and throwing them into a bucket of water as I go.  Oh, the smell!  As Moonpie tells me "well, they don't call them stink bugs for nothin'!".

This year I have really tried to focus on my herb growing skills.  The growing isn't the hard part, it's the knowing when and what to harvest.  This book always helps in that journey for me, but it's a learning curve none the less.  So far in the healing garden I have borage (as pictured above), lemon balm, comfrey, sage, mint, and st. John's wort.  I attempted to grow some echinacea by seed, but to no avail.  I am determined for next year!

And with all of this that is going on, and not going on (I'm looking at you green beans!), I am talking with a goat farm about adding two doelings to our backyard mini farm!  I am so excited and a bit afraid.  Like I am probably getting in over my head.  I never can leave well enough alone!  I am currently looking into mini La Manchas with their cute little elf ears!  Any advice regarding these girls would be greatly welcomed!