Spring has exploded

It's officially spring here in northern Florida! Which means that really, it's summer. But as far as my plants are concerned, it's spring anyway!

The porch looks much better this time around, although there are still plans to move the pitcher plant to that back corner by the door, and possibly some rearranging of the pots is still to be done, but overall everything has been planted, transplanted, and taken care of. There are a couple sage seedlings left over that have yet to find good homes, but I'm sure they'll get taken care of before the season's gone. 

Here's that whole mess from another angle. We've got a blackberry bush front and center, a blueberry bush to the right, and a whole mess of cat grass and strawberry seedlings all ringed around that blackberry. They all seem to be doing great.

The strawberries are doing fantastic. They're producing like mad this year! The only reason I haven't gotten my fill of sweet, delicious berries yet is pretty common - birds.

Those damn birds are eating the crops. I researched methods to scare them off, and luckily, I have a rubber snake that was found at the bottom of the Ichetucknee River and brought home to scare the cats with, so he is now residing in that planter. It seems to have worked pretty well so far, but I'm sure I'll need something else to deter them with soon. They'll figure out it's not alive pretty quick.

The peas, however, are not doing as well. I've yet to figure out the problem, but I suspect not enough water is the culprit.


It's been a long, long time since I last updated, and there's a reason for that.

This is Kimi, a three-month-old rescue mutt from Potcake Rescue of Grand Bahama who are great people working with the Humane Society of Grand Bahama. They place rescued and surrendered dogs from the islands into rescues and homes, airlifting them from the Bahamas to Florida.

My partner and I drove upwards of six hours to pick Kimi up. Was it worth it? I'll tell you once she's trained and I can stop smothering her with affection, treats, and toys. She's napping in the kitchen as I type this, because rolling around in the grass outside in the sun is just too tiring.

Raising a puppy is time-consuming, but I endeavor to balance that with my urban homesteading, part-time retail job, searching for a full-time non-retail job, and taking classes for my certs like the hazwoper.

It's a full life, but puppy breath is part of it, and all the better for it.