Building from Failure.

      It is the middle of July and the heat is on,  it is literally scorching hot.  Today I have just finished building the new chicken co-op  for the ladies, as I have dubbed them.  I have to say  the chicken co-op is pretty to look at , but it is not exactly what I had envisioned when I order it.  It just looked bigger in the catalog.  Therefore, I will have make some modifications to the co-op if my girls are going to be happy in their new home.  I am even considering painting it to match our home.   When I first placed the order I was thinking of safety and easy of use, the co-op has both.  Yet it lacks in size.  I will modify the run, make it bigger and longer so they have room to exercise and spread their wings.   Needing  the co-op nightly to roost  to sleep, and a place for them to lay their eggs allowing me easy access in retrieving the eggs  .Just another one of the never ending projects here at my Urban hobby farm.

     I have also ordered the bee hives, they are being milled as I type this post.  They are going to be made of cedar.  I hear that this type of wood keeps other pest from invading the hive.  I will soon find out if its true.  I am also excited about getting the honey bees here too.  I should have done this earlier in the year.  It turns out that I am having lots of trouble in the vegetable garden.  I have the tallest tomato plants I have ever grown, but their doesn't seems to be any fruits on any of the tomato plants.  The same goes for the bell peppers and the squash.  I find it rather odd that the only vegetable which managed to set fruit is the cucumber plants.  All the cucumber plants have large cucumbers ready to harvest.   Makes me wonder if I had to depend on this back yard to feed me this season I would starve.  Well at least I have cucumbers, that's a start.
    
     However, it begs the question, whats going on? Why haven't my peppers, squash, or tomatoes set any fruit?    Then  I thought I might have a problem with insects eating the flowers buds before pollination.  So I took a closer look and found that every thing seems fine, as far as pest are concerned.  Their doesn't seem to be any that would be detrimental to the plants at any stage.  No signs of anything eating away at them.  Flower and leaves are intact.  No sign of disease.  Plants are strong, robust and flowering. Yet no fruit.   I have the lavenders growing near my vegetable beds and they get frequent visits from all sorts of butterflies, digger bees, carpenter bees, and the occasional yellow jacket looking for a protein snack.  Still, I haven't seen a honey bees, the biggest pollinator of them all.   I am wondering if this summer heats to blame.  Its been a scorcher this last couple of day's, but I have kept the veggies nice and hydrated.  Making sure the planting beds do dry out.  They have been properly fertilized and have been in the beds since March and it is just now getting truly hot.  Yet there is no fruit.  This seasons harvest is a bust.   So I am hoping that when the bees get here, they can make a difference in the fruit production for the latter part of this 2011 growing season.

     I am hoping to have them up and buzzing by the end of next week, hoping that their still time to get these veggies to set fruit.  I am not giving up hope.  I am learning as I go, so failure is part of the learning process.  In order for me to achieve success in this endvore, I also need to learn how to fail too.  And build from there.