Slow & Steady

There hasn't been much going on lately. Just keeping on keeping on. I've been working on the garden but I have to face reality, that sunflower/squash bed just isn't going to get planted because it's already too late, and the wild birds(mostly doves and maybe robins) keep eating the lettuce. I'll be surprised and grateful for whatever comes of this year's harvest but I doubt it will be much. Hopefully I'll be better prepared for next year. 

I have learned quite a bit about our property and the climate/ecosystem we live in this year. 

1. There are deer around but they are well fed and easy to deter.(unlike ontario deer).
2. There are rabbits but they are well fed which means they're less likely to fall for a trap, but also less likely to raid the garden. 
3. There are few if any hawks/eagles in this area and most (if not all) soaring birds are vultures or ravens.
4. There are no ground predators on the island. No coyotes, racoons, skunks, foxes, weasels, etc to hunt the chickens. Their biggest threat is traffic, and we're not getting much of that down here.
5. This dry spring was unusual, but the temperatures were not unusual, so I can be fairly safe planting much earlier than I did . 
6. The sandy soil of our lot doesn't hold water at all which is great during heavy rains, but does mean watering is required if doesn't rain for a week or more. I'm hoping to help retention without compromising drainage by using compost over the next few years.
7. Our yard is a great diversity of plants, but if the grass isn't cut when it starts to get tall at the end of May, it quickly grows waist high and thick enough to shade out the rest so it becomes the only thing growing in that area.
8. Areas where the grass is kept at a reasonable height, are flourishing with clover and thyme and many other plants.

It's hard to find the energy to do much with the stress of the job hunt messing with our sleep, but I've been working on some indoor stuff like my coding project(for chicken records), trying out some personal knowledge database tools like Notion and LogSeq(for storing and finding info), and a little bit of baking.

banana bread with chocolate chips