and i'll be done with the major redo of the north garden. i was hoping to have it done by the end of August and lo and behold... :)
i've finally weeded myself into the north- western corner. there's three huge rocks there that will remain so once i get close enough i just have to level and we'll cover/smother what is left in that spot and plop/roll the rocks on there (which will save me about an hour of weeding if i don't have to go through that space so carefully). once i finish this large garden i have to redo the first strawberry patch (a quick job, perhaps three days in comparison to a month). and once i get that done i can start on the big north east garden which needs some attention too (i figure that might take me all of September with everything else going on), before getting on to working on what we call the River Nile. the end of it needs some erosion control and i need to reshape it overall so we can mow it easier than how it is set up now. i figure i will be busy right up until the ground freezes as usual. which is good. i'd rather have stuff to do than not and the weather is good for getting heavier projects done as it gets cooler.
in other news, we put up the first round of tomatoes last night. 16 quarts. should be a few more rounds out there and some we picked that are still a little green yet so they'll ripen up and get put up eventually (or eaten fresh).
the beets came out today, one of the various critters around here returned and ate more of them so we figured we'd might as well get the ones that are left out of there. we'll have to scrub and cook those up tonight or tomorrow.
beans i will start going through the patches today to check for pods that are close enough to pick so they can finish drying (we have night time heavy dews/fogs this time of the year so i often will pick pods and finish them in box tops before shelling them). there looks to be a pretty good crop of the various beans. so i'm always excited to see what Mother Nature has done (cross breeds or growing out ones i've already found). i planted between 50 - 100 varieties this season so always fun to see which did ok and which didn't make it. for the most part i didn't lose many bean plants that i could tell vs. the edamame soybeans (the three plants that made it past sprout stage are still alive).
and i also need to check the red peppers for ones that are ready to be roasted up or eaten fresh.
so, yep, the crazy season has started to kick in. or at least the crayzier than normal season...
in critter news i was able to get a video of the turkey vultures flying about a week ago, i could watch them fly all day:
songbird