Early summer updates

Let's start with the positive.

First, the greenhouse is marvelous. Had one day where outdoor temps were in the lower 80s, which made for too too hot inside-about 94 degrees. Oh my gosh, I thought *I* was going to croak in there, lol, but I added another fan and hosed down the floor and voila! The temperature dropped about 8 degrees inside of ten minutes. That works!

Tomatoes are producing buds galore and I have already applied the blossom set. No fruits on them yet that I can see, but probably by the end of this week. Peppers are coming right along and I even have an almost two inch long green pepper on one plant. Lots of buds and open blossoms so I think I will have plenty of peppers this year. The smaller pepper starts, the hot varieties, are really taking off and I expect to see blossoms on those inside of ten days. Considering how small they were to start, I am thrilled!

The corn is going crazy! The Yukon Chief is already shooting out silk heads, I am astounded. The other varieties are very vigorous and growing like crazy. Nice thick stalks and shooting out new leaves a couple times a week....I am so hopeful I will have fresh corn on the cob this year, yum! The corn is in four or five gallon pots, and they stand well over two foot tall out of the pot-except the Yukon which is shorter.

Cukes are setting babies, on the ones I started. The other variety is just a tad bit behind but should have blooms by the end of the week. Below them, the long planter box with the lettuce in it, is going great guns. I probably goofed up by stuffing a zucchini in each end, but they are taking off as well, with buds on them. The other two squashes are seriously going to town, and they too, have buds.

Outside, the pumpkins are growing (yay!!) in my little contraption, some are even showing buds. They are obviously really happy right there, I expect that in a month or so, they are going to fill that hoop. The left over pumpkins and veggies we put in the bank, are surviving on their own, I am impressed. Like the other times I have grown them, they take about two and a half weeks to settle in and then they take off.

In the veggie garden proper, the broccoli has seriously taken off. In fact, in the last week, things have really increased in size. I have some bush beans up, hooray! And its time to thin the carrots too. Onions are up, same with peas, and I have blooms on the squashes too.

This week I need to get another sprinkler, as the oscillating one I have is busted. I had been using the rain bird, but we need it to keep the arena watered-which is turning into a bit of problem.....I also need more hoses, lol I don't have any way to set the barn water onto a timer, so it has to wait until I get home, or weekends. The two horses in training here are doing very very well...both are attentive, smart and willing.

This weekend, with some help, we moved things around in preparation for the arrival of two more horses on Tuesday. Reba is still very sore on the one front, but I can see some flakiness around the toe and that leads me to hope that she is going to drop that false sole here pretty soon. No way to safely remove it with live sole underneath. Poor girl, I feel for her.....but the up side is that she is now balanced enough that she is getting a lot of good, healthy growth. It's just the build up on the toe that's causing the discomfort. I credit the addition of a small amount of good quality alfalfa hay to her rations for the growth.

Sully's shoulder continues to improve with my one week on, one week off, DMSO applications. He's been very good with the horses coming and going, and yesterday we turned him into the arena while we set up the panels. With the sprinkler running. Oh my gosh, what a hoot! He would let it sprinkle on him, then spin and take off, playing. Since the arena is wider than my rain bird can cover, he did manage a good roll, which he enjoys. Silly old man, he is so funny.

Now the not so positive.

Last week I learned that a very good friend of mine lost her wonderful trail horse to colic. I was pretty upset, because I know the two of them were quite the team on competitive trail rides. The horse was originally part of the largest horse rescue in Alaska-the Nabesna case. Her dam survived the ordeal, and she came as a bit of a surprise. My friend had the little mare for well over a decade, and they could be seen often on neighborhood trails. No rhyme or reason for the colic because I know the owners' horsekeeping is excellent. We speculate that perhaps her cancers internalized, which eventually lead to the colic.

R.I.P. Chancy.

On Saturday, I hauled Chubs to be put down. Not my favorite task, but absolutely the right thing to do. He was losing weight rapidly, his feet could no longer be trimmed due to the horrific condition of his knees, and it was pretty obvious his quality of life was going downhill. With eyesight and hearing going too, plus the hard realities of the economics, I had to make the call. I take some satisfaction in that we gave him two summers of grass and companionship, where he was not ignored or forgotten, where people cared and he got treats and attention. Much better than being alone, unattended, for weeks at a time by an uncaring owner.

My friend cut a bit of tail for me to keep and the sight of wisp at the barn this morning brought me to tears.

R.I.P. Chubs.


Call me cruel if you must. It's all about quality of life for me. If the horse is in pain, has a chronic condition where they cannot be made comfortable, then it's time to put them down. For this reason, I don't have much problem with people who are forced into making the hard, last choice.