Tonight #2 is at Grandma's house, and #3, #4, and #5 are at their Aunt and Uncle's house, and #1 is having a sleep over with some of her friends here. I'm overflowing with anxiety. I'm not used to #5 being away. I'm in panic mode and trying to keep my sanity. It's PTSD from when he nearly died as an infant from the flu. I'm overprotective and have a major fear of losing him. I joke that the first day of school is going to kill me. In honesty, I'm quietly contemplating doing online schooling with him so I don't have to send him away.
To get my mind off of the stress, I re-potted the plants I got from Baker Creek (Fall Gold raspberries, Snowbank Blackberries, Viking Aronia, and Pink Lemonade Blueberries) into little plastic cups.
While out and about today I picked up some more plants. A couple more tomato plants, some flowers, a little soft spiky succulent plant, and two "hens and chicks" - one of which we will plant at my mother-in-law's grave tomorrow. The one for Tony's mom's grave is the only planned purchase. The rest are impulse buys. I'm sure we'll find places for them.
Carolina Cross Watermelon - I didn't have very many seeds, so I only planted three seeds.
Moon & Stars Watermelon - I have seeds from a few different sources. We went with the Livingston seeds this time. It describes these as getting 40 pounds. The same variety from High Mowing says it produces 6-pound melons. I tried growing them side-by-side one year but they didn't produce. I planted 5 seeds.
Early Moonbeam Watermelon - What a cool name! I planted 9 seeds.
Cream of Saskatchewan Watermelon - Specially bred for cold climates with a short season. I planted 9 seeds.
Dixie Queen Watermelon - I loved the photo on the seed package. Beautiful pink flesh that looks delicious. I planted 9 seeds.
Hearts of Gold Cantaloupe - Highly recommended by someone who helped push me into winter sowing. I figured I'd give them a try. I planted 9 seeds.
Canoe Creek Colossal Melon - Seeds I bought from Baker Creek this year while buying some plants. These are supposed to get to be twenty pounds. That should feed the whole family! I planted 12 seeds.
Silver Queen Okra - Our second okra variety for this year. I planted 13 seeds.
Minnesota Midget Melon - What Minnesota garden would be complete without a melon named after the state? I planted 5 seeds.
Tomorrow we're going to go visit Tony's mom's grave and plant the hen and chicks, and go to Tony's grandpa's birthday party (his mom's dad). We will be getting home late.
I'm hoping to get some updated photos of the colony litter babies on Sunday. Sunday is also hatch day for the 25 eggs in the incubator. Just to be on the safe side, I think I will pull the camera from the brooder and put it on the incubator. I want to see if we're hatching a day early, since I can't stay home and stare at the box for hours on end.
Maybe on Sunday we can get the second brooder set up outside and move the bigger birds out. With the boards to give a wind break, and the red bulb to provide heat, I wonder if they will be alright when it's still getting down into the 40's at night.
They need to go outside soon. #1 and I are both starting to have respiratory issues due to the chick dust getting into the vents. It's inescapable, even with regular cleaning to keep it in check. One thing is for sure... Next year, no chicks until it's warm enough for them to be outside... or at least only a very small number... No more 50+ chicks in the house! Never again! Lesson learned... and no goslings in the house - never ever again! They are SO messy!!
Tonight the low is 39, but from here on out it looks like 40's at night. No more 30's? Here's hoping!