summer is upon us

The biggest thing is we finally got 3 chickens in mid-April.  They are Checkers, Lacey, and Rosie, who are Plymouth Barred Rock, Silver-Laced Wyandott, and Rhode Island Red breeds, respectively.  They were about 8 weeks old when we picked them up, and we're thinking at 22 weeks somebody will begin laying eggs.  The bets are on.  These ladies are pretty funny to watch--they vacillate between daring self-confidence in venturing out, and acting like a bunch of chickens.  They do stick together like sisters, and while it seems like they are pooping all the time, are amazingly tidy in their habits.

It's that time of year where things are finally planted (for the most part),  the bindweed is a-bloom, and there is a shortage of organic matter to dump on all the weeds that want to tie us to the center of the earth.  The potatoes look gorgeous, the corn is knee-high...all of a SUDDEN, and the garlic is about ready to harvest.
At dinner one of my favorite things is to review what has come from the garden, it usually is at least 3 or 4 things this time of year, because one has to count garlic.  It might include corn or raspberries from the reserve in the freezer, a few types of greens, peas, salad.  Next year hopefully it will include carrots, but our luck with carrots this year is not notable.  Too hot to keep them alive til they get bigger.
Here's a new favorite recipe for black bean corn salad.  Mix a cup of (cooked) black beans, 2 cups of frozen corn kernels (no need to thaw), about a 1/2 a red bell pepper diced, some onion (whatever type is on hand, original recipe called for 1/2 a red onion, but assorted green onions are good too), 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons tabasco, about 2 or 3 tablespoons of lime juice, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.  I like it for using up frozen corn in a tasty easy way.