CC Pygmy Goats

The bird below is a Little Blue Heron. How can that be, that bird is WHITE?? Well, it is a juvenile or an immature Little Blue Heron. When this bird matures, it will turn blue.

These tiny bluebirds (below) hatched this morning. They are still waiting for the 4th egg to open. They look much larger than the actual size. Each bird is about a half inch long. Just over the size of your thumbnail. The egg is smaller than my husband’s wedding ring.

We picked fresh thyme (below left) and basil (below center) from the garden to add to our squash (below right). It was delicious.

The Parsley (below) has run its course and is going to seed.

Look at the slideshow below. Picture #1 is of the Zinnias from Aunt Mercedes. They have not started blooming yet, but should bloom by next week. Picture #2 is of the flowers that are just about to go to seed. Picture #3 is a frost grapevine. This grape is also known as a wild grape or a Winter grape. No flowers or grapes yet. Pictures #4-5 are Maximillian sunflowers. These should be prolific starting midsummer which is right about now and picture #6 is a Jerusalem artichoke which is a species of sunflower. The tubers from a Jerusalem artichoke are a great addition to your meal. After the plant turns brown, you dig the tubers, wash, and boil until tender. Then add salt and butter. (Remember that too much of a good thing is BAD for you. These tubers are also a natural laxative so one, two or three are fine, but six or eight should not find their way to your plate.)

Even though the Purple Martins arrived late in the year, they were on time with their departure. The saying goes that Purple Martins arrive on Valentine’s Day and depart on the 4 th of July. Our birds gathered up and departed on July 2nd. But the good news is that this group and all the purple Martins that hatched here should return next February. After waiting three years with empty houses, we finally have a colony of Purple Martins that will call the farm their home when they visit the USA from South America (mainly Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil).

The pumpkin we harvested early because it was growing through the fence went to Jackie’s house. The internet told us that it would continue to ripen if left in the sun. Below are pictures of this same pumpkin before it ripened and two weeks later. It did NOT grow but it looks larger because the after picture was taken closer to the pumpkin.

Picture #1 below: These sunflowers have finished blooming and should produce seeds shortly. Picture #2: We had to transplant a pumpkin plant which did not have enough sun. Pictures #3-5: The blueberry plants finally have more blueberries. Hopefully, we will harvest these blueberries before the birds and the deer harvest the berries.

This is our first blossom (below) on our Gala Apple Tree. Hopefully, it will get pollinated and become an apple.

Kellan found a copperhead (below) behind the waterfalls at Lake Keowee. He was off of the path when he discovered this snake. We sincerely hope that Kellan was using the Zoom feature on his phone and was not actually close to this venomous snake.

This is our scarecrow. We promise to work on him before the next blog!!

Below: BIV, BV (Quinn) and Brian had a workout today. They did not say who tapped out and who did not!

Our goats (below) had a good day and are happy.