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maybe this is outside the parameters of what normal is by a few ounces.  The egg on the left is one of our typical single yolk eggs, the egg on the right is a 3+ oz. dinosaur egg that appears to have been laid by one of our hens. Alissa harvested this egg thursday afternoon to the shock and amazement of the whole family. We are not sure which of the hens laid the massive egg but we hope she’s recovering from her ordeal. We have had quite a few double yolk eggs since the girls started laying but this is by far the largest egg we’ve seen yet. Haven’t cracked it open to see what it contails but I feel a craving for an omelet coming on this weekend

While researching chicken breeds and reading up on the Black Sex Link hybrids we finally settled on I noted that they started producing faster than non-hybrids. Most information said 18 weeks. July 16/17 made 18 weeks for our flock of 11 Hens and I gathered our first eggs on the morning of the 16th.. Simply amazing. That first day we only had 3 eggs yesterday we gathered 9. Now to find more ways to prepare eggs.

In other homestead news, yes I know I’m not posting nearly often enough to even consider that I’m doing this any justice, Our citrus are in their 2nd blushes for the summer. The lemon is covered in new growth and actually managed to finally set fruit. We have one lemon and we can’t wait to make a glass of lemonade with it. The satsuma is doing good as well, the dozen or so fruit I left on it during the spring are riping nicely.

The apple tree has more than doubled its orginal height and is starting to branch out in all directions.

The pear tree after blooming again a month or so ago has once again stopped growing. The new leaves are beginning to have the burned appearance around the edges like the leaves from early spring. I hope this tree does better next year (If it lives that long.)

Muscadines are both growing very well. They are about 2 feet from the top of the clothes line. Should make the top and start training them down the wires by the end of summer this year. We may set fruid next spring.

Blackberry plants are doing well in the pots awaiting fall so they can be planted in their permanent home in front of the chicken coop.

As for the veggies, the beens quit making and were removed from the bed, the peas though still making have slowed down quite a bit. Our peppers and tomatos have slowed down production with the summer heat but should resume once it cools off in the fall.

The blueberries are sprouting new canes 2 or 3 a piece, we should have a nice berry harvest next year. I ran over the roots of one of the tifblue plants with the lawn mower last weekend and had to rush to cover the mangled roots with fresh dirt from the finished compost pile. Time will tell how bad I messed with the poor plant’s growth.

In watermelon news we’ve been happily eating the fruits of our labors this past week as our melons fully ripen.

Well I think that about sums up the last month or so since I last checked in. I can say I’m going to make an effort to be more dutiful in posting to the site but only time will tell if I can carry through with it.

It has been so long since we’ve gotten rain a lot of people around here , me included, have forgotten what it looks like. This past week has rekindled the memory of steady afternoon showers for those of us suffering from drought induced Alzheimer’s.

After two months or so of sleeping on the ground in front of the coop door the ladies finally decided to roost on the roosting bars I installed a few weeks ago at the back of the shed. I had tried smaller roosts out in the yard but they did not want to sleep on them for whatever reason.

In gardening news, in a word it’s growing.

It took me 5-1/2 hours to double dig a 4′x8′ bed. Not too bad considering I hadn’t done it before and I was going by the guidelines outlined in my handy dandy copy of The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible (10th Anniversary Edition). We planted some heirloom pole peas that Sandy at work acquired years ago from an old farmer she knew.  We also planted bush beans and yellow squash in our first bed. Between the chicken coop and the beds we planted Crimson Sweet watermelons to see if they’ll make before labor day. As of today the peas are starting to climb the chicken wire trellis on the north side of the bed, the beans are flowering and setting fruit and we should be picking squash this weekend.

As for the peppers I planted in a previous post I think the pots have stunted their growth and won’t be repeating the practice next year. Raised beds all the way next year I think. The sweet and hot peppers seem to not mind the pots so much and have been making a few peppers a week but the bell peppers have only produced a few peppers each and they are slow to ripen. I picked my first bell peppers this morning and was quite proud to show them off to Lori.

My solitary tomato plant has a dozen or so fruit starting to develop and I think the first tomato will be ready to pick this weekend.

Yesterday I left for work and looked up into a overcast sky fully expecting to get some rain and maybe the possibility that I would have to postpone cutting the lawn a day or so… What I didn’t know was that the storm front moving in was going to set a one day record for the most rain in a 24 hour period.. in the matter of 4 or 5 hours.  Lori called me before I left work and told me the water was rising in the ditch and that it looked like it was going over the driveway. This has happened before and quickly subsided. On my way home I had to detour around flooded streets 4 or 5 times. Finally as I approached home I found all three streets leading into our subdivision were flooded. I crossed my fingers and toes, and crossed what I hoped was the least flooded street to make my way home. After fording lake Yardley I came to the great Lake Munson, formerly Munson Dr. the road we live on. The section in front of our house was completely under water. Going slow I made my way past our house and parked at our Neighbor’s across the street who’s drive way was dry. With rolled up pants legs and shoes and socks in hand I crossed the river that was once our street and finally made it home to kith and kin.

Peppers are potted and seem to be enjoying themselves despite the heavy rains last Saturday and the 5.5 inches we recieved yesterday. Had to prop the plants back up with forked branches and brush the soil off their leaves when I got home yesterday. One of the best reason to pot plants like peppers is they can be moved into the shelter of the barn to protect them from further abuse. The rest of the week is looking to be sunny and in the mid 70′s so I’ll move them back out into the open this afternoon when I get home.

Well, I bought the lumber and tin for a chicken coop still have to buy the wire and hardware and assemble it all but its forward progress. Making a trip today to the Co-OP in Slaughter to price the wire and other assorted odds and ends I’ll need to complete the Coop. Oh yeah going to check into chicks too, the coop won’t be much use without chickens to put in it.  I can all most taste the fresh yard raised eggs now.. yummy.