JRmom - Garden is in!

[JRmom]

Well, I am tired and sore, but I got a LOT done this weekend. Set up the composter I was given and put one of my piles into it. Had a wheel barrow full of nice compost that I added to the garden.

Planted a row of green beans, a row of blackeye peas, set out 15 tomato plants, 2 hot pepper plants, and got my cuke seeds planted. Found a huge potato plant in the compost so I set that out in the garden - we'll see how it does.

Still to plant - some bush-type purple beans, and carrots. Gave my okra seeds to my friend - he has the room for them, and he also said he would stop by a few times during the week when the garden starts producing and pick whatever is ready for me and set the produce inside the porch. Yeah!

Hubby had a great weekend too. He bought a scratch-off lottery ticket on Friday and by last night he was $200 to the good. I never have any darn luck with the lottery. He bought me an owl to hang by the garden and said he'll use the rest of his winnings to get some sort of irrigation system set up. Can't wait until next weekend!!!

 

[Wifezilla]

Tired and sore, hubby is lucky

Do you know how easy it is to misread that title as "Tired and sore, hubby GOT lucky" before I had my coffee?

 

[JRmom]

Hmmm, maybe he did!

 

[Wifezilla]

Good for you two!

 

[Denim Deb]

Tired and sore, hubby is lucky

Do you know how easy it is to misread that title as "Tired and sore, hubby GOT lucky" before I had my coffee?

Even w/out misreading it, there's just soooo much you can read into it.

 

[JRmom]

Another gorgeous weekend - gosh, I think summer is here! I wish the weather was like this year-round. The days have been around 86 degrees, and the nights are cool and wonderful - sleeping like a baby with all the windows open. My electric bill will appreciate this weather - no a/c or heat - love it.

The grapefruit tree is in bloom - smells heavenly, and it's crazy how many honey bees are around. Wondering if these are wild bees or if someone near me has a hive. Hope they come back when the garden starts blooming.

The garden is DONE! Well, at least for now. I have one small patch left, but I'm still contemplating what to put there. More bush squash or bush beans? Can't decide. Can squash be dehydrated?

My potato plant I found in the compost is doing great. Hubby made a mini wire barrel for it to match the other potato barrels (which are sprouting!!). I'm really excited to see how well these produce.

Already thinking ahead to a fall garden and planning my seed order. Turnip greens for sure, carrots, onions, some lettuce, winter squash.

Bought a small jar of tomato/jalapeno jam at the flea market Saturday, $5.00 - ouch! But I've never tried tomato jam so I thought I'd give it a try before I made my own. Looks delicious, we'll see.

ETA: We decided to use the round soaker hoses. Two 75' hoses covered the whole garden really well. Timer is set to water every other day for one hour (for now). I'm sure this will change as the temps heat up.

 

[TanksHill]

 

[dragonlaurel]

Good work on the garden. You should submit that pic for a POW. Citrus blooms always smelled so good.

 

[JRmom]

I think summer popped in to say hello this past weekend. It was hot and muggy, and I don't know what I was thinking when I was packing to go to the cabin... I didn't pack a single pair of shorts. Note to self: take shorts to the cabin and leave them there! Next project (well, hubby's project) is to get our boat ready to use. Late last summer the alarm on the motor started going off. It's getting oil and not overheating, so he's thinking the sensor is bad. Plus, the trailer needs new tires. It's always something...

Planted 4 more tomato plants and 2 more pepper plants, plus got my flowers planted, including some sunflower seeds. Everything else is up and looking good. In fact, I may have to thin out my potato baskets. I over-planted since these were grocery store potatoes, but it looks like all of them have sprouted. I can't believe how fast potato plants grow!

Got another compost bin. Our friends spotted one on the side of the road for free and picked it up for me. It's a little beat up, but it works.

Coming home, we always stop in the Forest to let the dogs have a run. We have been seeing tons of turkey tracks and Buster actually flushed one. The turkeys are really plentiful this year, we are seeing them all over on the side of the road, even in town. Very unusual for around here. Of course, if you get a permit for spring gobbler season, you'll never see the first one! Also, if you've ever wondered if bears do poop in the woods... the answer is no, they poop in the middle of the road. Thankfully the dogs have never flushed a bear!

Monday it cooled off again and rained all day. Looks like more of the same for today. The rain has washed all the pollen off everything and now it's so green and pretty. Looks like all the oak leaves are finally done falling - now the racking starts, ugh.

 

[JRmom]

The garden loved having 4 days of gentle rain last week. Everything is growing like weeds, including the weeds. The only thing I did in the garden this weekend was replant a few bush beans to fill in some holes.

Homestead tomatoes:

Yellow squash:

We took the dogs hiking on Saturday in the National Forest. We stayed on the trail walking out, but decided to go off trail coming back. Bad idea. We found at least 40 ticks on us and the dogs when we got home. Yuck!

Buster checking out a gopher tortoise hole:

Buster and Dixie at another animal burrow, down in a small sinkhole: