It has not rained for four full weeks. We are barely able to keep enough water on the garden, but the big raised bed is going strong. The cabbage and broccoil have yielded several meals, and we have pulled out the spent pea plants and planted cucumbers at the base of their trellis. (Well, "trellis" is an overstatement: it is a piece of old wire fencing. The peas didn’t seem to mind.) We have eaten the first tomatoes; the potatoes are nearly ready for harvest; and the herbs, which can take a little dry weather, are growing well.
Meanwhile, the ducks are growing fast. They have moved outside now, and they look and sound more like adult ducks: they have all their first feathers, and they are quacking more than peeping. If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck…
 |
Teenage ducks, test-driving their new feathers. |
 |
The first potatoes, the best we have grown so far. We harvested about twelve pounds in total, which is not much but is pretty good for two small bins. As with everything else, it’s practice for our next, larger homestead—we want the experience as much as the food. |
 |
The first tomatoes… |
 |
…and cherry tomatoes. |
 |
Herbs, anyone? The parsley has gone to seed; when the seeds dry out, we will let them fall back into the bed and compost the plants. |
 |
Our late crop of cucumbers, which replaced the sugar snap peas. |