Garden work and a bunny squatter

I had the day off today (after working seven in a row) and, eager to take advantage of the cool dry weather, hubby and I worked several hours in the garden.  It's shaping up nicely, and the new raised beds are providing an abundance of space.  Today I planted my peppers, cosmos and sunflowers.  All I have left to plant are cucumbers, zucchini and winter squash.  I have a bit of unclaimed space and I'm toying with either watermelon or cantaloupe.  I've had more success with watermelon, so I'll probably go that route.

A rosette of romaine

Almost everything is looking good thus far.  It usually is this early in the season - by mid-July weeds will have taken over.  The only iffy bits are my onions.  They are very short and spindly.  I have to decide whether to let them grow and hope for the best, or use the valuable space for something else.  It shouldn't be a hard decision, but I'm a soft touch and hate pulling out plants.  Thinning carrots is physically painful for me.  We'll see what happens.

While hoeing beds a few weeks ago I discovered a nest of young bunnies hidden under last year's straw.  We have a crop of buns nearly every year.  Again, a soft touch, I let them be for a few weeks until they're big enough to hop away on their own.  

Yesterday while watering I had spooked the current clutch from their nest, and watched them bound away through the tall grass.  However, one of the young-ins stayed inside the raised bed, hunkering down in a corner and watching me.  I gave her a wide berth while I finished watering.  I hoped that she would leave on her own overnight, or that momma bunny would bring her to safety.

No such luck.  She was still in the bed this afternoon.  Hubby and I took pity and gave her some salad fixings (carrots, celery, lettuce) to munch on.  Hubby even stroked her head a bit with a gloved finger.  

If she's not out by Thursday, we'll have to evict her ourselves.  She's occupying prime cucumber real estate.  Don't feel too bad, our back yard is prime bunny habitat with a huge brush pile, tall grass and young shrubs.  We have a healthy population, hence the need to fence in our garden beds.

Strawberry promise

I harvested another full armload of asparagus today, which we had with supper.  There's enough leftover for tomorrow's supper as well.  O and E will be coming over for their weekly visit tomorrow evening, laundry in tow.  E has requested one of her favorites:  Cajun chicken pasta.  It's also one of G's favorites, so it gets made fairly frequently in our house.  It's a knock-off recipe from an old dish served at Red Lobster years ago.  They've got something similar on the menu these days, but I've heard it's not nearly as good.

 

Well-used and well-loved