Pictured: Crabtree Creek 7/5/26.
| Hope you had a wonderful Independence Day weekend! Hard to believe our nation is 250 years old! Shane and I took it easy and did our woods walk that afternoon. It’s been a week of running around so it was nice just kicking back, watching birds, and enjoying nature. Enjoy! Amy | Table of Contents: ~ Phenology: The Seasons through Blooms ~ ~ Woods Walks: Blooms & Hidden Finds ~ ~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~ ~ The Yard: Bucket Garden & Bird Tree ~ ~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~ ~ The Blog: Livestock & Upcoming Editions ~ ~ Thank You! ~ |
~ Phenology: The Seasons through Blooms ~
I switched to using phenology to plan my garden, and I’ve created a brand new planting guide for you to peruse! Instead of following a rigid calendar, phenology means watching local indicator plants to know exactly when the soil is ready for your crops.
View the new planting guide!
What to look for in Late June/Early July: Daylilies & Ocean Spray blooming. Himalayan blackberries starting to form green berries after blooms fade.
Harvest begins immediately: Summer Squash, Cucumbers, and Bush Beans
Harvest begins shortly: Garlic*/Onion** bulbs.
*Garlic: Look for the lower leaves of the stalk to turn brown and dry out. When the bottom 3 to 4 leaves are brown but the top leaves are still green, your bulbs are ready to dig!
**Onions: Watch the green, tubular tops. When the plants are ready, the stems will lose their structural integrity and naturally flop over at the soil line. Once 50–80% of the patch has flopped, it’s time to harvest!
Make sure you pay attention to what nature is doing, as the months listed are APPROXIMATE. Especially with the crazy weather we’ve experienced this past winter until now! It may seem early to start some tasks, but trust that nature knows exactly what it’s doing!
~ Woods Walks: Blooms & Hidden Finds ~
What’s Happening in the Woods This Week
In Active Bloom:
- Rose Spirea (Spiraea douglasii)
- Cooley’s Hedge-nettle (Stachys cooleyae)
- Many more beautiful varieties are still blooming as well, including Oxeye Daisy, Trailing Buttercup, and St. John’s Wort.
Saw a Great Horned Owl feather today! We admired its beautiful patterns and left it on the trail for nature to keep.
No trail-cam videos this week. We brought the cameras up to the barns to see if we could catch a naughty coyote roaming around. While doing that, we realized the batteries were completely dead in the camera we left down on the creek log!
Sunday, Shane and I went out to Lacomb to see his folks. His granddaughter, daughter, and grandmother were there as well. Some of us went down to the creek to enjoy the weather and I snapped a photo of Pink Purslane (Claytonia sibirica).
~ The Birds: Birding with the Merlin App ~
Found a Life List bird today: the Purple Finch! I also watched a Western Wood-Pewee catching flies in the pasture, using the fence and an Oak branch as its base of operations. Later, I heard a Chipping Sparrow—another bird I haven’t gotten on my life list yet—but I just couldn’t quite spot it hidden among all the thick Oak leaves!
~ The Yard: Bucket Garden & Bird Tree ~
Mom’s “bird tree” has been attracting more than California Scrub-Jays and Black-headed Grosbeaks! Now the House Sparrows have discovered it, and I saw a Black-capped Chickadee out there, too. I bought her a small hummingbird feeder for the bird tree and already spotted Anna’s Hummingbirds using it.
On the patio, I noticed the buds on the baby mystery elderberry (thinking it’s a Common Elderberry), Swamp Milkweed, and Scabiosa are finally blooming!
Shane’s container veggie garden got some photo love this weekend! Shane harvested some Jalapenos to cook up with his eggs for breakfast. More power to him! I’m not a pepper fan!
- Gourmet Mix (Lettuce & Greens)
- Salad Bowl Mix (Lettuce & Greens)
- Arugula
- Champion Radish
- Watermelon Radish
- Cucumber
- Bush Cucumber
- Green Zucchini
- Red Beauty Bell Pepper
- Jalapeño Hot
- Purple Leaf Basil
- Herb Tub (Sage, Thyme, Garlic Chives, Lemon Thyme
- Strawberries
~ The Funnies: Plant & Nature Humor ~
Disclaimer: While this chunky friend is actually a giant Atlas Moth caterpillar, its North American hornworm cousins are definitely eyeing our tomato patches right now! Keep a lookout!
~ The Blog: Livestock & Upcoming Editions ~
Don’t forget the monthly Homestead Happenings: Livestock Edition that goes out the first of each month!
Here’s the latest:
The next Homestead Happenings: Livestock Edition for the July recap will come out August 1st, where we talk about plans for sheep breeding season!
We’ll also see you all again July 13th for the next Homestead Happenings: Flowers & Nature, where we’ll share even more garden guidance and check out what else is blooming!
The blog is a sampling of all the photos I’ve taken this month. Please head over to our social media to see the photo dumps!
~ Thank You! ~
Please subscribe to the blog if you want more Homestead Happenings delivered straight to your inbox!
As always, I deeply appreciate every like, follow, and subscribe. You can find our social media links below!
Hollow Hills Ranch 