Like a Furnace

Well, we had a rather cool and overcast weekend last week which made for perfect weather for planting the broccoli starts. I've put 18 plants of Atlantic Broccoli in this year. I've got 6 Golden Acre, 6 Red cabbage plants and some Cauliflower starts to go in later, around the 1st of August. I've also started my pumpkin seeds. Last year I planted my pumpkin seeds around April 15th (with everything else) and the Pumpkins ripened way to quick and were rotten well before even September arrived. So this year I've held off so that they ripen just before Halloween (with any luck). We'll see what happens.
 This is one of the things I love about gardening, trying new things. I like trying to grow different plants, and different varieties and even trying different methods and timing now and again. It is one of the better things about annuals, in that you can try something out, and see the results within that one season of growth. You don't have to wait years to see if that daylilly cross you attempted this year a) sets seed b) if the seed is viable c) if the plant blooms within 3 years d) if the flower is pretty e) if the plant is hardy. If you try a tomato variety this year and you don't like it for whatever reason, you are not chained to caring for it for several years to see if that is indeed the case.
  We lost another hen this past week as well. If has been awful hot and poor Roxie passed away. I believe it was heat exhaustion or dehydration. Roxie got her name from the boxer Rocky. Roxie was born with her bottom beak pointing to the left and her top beak pointing to the right. So eating and drinking were more difficult for her than for the average chicken. I think this caused her passing as she just couldn't keep hydrated enough in our hot summer. So we are down to one hen now. Just the big fat red I've taken to calling Cartman (from the South Park show). Cartman seems happy enough by herself, I may try to add more pullets next spring or I may not, I haven't quite made up my mind on that.
 I'll be sowing some carrot seed this weekend. I'll take some burlap I got from the local Starbucks store and wet it down to lay over the seed bed to keep the soil from crusting over. I also plant them about twice as deep in summer to get them down to where the soil stays a little moister. They should germinate in about 2-3 weeks  at which time I'll take the burlap off.