Corn and Sunflowers

Well, my corn is producing ears like crazy and some will be ready to start harvesting soon. With the corn producing ears also comes the dreaded silkworm. I noticed some when I was checking the corn Monday in between rain showers. I simply picked them off and squished them. I know there will be more to come but with the rain Monday and Tuesday I couldn't apply any mineral oil. I will do that today once I check the forecast. The bugs are really a problem this year, even though my garden is in a new spot, virgin ground, they have managed to come from far and wide. It seems like every plant in the garden is plagued right now with something or other. Well, all that is except the watermelon, so far that has escaped predation. I need to start getting some of my fall planting in so that it has time to grow. Hopefully, it won't be attacked by bugs too badly. The first patch of sunflowers is coming along nicely and I will start harvesting those this week. I need 150 lbs. to get me through the winter in feed. You don't need much. I tried breeding the rabbits again this week, but my doe is not interested and was growling at Bubba. So we will try again in a few days. This is her last chance to give me a litter, or it is off to freezer camp. I am currently looking for another doe, but meat rabbits are not easy to find. The other day I was so excited to see our quail that came to visit in the garden. I now know where they are living and they have babies. yesterday, mama and all of the little babies were trotting across the driveway looking for a snack. I am glad that we have left that woodpile in the bottom of one pasture as it has turned out to be a really nice habitat for all sorts of critters. However, the quail apparently love it and I hope they will all stay and raise lots more babies. Coffee, the goat, has got to be getting close to kidding. I am not sure her sister is pregnant. The breeder we bought her from said that she was but I am thinking that she didn't catch. We finished the boys' pasture fence and they do not like be separated from the girls. The girls don't like it either and all 5 goats have been miserable and crying for each other. Of course, since we don't have the shed for the boys finished they have been all back together in the goat barn the past couple of days and have been happy happy happy. It is time to start getting our seed for the pastures this fall and we will be bush hogging again soon. I am still trying to get some more weight on our old stallion. I am just not sure how many more winters the old man is gonna make it through. Each winter is harder on him and each winter it is harder for him to recover from. He still has a lot of spunk and still makes sure that his son knows he is top dog of the pasture. This weekend will be an overhaul for everyone with worming, Bo-SE shots for the girls(goats) and hoof trimming for everyone. Don't know if I will get all the horses done this weekend as I can usually only handle one a day. I am much slower than a farrier, however, since there are no more farriers in my area I am the best they have. Well, I take that back. There is one farrier left in our area, but he is not willing to do our stallion without drugging him and he is just too old for that. Frankly, the farrier is afraid of Thunder just like our vet is. I have never understood why some people choose to work with large animals for their livliehood when they are afraid of them. Our old vet was a woman who weighed 100 lbs. soaking wet and she never let Thunder intimidate her. Our current vet is a big strong man and he is terrified of Thunder, which feeds the old blowhards ego and makes him act bigger and badder than he is. I've worked with a lot of stallions and truly folks he is a gem as far as personality. Speaking of all the horse's could really use a good scrub down and grooming. Since we have had rain for 2 days and I don't have to spend all that time watering the garden I think that will be today's project. With so much going on they have been kind of left to their own devices with the exception of fly spray and a quick brush at feeding time. They deserve some attention. So I guess I am off to play with the ponies before the heat gets too bad. Have a blessed day!