Browsed by
Month: July 2020

July…hot, hot July

July…hot, hot July

Comments 0 Comment

We usually get to 100 degrees in July. After a mild spring with plenty of rain, I am spoiled. Rain makes me feel like a master gardener. lol. Everything grows and nothing dies…Then July comes and we hit triple digits and no rain for weeks. The goal in July is not a beautiful garden. In July the goal is just to keep everything alive. Water is precious and so we only water when we have to and try to conserve as much as possible.

The good news is there is still lots to do in July. A few weeks ago, I harvested some mint. I tied it in a bundle and hung it to dry. Today I refilled my mint spice jar. There is something satisfying about eating what you grow.

Final veggies before the heat sets in

Purple Martins

Purple Martins

Comments 0 Comment

Ok, so I think these are Purple Martins. Please let me know if I am wrong about this.

It was about May 1st that we started seeing and hearing the Purple Martins scouting for a place to live. We were not sure that they were Martins and so we googled what they sound and look like. I expected them to be dark purple, but it seems like the juveniles are not necessarily.

So we put out some suggested mud, egg shells and bedding material. They were not interested in it. Maybe because it was too close to the ground. Our dog was very interested. lol.

Then one day, we noticed a nest being built. That happened around the third week of May. It looked like the Martin nests we found online. Then there were eggs. No pic of that. Then there were baby birds. They came in the beginning of June. Within a month it was all over. The babies were born, then they grew. Then they flew!

It was such a neat experience. A lot of work though. You have to lower the bird house every day or two and clean out any nests being built that do not belong to Purple Martins. That is not easy to do. It seems like the other little brown birds work harder and faster…but we empty out their nest material so the purple ones win. It is interesting that the Purple Martins do not mind our intruding on their behalf. They seem to like our help.