How is the new horizontal trellis stretch of wire supported?

A loop of wire supported at the top eye bolt comes down to hold the weight.

Is there anything to do to prevent carpenter bees from tunneling into the porch?

Although training grapes outside our main bank of windows was intended as a way of shading the summer trailer, I've gotten just as much of a kick out of watching the plants through the seasons. Grape flowers are so small that I've always missed them in the past, but their windowside location means that I've had a front row seat as our Reliance vines break out into bloom this time around.

The visibility also means I noticed the first signs of phomopsis and snipped off the affected leaves and vines. Here's hoping that despite the near constant rain, I acted fast enough to keep this fungal disease in check.

The recent storm we had was heavy enough to flood my new PVC chicken feeder.

I adjusted it to a drier location and added some side protection.

Despite cutting back on most parts of the garden, we kept our broccoli plantings the same. They're just such a perfect crop --- tasty, productive, and easy to manage.

After gorging ourselves on huge heads all week, I packed 22 blanched pints away in the freezer for later. Two-thirds down and one-third to go!

We added two eye level horizontal stretches of wire to train our front grapes on.

First the roar of rain and wind tear across our homestead...then the backup battery begins beeping its countdown warning as the power goes out. Quickly, I shut everything off, wanting to save our few remaining ounces of juice for the bare necessities --- making blog posts and charging my kindle. Then I go out to pick some strawberries for supper, noticing how different the world sounds without power.

Cutting the size of our planting area in half and focusing on our predictably heavy producers has been a life-saver this spring. Last summer, I'd gotten to the point where the work-to-reward ratio in the garden was tipping toward "not worth it." But this year, mornings in the garden are delightful, full of planting, weeding, mulching, and harvesting crops that I'm 90% sure will make the journey from seed to plate without too much work on my part. Success!