Spicy Little Radishes & A New Chicken Door

We're talking later later later post here! I'm the worst blogger I know! Anyways, It's never to late to share pictures from the garden and what I've been up to. This post dates back to June I think! I just get so busy with the chickens and plants! I'm always hoping to do better, but we'll see. 

"Sparkler" Radishes. Crunchy, spicy, zinggy and fresh.
When other things won't grow, radishes are always pleasers!

Brilliant white fading to fuchsia and bright red.
Centres are crisp and translucent white.

Lettuces, greens and carrots are going strong in the raised beds, a really nice succession of spinach this year to. Next year this raised bed will have to house edible flowers, and legumes for proper crop rotation. The bed is slightly shaded so proper rotation is limited to shade-ish friendly edibles.

I found this random wooden thing on the side of the road. It's made of cedar, I recycled it into my new chicken door and painted it "Japanese Fern" by Behr. It reminds be of fresh greens and shoots, everything delicious and green. It will certainly need some scrubbing after all the rain and snow mud-splash back this fall and winter. The green also contrasts really nicely with the "Canvas back" beige-brown of the shed.

Hardware might need an upgrade next year,
but I only spent a pile of Canadian Tire money on it.

Took the girls a few days to understand the door, some would get out ok
and then somehow forget how they got outside.

 Sunflowers are all sprouting, I decided to start the "Sunspots" sunflower in a pot and transplant later because I could then better protect them from curious teeth. The only negative to this variety is that only about 50% come up with variegation, better still I started them in pots so I could divide them up. I'm hoping to cross "Sunspots" with a red flowering sunflower.

My variegated sunflowers are coming up beautifully! They've since been transplanted
out into the garden, unfortunately I lost two to chipmunks.

* Update on the "Sunspot" sunflowers, the experiment failed and I was defeated by chipmunks and squirrels. Don't worry I bought an abundance of new seeds and I'm ready for 2015. The rodents are going down!