High tunnel, Part 9

Everything’s a-poppin’ here! The chicks are eating voraciously. We just had to go out to get another bag of feed. They spend the heat of the day inside the coop. In the evening, they venture out more and lounge in the grass. One of the Americauna spends a lot of her days outside. She’s a loner, always wandering around by herself, eating bugs and grass seeds.

Our loner Americauna

Here’s a picture of the dark brown Americauna.

Another Americauna

And a Wyandotte.

A silver-laced Wyandotte

The meat chickens are getting meatier. Note how much bigger they are than the pullets.

Size comparison of a hen and a broiler

For reasons I don’t understand, the chicks like to hang around the fence.

The grass is always greener....

Hanging out in the corner by the fence

Sitting in the doorway is fun too. Maybe not so much fun for the chicks that are trapped inside.

Three broilers in the doorway

The grape jelly is all gone. The orioles have fledged their chicks and will be moving on soon.

Dad Oriole feeds a baby on the weather vane

A few years ago, they always left at the end of June. We pick a time to stop buying jelly. Too many times, we have opened a jar of jelly, taken one spoonful out, and had the orioles disappear. Then the grape jelly languished in the refrigerator until the next spring. Now we just stop putting it out as an encouragement to begin their trip south.

My Johnny Jump-Ups have gotten spindly but are still blooming their cheerful little hearts out.

Spindly, yet floriferous Johnny Jump Ups

The wildflower seed mix, which started out as a lot of boring white baby’s breath, is expanding its color palette. And look at that massive sunflower!

Mixed flowers with a giant sunflower

I found a white poppy. Who knew? I prefer the red, of course.

I did not know poppies came in white

The bee balm is feeding many bees. I am learning that this plant is kind of invasive. I have to do some serious dividing before next year.

A bumblebee on bee balm

It also attracts butterflies. This is a skipper, named for its erratic flight.

A skipper

The peas have formed pods but are not quite ready for harvest yet.

Peasa

I think we will have sweet corn before the end of the week.

Sweet corn

I picked the first Napa cabbage.

Napa, before

After I cut off all the bug-eaten leaves and got rid of the creepy earwigs that were between the outer leaves, it looked like this.

Napa cabbage ready for stir fry

Terry and I put one side panel on the high tunnel this morning. First, we rolled it out in the driveway and attached a pipe to one side and secured it with clams and screws. I handed Terry tape, and he taped over all the screw heads.

Pipe inserted, screwed in, and taped

We took it to the high tunnel and attached the panel by snapping wiggle wire into a channel. It went faster than we thought it would.

Wiggle wire in channel

Soon it was all done.

The side panel done

And now we can roll up the side!

Terry demonstrates the "flick-of-the-wrist rolling apparatus