My Garden

[The Cook]

is doing pretty well now. We have most of the weeds under control but I need a couple more mornings to finish up. I can get in about 2 hours between 6 and 9 am. Then it is well on its way to 90. The cukes are almost overridden by weeds

George, I wish we had some of your rain here. We watered peppers & squash yesterday and the sprinkler is going on the tomatoes right now.

Zukes have both and male & female flowers but haven't seen any insects yet. The cukes are flowering and waiting for the weeds to get pulled. The peppers have fruit, at least the pimento and jalapeño do. Tomatoes are every where from no flowers yet to fruit that is almost up to size, if as I assume, they are Early Girl. Waiting for the blueberries to get fully ripe. We have them netted but birds still sometimes get in. It is fun to watch them trying to get out.

Guess I better get started on some of the things in the house.

[songbird]

i've never been much of a morning person so it's tough for me to get out and moving before it gets too hot&humid. some evenings lately have been cooler with a nice breeze and that helps a lot.

i picked some strawberries last night and again this morning, enough so that we could have shortcake for a few days and so Ma could take some to my brother.

i hope your back is holding out ok?

you are pretty forgiving! :)

i hear ya, after a little puttering this morning i decided today is a day of taking a break and doing only light stuff. [as i write this Ma comes in with two boxes of strawberries and she wants to make jam later...]

songbird

[George Shirley]

We got hammered again today Susan. About four inches starting around

1000 and lasting until after lunch. Came in bursts of heavy rain. Weather folk say that is the last of Tropical Storm Bill, I hope they're right.

Zukes and yellow squash have been pulled as the squash borers got to them. Planted two more young yellow squash plants. Sweet chiles are making like gangbusters again. I think it is because the zukes are no longer shading them. Tomatoes are going crazy, we're freezing them, eating them, giving them away, making tomato dishes and freezing them. DW planted entirely to many tomato plants for two old people and, of course, all our family and neighbors did the same. Cucumbers are, I hope, on the decline. There are only so many cukes two people can eat. Eggplant are coming in like gangbusters but we are making moussaka, fritters, roll ups, etc. out of them so we will have many good meals this winter.

Crowder peas and lima beans are making out well and our Trucker's Favorite single corn stalk has an ear building, can hardly wait for that one. Lots of figs on our young fig tree and, like you, we have it netted due to the !@#$ mockingbirds that raid every chance they get.

Why? Gardening, reading, watching TV, are all better than housework.

[Terry Coombs]

T.S. Bill's about 100 miles west and a little south of us right now and headed our way , we expect him to blow thru between 8 and 12 this evening . We've been getting off-n-on heavy rain since early yesterday . Timing was just about perfect , it was getting kinda dry out in the garden . Red Ripper and Whipoorwill peas that I planted a few days ago have sprouted , going like gangbusters . My other in law suggested today I can still plant some of those Mattie Beane beans , it'll just be a late crop ... shucks , our first freeze here isn't usually until mid-October so she's right , I've got like 120 days til then . Tomorrow , today's shot and I gotta figure out where to put 'em .

[George Shirley]

We use newspaper to smother any weeds that come up. Put down triple layers and wet them, then, if available, toss a little dirt on top. News print today is not made with harmful chemicals any more and the ink is made of pine rosin and soy oils. Even the comic strips today are made of clay ink instead of chemicals.

Found out the above many years ago when I was doing a fire and safety review for a company that got the pine rosin out of the pine timber they were cutting and turning into wood products. Was an interesting concept and did away with the old sulphuric acid and other "bad" chemicals that were used prior to that.

[The Cook]

Thanks for asking. I had back surgery last fall after about 3 months of flat on my back and living on pain meds. The surgery went well and I have pretty much recovered. Still careful about lifting anything too heavy but completely off of pain meds.

All of the weeds this year are a reminder to do some more prep in the garden area. A few years ago I put a few layers of newspaper around the base of the tomatoes and covered it with grass clippings. Did a great job of keeping the weeds down.

We just got about 10 minutes of rain. Actually happy that it didn't really pour because we watered peppers and squash on Wednesday and tomatoes & watermelons yesterday. Now if it will dry enough for me to get the rest of the weeds out. I can manage about 2 hours early in the morning and after that it is too hot.

Time to get the pizza going.

[George Shirley]

Been there, done that. Had a disc removed eons ago, then in 2005 it hit me in the same spot. The second time the docs went in and removed the scar tissue that was impinging on the nerves. Said probably will happen again as I scar easily. Sometimes you forget about the lifting problem and then it really hurts again. Just keep your memory going.

I shred all the paper that comes across my desk, particularly and financial papers. Dump it into a plastic bag and, eventually, it becomes a layer around some plant and wet down occasionally. Works pretty good for ground cover and then for compost.

Left over pasta tonight here, I still can't get the hang of cooking for two. Usually just package it and put half in the freezer for another day, freezer is full, lots of goodies coming in from the garden. We put up a fairly large pan of moussaka yesterday, cut into the amount of eggplant we're harvesting.

George