Every year, a little bird called a phoebe makes a nest up in the eaves of the covered part of the deck. When she is there, we cannot use the deck for two reasons - she gets agitated if we appear in what she considers her space, and...she poops all over the deck as she goes back and forth feeding her babies! We only have to wait a few weeks after the chicks are born to get the use of our deck back for a time...and then she builds another nest later in the year, and starts over with more kids!
Looks as if there are 4 kids this year - I think the middle head is mama.
It's 83 degrees out there today, I suspect the little ones are getting overheated. For the past few years when it's been hot I go out there with the ladder and a spray bottle of water and soak the babies, the nest, and even the wood above them so they don't die of heat stroke. They look like fledglings, I expect they'll be flying off in the next week or so.
I'm trying to outsmart the deer and other wildlife this year. I did it once before with a few pots, but this time, I've expanded my deck garden. Orange tree, lemon tree, tomatilloes, 3 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of squash, cucumbers, bell peppers, jalepeno peppers, poblano peppers, strawberries up on the top rail, and 2 watermelon plants. FYI - I grew the lemon tree from the seeds of a lemon I bought at the store two years ago. It's now about 10 inches high.
This is the herb garden. It grew like mad and I had to give all the herbs a haircut today. From left to right, cilantro, basil, parsley, and oregano.
I read online that one can preserve both the flavor and freshness of herbs by putting the leaves in olive oil, and then storing them in the fridge. I found some little jars and did just that. Excuse the hillbilly redneck duct tape label, I couldn't find my nice labels.
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