Fall garden

[George Shirley]

Looks like wife has mostly finished her fall garden. She pulled out and potted the still growing plants, mostly tomatoes, then took out the old man made soil, ie. mixture that is worn out. Added several bags of Black Cow (composted cow manure), added more peat moss to hold the moisture and mixed it all up again. Then she put back the plants that will still produce, we hope, then put in the fall seeds. I didn't bother to look at what she's growing as it is generally a lot of greens, more green beans (yes, in our climate we can often make two crops of beans) and, it looks like she planted some well grown tomatoes, (hope springs in good hearts) and a few things I didn't read the labels on. I can hardly bend over or stoop anymore, seems the arthritic back is getting worse. Trying to get appointments with the doctors is often a chore with so many people here about. I can remember when Houston and Harris County, Texas was still a cow town. Now it's about fifth largest in the US, I think.

Fifty years ago I used to come over to Houston for the "Houston Fat Stock" show with my fancy rabbits and the occasional milk goat. Those were some good days living on ten acres with lots of critters, crops, etc. and we were young enough and strong enough to do all sorts of things. Now we complain about our aches and pains and limp a lot.

Turned 78 yesterday and our daughter brought us dinner to celebrate. Her three children and six grandchildren called and sang the Happy Birthday song to keep my old face grinning. Particularly the great grands singing to me made me happy.

Now we will be checking on the fresh garden and keeping an eye on the ripening kumquats. I do like kumquat marmalade.

George

[Muggles]

Happy belated birthday, George. I bet you had a wonderful time with them singing to you. I know I do when my grands come over!

[George Shirley]

My youngest great granddaughter, Ellie, stayed with us a couple of days ago while her Mom was taking care of her business. She is about five or less (I have so many great grands I can't remember how old they are) and is very articulate for a child that young. I had not been around her much until then, she talks like an adult in many ways, pronunciation is more adult, she can read and write already, and sounds like an adult when you talk to her. Of course she is the youngest of four sisters, eldest is now seventeen and every two years on down for the rest. I was amazed at listening to her explain how her toys worked, told me the colors of our walls, could spell her name and knew her address and hone phone number. I would like to say my genius went to her but that wouldn't be true as I was a regular child at that age but spoke like an adult, could read and write at four, etc. I, too, had two big sisters, nine and twelve years older than me. I'm happy to see she has been taught by her family. Today's children have so many advantages that we old folks didn't have and I'm glad of it.

George

[Muggles]

My grandson is 5 now, and he is coming along nicely on learning all if his reading and writing, too.

[Derald]

Lordy that woman does a lot of work. There must be an easier way. BTW: Try mushroom compost next time and you'll throw rocks at that sandy Black Cow. Most of the beds I'm using now were built by my wife in

1997. I've added a few, as well as a few containers. After a hiatus of a few years, gardening resumed in 2008, or thereabouts (at least, that's as far back as I have records and receipts) and led to quite a bit of de-rooting and soil rejuvenation. Mushroom compost was a big help. Took a while to re-establish relations with the present generation running the drug-free dairy down the road a few miles (been getting cow pies there, on-and-off, since late 1970s) and to find a new source for drug-free, bedding-free road apples so I could stop _buying_ all of that stuff and spend the money on a damnable Ford truck, instead. On my own, I'd be so no-till that folks would think me a garden ornament and Ruth Stout would be so very pleased but native tree roots (pine, magnolia?and someone actually brought the damned magnolia _in_ here from a swamp in 1980, or thereabouts) keep me digging but, man, I don't replace any dirt. Hell, I just keep building the sides of the beds higher as I add good stuff to the mix and adjust pH from time to time. If I live long enough, maybe one day I won't have to stoop, kneel or bend ;-) This garden is going in late this autumn. Actually, it was late in the spring,too; just one of those things... Still have peas to glean and pull sometime today, mature okra that needs pruning in an attempt at revival as well as fall okra just coming into fruition. Several varieties of peppers bearing full-bore and I'm going to keep them going as far into cool weather as they'll cooperate. I'd like to make the okra and peppers last as long as possible in order to re-stock the freezer. Late eggplant is showing a few blossoms, but that doesn't mean anything. Eggplants appear to bloom just for the helluvit?in my garden, at least. I've even hand-pollinated with no verifiable success. Have seedling mustard greens?the ones the 'coons got into on Irma Day?ready to thin and distribute in their bed. The Garden is very small (

