I’m waiting. The chipmunks, birds and raccoons are waiting, too, for that moment of perfect ripeness. Who will reach for it first?
peach
Tomato closest to being ripe. Almost. Not yet.
I Need Patience
HenCam
I’m waiting. The chipmunks, birds and raccoons are waiting, too, for that moment of perfect ripeness. Who will reach for it first?
peach
Tomato closest to being ripe. Almost. Not yet.
Oh the never ending battle, one I seem to lose more than I win.
A friend in NJ — 30 mins from Manhattan — is losing her veggies to a groundhog this summer!
One year I lost an entire garden to a groundhog. Mowed it right down. The next year I got serious about fencing.
I’ll let the two of you borrower my Boston Terrier, Lulu. She’s killed two groundhogs this year, in one instance it required a trip to the emergency clinic and three stitches under her jowl but she was victorious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Plus I’ve had to break up two of boughts of fight to the death. That girl is not afraid of nothing.
I LOVE the new dust bath area! Watching Buffy LIVE – right in front of the camera!
sorry this is off subject of the blog – Buffy looks HUGE with her feathers all puffed out!
She’s actually a rather hefty bird :) She does eat her fill after the other hens have left the coop in the morning. I gave her a toe nail clipping this morning and checked her for lice – none – the dust bathing works!
No nice lengthy stress-free lounging in the dust bath; the other Barred Rock is barging her way in, wanting equal time. There now, they’ve settled their differences and both are breast-deep in the dirt! ~ ~ How cool is that!
Constant drama!
I am currently waiting for that crucial point that lies a split second between the figs on my tree being ripe, and finding them being hollowed out by wasps. They always scoop out the side away from the house so they look full and lovely when I pick them, only to find an empty skin. In the rare event I find one, I stuff it with dolcelatte, wrap it in parma ham, and shove it in the oven for ten minutes. I may have to camp out down there….
Candy has claimed the new dust bath wallow! She is the Queen!
I still have to wait another three years before the apple trees I planted last year will even have an apple blossom.
Next year we are thinking of planting a peach tree or two.
Just spent a full five minutes this morning watching Candy sit front and center of the camera as she gave herself a complete tongue bath and fluffing up. Delightful. She is a very tidy bunny indeed. Wonderful photos of the peach and tomato – they look like I could ‘pluck’ them off my computer screen!
Glad that Candy has been entertaining! Well, I picked that peach yesterday afternoon and the entire back side of it was wormy. The hens liked it very much. But, the half I photographed I was able to salvage and it was delicious.
We planted bare root fruit trees last year. All we have this year, besides our original crabapple tree, is a few Asian Pears. But next year, I am sure we’ll have peaches, cherries and Fuji apples. I will net the trees if necessary to keep the birds and squirrels away. We also planted Pineapple Guava bushes last year and hoped we would be able to try a few this year, but alas….not yet.
Guava! That’s not something I can plant here in New England!
Peach trees can be tricky so you’re doing something right! I had a young tree die for no obvious reason. The other surviving tree had just one lonely peach. But it was the most perfect peach ever! I split it up between the four of us, HA!
I do think that a tree-ripe peach is the perfect food. I’m impressed you didn’t hoard yours, but share it :)
This year my garden nemesis is GOPHERS! They have already gotten every single ripe tomato first…..but we have a trick up our sleeve……not going to offend anyone by blabbing. hahahahaha
One year a woodchuck (our Eastern gophers) mowed down every single plant, 2 inches left, as if she hadn’t even bothered to bend over! That’s the year that I got serious about fencing. Good dog Lily also keeps all such critters away. She’s doing a great job on mice, too!
Peaches and tomatoes can be picked when they first start to color and they will ripen on the counter over a few days time. They are less attractive to birds and such when they are still pretty hard. And the flavor is barely different from tree and vine ripening.
Alas, I picked them early, but didn’t get ahead of the peach borer. I did use a peach borer traps this year, and it worked; perhaps if I’d hung three? What do you use to control fruit tree pests?
I guess either the timing of the crop was good or we don’t have them here. Most folks get a good crop here in central Texas if the frost doesn’t come late. You could spray(I think there is something organic for borers), or just use more traps.
I got just two peaches out of four trees this year. Damn squirrels chew them when they’re still green, and they fall and rot before they even get a chance. I’ve tried netting, flags, pinwheels, owls, coyote urine, hanging cds, cats, dog—nothing works. Next year: an electric fence?
You need a Lily dog. She came to the back door at 10 pm the other night with a squirrel in her mouth. I had no idea that squirrels were out at night!