Ugh Visitors

So it seems at least one of the "not indoor" cats from our neighborhood has decided to use our lettuce and herb box for its own use.

And of course we just planted a new round of seeds the day before that have now been scratched up and tossed around.

All I can say is ick ick ick. It does make me wonder now if it's not caterpillars eating the lettuce but cats, since they've left one head alone and it's doing great.

So now we've got to construct some form of barrier to keep the kitties out. This has become a big problem in our area due to the foreclosures, people have left their homes and cats as well. New people have moved in and brought yappy little dogs but I have a feeling they're being intimdated by the cats.

I'm going to try the barrier method to keep them out since there isn't any general consensus over solutions except for the hose and ours seem to sneak in at night, we haven't seen any cats yet.

I'll have new pics of the plants up soon, just have to get them off the camera and edited for the site.

Our New Pets or...

How we have been overtaken by the hummingbirds.
Mom decided to try hanging the ole' feeder up to see if any were around.

I don't think any of us expected the turnout.

Due to the size and speediness of the little buggers we have only gotten a real count when they are all near the feeder. So far we know there are at least 4.

And this one here thinks he's the ringleader. Boy is he bossy. He's quite territorial over the feeder which is quite funny when it's empty and we're trying to refill it. I've never really wanted to wear my glasses except when you see one of those coming at your head.

I'll post more pictures and possibly a video after I do a little more research to see if we can't find out exactly what species these are.

They're Growing!!

As Mom pointed out to me I don't actually have any dates on here for when we planted, oops!

Our tomatoes were planted on March 19, all the seedlings went in the ground on March 20 and the seeds were planted on the 21st.

Everything is now moving along great, the only thing we haven't seen yet is the cilantro, if it does not show up this week I'm going to try again.

Here are the beans on the 31st of March, we spotted it coming out that morning and by the early evening it had made it this far.

Here they are on April 6, a week later. I figure they'll be up the trellis by next week. The strawberries are doing well, we've been collecting a few every 2 or 3 days since they went in.

These are the cute baby tomatoes, my daughter Sydni has been diligently checking them everyday to look for changes.

This is the onion set 10 days after planting. I have to say I only wanted to plant them as more of an experiment than anything so I am pleasantly surprised they are doing so well.

I don't plan on buying green onions all summer, these will definitely be on the list for next year.

Itty bitty heads of lettuce are now popping up. They really are tiny and quite easy to look over.

This is box 2 with the onions, carrots, peppers and cucumbers. On the larger image you can just see the tops of the carrots starting. We looked today and it appears that a couple of jalapenos may be starting as well. Everything else is just putting out new leaves and getting bigger.

I also finally got a packet of chives and they have been planted with the cherry tomato, hopefully they will spring up soon too.