Yesterday afternoon we spent some time in the yard, mowing and pulling weeds from around the tulips and irises and day lilies which are all coming in so nicely now…

We stopped for lunch and to open the box containing my new watering can I ordered online…

It was way bigger than I expected, which is a good thing, and we both agreed that it was definitely a keeper. We’ve been needing one for the outdoor plants and it’s just perfect.

Next we moved to the gardens, pulling weeds and planting a few more things including the Egyptian walking onions…

I planted them next to the asparagus near the poultry pens and I put them far enough out that the chickens and pheasant can’t stretch their little heads through the fence to reach them.

Hopefully. 😄

The asparagus is all coming back already (yay!) and so are all of the fast growing willow trees lining the back of the property. Last year at this time they were about three feet tall and now they’re about eight feet tall, so by this time next year? Who knows!

All I know is they were a great choice for a living privacy fence back there especially now that the land behind us is filling in with houses.

We cleaned up the dog pens, brushed a couple of the pups out and helped them run their crazies out before settling down to watch some gardening and homesteading videos. We learned why it’s so very important to be extra super careful if you’re going to pressure can your own food, which we’re thinking of doing this year…

And we also learned why you DON’T want to leave the rings on your canning jars once you put them up…

We did a little more research on this and found that even the makers of the canning jars recommend leaving the rings off. Who knew? Hint: not us.

I am so grateful to all these folks who share their wisdom with those of us who are new to homesteading and would prefer not to learn things the hard way.

I learn plenty of other things the hard way. 🤨

Speaking of that, we ended the evening with some homemade chicken and noodles which I started…

…and then the hubs had to finish because I was wiped out from working outside in the sun and also from the humidity in the kitchen!

Whew! It felt like Baton Rouge on a mid summer’s night in there.

Did I mention I learn things the hard way? Well I found out that I can’t run the dehydrator AND the dishwasher AND cook noodles all at the same time. Even with the window open and the fan on. I just about fainted right into the boiling stock pot, which wouldn’t have been a fun way to end our night.

Ah, well. Lesson learned. From now on I think I’ll only run the dehydrator overnight.

Except when I’m doing bananas and strawberries because they smell sooo good! Maybe I’ll just skip doing dishes and cooking on those days. 🙂