Big Brother is Watching

Soon to be a greenhouse

BIG BROTHER’S WATCHING

Yep, we got a notice the other day from the City of Olympia telling us we had too many quail. That means, of course, that one of the neighbors complained because, well, there was no other way for the city to know what we had in our backyard.

So we appealed and we lost the appeal, and they have given us until July 5^th to move or get rid of our flock, and we spent a day moaning and being pissed off and yes, I was cussing a bit….LOL….and then….

We spoke to Bev’s son, who has a goat farm three miles away, out of the city limits, and he said sure, build an aviary on his place and keep the birds there, and Bev was fine with that and doesn’t mind going over there daily to feed and water the birds, and then I was thinking I could easily make our two existing aviaries into greenhouses, and we can start growing more plants for a longer growing season….soooooo

I’m no longer cussing.  The work has begun on the new aviary on Matt’s property, and we’re moving all the quail over there this weekend, and….

Goodbye catastrophe and hello solution!!!!!

When I was younger this sort of thing would have put me in a bad mood for weeks.  Now, well, let’s just say I am much-mellower and I realize that very few obstacles are worth pissing and moaning over.

What really bothers me about the whole thing is the neighbor, whoever they were, didn’t just come and talk to us. We have tried to foster a spirit of community in our neighborhood, and it just seems like people, at times, don’t understand what that means.

Oh well!

SPEAKING OF THOSE GREENHOUSES

We struck a deal with the local urban garden center and they will set up our greenhouse for us and provide seeds and knowledge. In return we will sell the seedlings to them for a discount. In other words we’ll become a wholesaler of plants and I think that is very cool.

HAY BALE GARDENING

If you haven’t tried it then at least consider it.  I’m not a scientist, so I can’t tell you exactly why it works. I just know it does.  We have never grown such vibrant, healthy plants as the ones growing in our hay bale garden.  The potatoes are absolutely going nuts, as are the onions, carrots, kale and pumpkins.  You can bet I’ll have some hay bales in the new greenhouse for next year.

You could probably still give it a go this year if you wanted.  It takes seventeen days, give or take a day, to amend the bales with fertilizer, water and my own magic elixir, rabbit poop, so that still gives you more than enough time to grow some fall veggies or even late-summer veggies.

WEATHER IN OUR NECK OF THE WOODS

We had the wettest winter on record here in 2016, followed by two very hot weeks in early May, but since then we’ve had a very normal June for us, which means on-again-off-again showers and temperatures ranging from 65-75.  Right on schedule, the warmer temps and sunshine are due this Saturday, the 25^th….so for us, this is a normal late spring/summer.

I’ve been watching the news about the droughts and severe storms and tornadoes and flash flooding, and I swear to God, I don’t know why more people don’t move to western Washington.  Right about now I’ll bet there are millions of people who think 75 degrees sounds pretty darned good.  Actually, we are supposed to have an additional 20,000 people move into our city in the next year. I’m already dreading the increase in traffic.  LOL  Shhh, don’t tell anyone we have perfect weather here.

QUAIL PRODUCTION

The quail are at the peak of their laying season right now. We get between five and six dozen eggs per day, and that’s about all we can hope for with the number of birds we have.

We currently have some specialty quail eggs in the incubator, something new we thought we would try.  When they are adults they will sell for $100 each, so cross your fingers and hope they all live.

BERRIES AND GRAPES

We’ve already harvested the raspberries.  Blackberries are ripening now and then it will by the blueberries’ turn….and the grapes are going whacko!

AND THAT’S IT FROM MILD OLYMPIA

Thanks for stopping by.  I always appreciate the visits and comments, so keep them coming.  Share your thoughts in the comment section…tell us all what works for you…and in advance, thank you!

Bill