[George Shirley]

No mushroom farms here that we can find, Black Cow is about the best we can do and is reasonably cheap. We have no soil to speak of, a little sand on top of five feet of gumbo clay. Raised bed seems to work okay with the Black Cow, peat by the bale, lots of home compost including grass clippings, shredded paper, etc. done in our composter.

Our garden is two raised beds, 4X8, total garden 128 square feet, plus a two foot wide section of "garden" around two thirds of the six foot fence. You gotta do what you have to when you live in a small subdivision. Left a home with a eighteen foot wide by 24 foot long garden on real soil in Louisiana. We wanted to move where our children, grands, and great grands were so we're stuck with what we have to work with. We have a fig tree, a kumquat tree, and a pear tree also. It works for two old people and one of whom is crippled, me, can't bend over, barely can walk, can't dig, mow, or hardly anything else. Not from being damaged in wrecks or anything, all of it is heart attacks, strokes, and hard work. I used to be a chemical plant operator and had to climb ladders up to 300 feet high but the heart problems, strokes,etc. came much later. Runs in the family. Heck, as I've said, we used to farm ten acres of rich Texas soil, had cows, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkey's, etc. Now we have a Rat Terrier who terrifies the local rats and other squirrels.

[Derald]

Well, that's getting it the hard way. I bought mine in plastic bags. It was stacked right next to the Black Cow at the almost local Lowe's handy homeowner BBS. Home Desperate may have it, too.

[George Shirley]

That's Home Despot, I don't go there after being screwed once on a purchase.(If you can't read my typing it's my bad hand.) Plus Lowe's is closer and cheaper, really don't go there except for light bulbs to fit our Chinese lamps, bought in Sordid Arabia, and cow poop in a bag. Never thought as a country boy that you could actually buy the same poop I scooped up from out milk cow. My chore was to bring up the cow and calf, milk the cow, by hand of course, strain the milk (don't know why but Mom said to, looked like good milk to me), then I had to get the butter fat with the machine that got the butter fat out, then bottle the milk and into the big fridge, in hopes our neighbor's without a cow would buy some. I used to use a small rope to tie the cow's tail to her leg so it wouldn't swat me while she was being milked. I hated that nasty old cow, was glad when we turned the bull calf and his momma into steaks and roast and we then bought milk. Yay!

[Derald]

I spent my last "working" years in a high-pressure industry of no significance whatever save for the exorbitant amounts of money spent in its pursuit?"making movies". We went to home depot only when desperate and real suppliers could not be found. Hence the name. Those stores seem to have everything except one absolutely necessary item to complete a project. Man, when it first came to my town, the HD gnomes seemed to be well trained and eager to offer help. It wasn't too long, however, before those same minions became adept at spotting a face with a question and disappearing. FWIW: DW&I (along with some talented assistants) made columns and walls fall, made trees rain, made dusty roads dusty and rusty items rusty, all manner of actions occur on cue time after time, disguised and "disappeared" buildings, altered apparent tree line, that sort of thing. Sounds as if it must have been fun, huh? Well, it wasn't. Here, Home Depot and Lowes are directly across a US highway from each other. I go to Lowes because it is on the same side of the road as I. Can't get Bt there, though.

[Terry Coombs]

Which Bt you looking for ? I scored a bag of Aizawai on eBay . Use it for wax moth control in my bee hives .

  --   Snag

[Derald]

Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant I can't get Bt(k) at Lowes and must go to HD for it. HD sells Southern Ag "Thuricide" brand in this part of FL.