getting out early in the day

[songbird]

to get heavy stuff done, then come in for siesta and putter around the rest of the day.

we did finally have some good rain that helped soften up the ground where i'm digging out the ditchgrass (very large rooted stuff that finds clay no problem to colonize). it will be a week before i finish this project. one large patch and another smaller one. some day i really need to get a barrier in place... i keep telling myself... i wish i had enough cooler weather and more rains so i could get through the entire patch and hunt down all the garlic and other grasses out of there.

other things planted are coming along well. tomatoes, peppers are loving the sunshine and warmth. cucumbers flowering. onions growing.

i did get some weeding done yesterday in the north garden. the lowest spot has always had plantains (rabbits and wormies love 'em) so each year i have to get some out of there, but the creeping jenny is gradually filling in. this round of weeding took only a few hours while the first round a month ago took me several sessions to finish. so that is progress. and the creeping jenny is blooming so that looks nice too with the yellow flowers.

i have to get some strawberries picked. not too many left, but enough.

songbird

[George Shirley]

That's nice, I just got up from my siesta. The repeating thermometer tells me it is 95F on the back porch with the shade curtains down. I wonder how hot it is in full sunshine?

The teewee keeps telling me it is going to rain but all I get is hot and dry.

Picked crowder peas again today and will tomorrow, they seem to ripen overnight. I'm keeping them in a container in the fridge to see if I can get enough to can some. Maybe I should buy a very small pressure canner?

We seldom have weeds in the raised beds except when the birds sitting on the power line overhead decide to give us some seeds the old fashioned way.

We're harvesting sweet peppers, three types, peas, tomatoes, etc. daily now. Dear wife took some to the church kitchen for the poor this morning and then she worked two hours in the church garden for the poor. I wonder if I can take that off our income tax!

George, hiding from the heap with the AC and the overhead fan both working hard

[songbird]

it's going to be like that again today here. hot and humid. gotta get going soon. then in for siesta.

i like fresh peas too much to kill them by canning them in any form. frozen is much better. :)

most gardens here are pretty good, just a few wilder areas and some places i've redone need to be kept up with.

i'm not sure. we never bother getting that complicated around here. small donations and free foods are not worth the paperwork IMO. after all Mama Nature provides... :) have a great day. :)

we run the AC for a little while in the morning to get some of the humidity out, then it won't run again until later in the afternoon. i would not run it at all as i find a small fan is good enough. AC can mess up my sinuses (temperature and humidity changes). i do much better without it.

songbird

[George Shirley]

At 9 pm last night the thermometer was still showing about 89F and it was just getting full dark.

How do you freeze them? Blanch and freeze or another method?

Here it is 0830 and I need to get out there and check on the crowders and everything else. Wife mowed yesterday and they property looks nice plus the clippings went into the composter, that's something good too. We have an electric mower and it goes faster than I can walk anymore but is a lot quieter than the gas ones. Need to sharpen the blade on that one again too.

George

[songbird]

our high was about 91F yesterday, not too bad. after it cools off at night we open the patio doors up to cool it down.

i've never done it, but i love frozen peas from the store. eat them as a snack when still frozen in the summer. :) out in the gardens they rarely even make it in the house. will stand there and eat them when picking. once in a great while i'll have enough for a bowl.

...

been too dry here for mowing much lately. grass is even going brown (which usually doesn't happen here until August).

songbird

[George Shirley]

I went on line today looking for a way to freeze the peas. One lady says she doesn't blanch but just puts them on a bun pan and freezes them then bags them for later use. I'm going to try it tomorrow. Will let you know how it works out. Sure beats waiting for a ton of peas to pressure can.