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Update: Need to weed edition
Row 1: Batch 4 has 9 ducklings. The wee tiny one suffocated under the rest one day and another succumb to previously unseen injuries from the raccoon attack. Batch 3 is doing well with 16 ducklings. Batch 2 only has 9 ducklings left. I culled two that had severe leg issues and one disappeared without a trace (bird of prey attack?) Batch 1 with 10 ducks is now nearly mature and their voices have changed for the most part. There are 44 ducks thus far.
Row 2: While weedy as all hell, the gardens are doing better than expected. The peanut plants are going crazy. The peas are just now starting to show themselves.
Row 3: The experiments to turn Italian Red Pear tomatoes into ginormous tomatoes is going smoothly. I've already selected one tomato for next season's seed (the left tomato that looks like 3 tomatoes in the 2nd pic.) The one near the boot is smaller than the one hanging on the vine. The sweet corn is doing well, though one section did get blown over yet again. I expect reduced yields due to that. The silks are just now coming out of the ears. Which is the worst time to have the corn blown over.
Row 4: The popcorn is doing better than expected despite being somewhat hidden in the tomatoes. The pumpkin patch had tripled in size and is blooming like crazy. It sounds like an airport in there now, with all the buzzing. The tomatoes in pots seem to have stabilized, but are no where near as good as the plants directly in the ground. I'd move them and mow there, but they are now rooted to the ground through the drainage holes and that would just stress them way too much.
Finally, the 12th racoon this season has been caught, dispatched, and its pelt now resides with the other 11 in one of my freezers. It was a juvenile. There are still many raccoons out there, but they were breaking the trap and escaping. I'm hoping the thick plating and wire, I added yesterday, will hold the largest adults next time.
