Of maters and taters!! Birds too!!

We have been busy learning how to weave tomatoes!! This is the new method we are using instead of staking or caging our tomatoes. So far so good and it looks nice too. Oh, and did I mention that we are using weed mat too this year?? Makes it a little easier for us to keep up with weeds at least in a few select places of the garden!
I was able to start all of my squash seeds last week in the green house and transplant the summer squash out yesterday and the winter squash will go out early next week with weed mat!
I have been able to harvest some broccoli and I have it for sale just here at the stand.
Gene was able to get a third large planting of sweet corn out this week for Sept harvest. We may plant one more yet for Oct too. The first planting of green beans should be ready for picking in mid-July.
Below are some pictures of our early taters and weaved maters! It is a little hard to see but there is bright orange string that runs along the poles that are in the mater rows. When they get bigger, I'll post a picture that shows this better.

This last picture is a closer one of the potatoes! We are so grateful as to how healthy these guys look. Can't wait to get some spuds to eat!
Next is a picture of the first batch of Dark Cornish birds I started in April. They are in a chicken tractor that I parked in a big patch of long grass and added a temporary fence to give them more scratching room. They seem to be growing well and are very active.

Till we meet again.

God's gift

I had the most beautiful gift from God this afternoon and I'd like to share it with you.
As I headed for the greenhouse I noticed a bird nest that had been blown out of a pine tree in the fierce winds the night before. It was laying on the ground. I could see one dead little bird and when I turned the nest over I found another one, dead also. Sadness in my heart, I set out to clean the mess up and I noticed something in front of the greenhouse door. It was shiny green and pulsing.
Realization settled in and I knew I was looking at one of God's tiny creatures-a humming bird! One little wing stuck out to the side and the pulsing was the tiny little bird's breath. I immediately wanted to help it so I gently picked it up and cradled it in my hand. I couldn't even feel the weight of it because it was so small!
Now, I must say here that I have 5 outdoor cats that are terrific hunters and I had not yet fed them their supper. They were close on my heels as they were hungry and they know very well who feeds them.
I headed for the front porch with my little charge and got my hummingbird feeder down. I got her long pointy beak into the syrup two times. I could feel her tiny feet grip my skin and her wings buzzed as she looked up at me! The whole time I was begging God to help me with this little creature of His.
I thought I had better head out to where there were NO cats to let this bird try to fly off so I left the porch. To my dismay several cats followed me. I realized that I would have to trust God and so I voiced one final plea and opened up my hand. That beautiful little bird buzzed off and stopped about 5 feet away from me and turned in mid-air and hovered there looking at me! She then flew off into a huge catalpa tree that is in full blossom and disappeared from sight!!
I had solid goosebumps and a tear of gratefulness ran down my cheek as I thanked God for allowing me to help His small creature. The only picture I have of this is in my mind but it is not one I will forget for a long time.
All Praise and glory be to God.

The blessing of rain!

We finally got rain last evening much to our delight and to God's glory. We had gotten some green beans and sweet corn out earlier this week and those seeds needed just what we got.
Our 90 tomatoes and 60 peppers are not complaining either!!

The sweet taters and other taters are looking very well this morning. I had been running the hoe in the onion rows and let me tell you, that ground was hard!! I didn't even finish because it was so hard and my hands were hurting-darn those blisters!! This rain will make for some nice hoeing in the next couple of days and I plan to take advantage of it too.I should be able to get more plantings of beets in and maybe get started on the carrots as well. I actually took some pictures of what we have so far to share with you.

The big green stuff is our rhubarb and you can see tater plants further out and next to them in the hills and very small at this point are the sweet taters. That white tank clear in the back is our water tank for our irrigation. That will be our next big project-getting drip tape and weed mat down very soon. We are trying to make the weeds more manageable without turning to chemicals. They fast overwhelm the two of us.

Taters again and garlic is the tall green stuff behind the white barrels.

A type of evening primrose that is pink and even the dog kennel is surrounded by posies! I have a carpet of viola's this year with some hosta and some lovely blue iris.

Till we meet again...

The Lord Bless you and keep you;

The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you;

The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Num 6:24-26

Before the face of God

A friend of mine uses this phrase, coram Deo, and I did a search today. I came up with an article by RC Sproul that explains this phrase very well. This captures what we as believers should be doing with our lives every minute of every day. This cannot be found in a building but in our hearts.

What Does “coram Deo” Mean?

from R.C. Sproul

I remember Mama standing in front of me, her hands poised on her hips, her eyes glaring with hot coals of fire and saying in stentorian tones, "Just what is the big idea, young man?"

Instinctively I knew my mother was not asking me an abstract question about theory. Her question was not a question at all--it was a thinly veiled accusation. Her words were easily translated to mean, "Why are you doing what you are doing?" She was challenging me to justify my behavior with a valid idea. I had none.

Recently a friend asked me in all earnestness the same question. He asked, "What's the big idea of the Christian life?" He was interested in the overarching, ultimate goal of the Christian life.

To answer his question, I fell back on the theologian's prerogative and gave him a Latin term. I said, "The big idea of the Christian life is coram Deo. Coram Deo captures the essence of the Christian life."

Contine reading here

The Preachers Authority

Here is a teaching from John MacArthur that I find very timely and helpful in understanding just what and how much authority a preacher has, something easily misunderstood.

The Preacher's Authority

Titus 2:15

Preparing to minister the Word of God week in and week out is such a great adventure. And I cherish every precious hour that I have to study God's Word. I can only plan so much and then I find myself under the compulsion of the Holy Spirit and sometimes my best plans have been laid aside at His bidding. And that's even a more wonderful adventure...read the whole teaching here

Genetic Engineering: The World's Greatest Scam?

This is a great short video to help you understand why GMO's are not something you really want to eat or feed to animals. As you will see, the USA is the largest pusher of GMO in the world thanks to Monsanto.

Things are growing!

Well, it has been awhile since I had time to post here. I have been busy planting many things in flats and some stuff out in the garden. I have potatoes popping up thru the ground. My mom and I planted about 400 onions last week and there is yet one more tray of about 200 to plant!
Gene has been working on the 2 row corn planter we bought this spring for our sweet corn and green beans. Just about the time the weather will dry out a bit and get warmer, we can start planting everything else outside.

Here is the salad stuff that I planted directly in the dirt in the back of the greenhouse. We are enjoying fresh greens of our own now! There are spinach, beets and 2 kinds of lettuce here. That is Chinese cabbage in the corner.

Iris's in bloom on the backside of our house as well as yarrow, a pink evening primrose. tickseed and balloon flowers all yet to come!

There are two hosta's here and the millions of little green things are viola's. They spread everywhere last fall and I am rejoicing to see them all. Makes the dog's kennel pretty too!!

Here is one more project for the summer. These are 4.5 week old Dark Cornish chicks that will become freezer birds in time. A new breed for us to raise but they are a promising meat bird. Not to be confused with the commercial white broilers which do have cornish genes in them. These fellows are quite lively.

Giving thanks in all things to God. Resting in His promises.
Till we meet again.