Something Ate My One Strawberry

Things are growing good around here lately.  Except something ate my one and only strawberry. Claire wanted to eat it the other day and I wanted to make sure it was perfectly ripe and ready for picking. So I said, "lets wait another day, then it will be perfect." Seriously, it's the only thing we can eat from the garden at this point and I was super excited I actually grew something.


See we lived in NYC for awhile while going to school for a career I hate ( I know mom, hates a strong word but in this context it fits) and while living in a boxed sized apartment, my love for gardening was stifled. I never knew it existed until I moved to Austin. We bought our house about three years ago and that winter I caught the gardening bug. I made 3 boxes and filled them with soil and planted. I was super excited. Spring came and wham ...... bamboo. Holy crap. I have never seen something grow so fast. It grew, took over my sun, and my garden failed. I literally grew one green bean and one tomato that was supposed to be normal size but turned out to be more like a cherry tomato. I gave up. 


So when my dad came a year ago and cleared out all this bamboo I vowed to have a garden we could sustain ourselves on. So that small strawberry meant a lot and dammit(sorry again mom) something ate it. I'm hoping this isn't a glimpse into how our growing season will end up. 


I have been busy lately. 


With my job, I leave early and get home late. Buh-Lah. So I set up a water saving drip irrigation system to start and stop on a timer. That way if I get home late I won't have to worry about watering in the dark. However, one of my favorite things to do when I get home is to grab a glass a wine, head out with my hose, decompress and water.  I will miss that. 

Drip irrigation set up 

Does anyone know how to drill a 1 inch hole into a 4x4 all the way through without draining the battery on the drill? Yeah, me either. I'm building a chicken run. Since the girls try to wipe out the garden every chance they get, they need a place to free range away from the garden. So, I'm building a run. But I didn't want to use just regular wire. I decided to use 4x4 cedar posts and electrical conduit. Kinda maybe a modern twist on a cattle fence....maybe. I'm sort of thinking long term. A spot big enough for the chickens and the Nigerian dwarf goats (hopefully) to roam and be happy during the day.  Anyway, drilling the holes to run the electrical conduit is a nightmare because my drill battery keeps running out. I'm going to see if I can rent something bigger and more powerful and finish the fence on Tuesday. Here is a preview of what I was able to get done with the fence thus far:

Coop with the fence. The posts will be cut down to the top of the last conduit

I also was able to get most of my trellises up this weekend. I went with a few 2x2's and some temporary fencing. It was simple and cheap. I put them in my 3x12 box with cucumbers, melons, beans, and zucchini. I zig zagged them and I think this should give us the most space.

Everything is growing great. Im feeding with a fish/seaweed foliar spray. It stinks but it's giving the veggies a big boost. The temperature has already reached 90 degrees on some days and my tomatoes were looking somewhat puny. But after feeding them they perked up. Hopefully this week the temps will cool off to the 70's for at least a few more weeks before the big texas heat hits.