And from "Life on a Balcony"...
Still eating lettuce from the spring planting and peppers from the indoor plants taken from the garden last fall.
Spring plantings are coming along. Pests have been minimal so far. Carrots failed to germinate, but the beets next to them are coming along fine. I'll plant carrots later this fall to keep in the winter garden.
Dew berries are starting to ripen and are really big this year. Blackberries must be trying to recover from the drought or something, they are very small this year and not ripening very well. We are just letting the birds have them.
Yucca plants are starting to bloom. Passion flowers are blooming in the blueberry bed. We'll get the seeds this year and plant them in a bed of their own for next year.
Hope you are all doing well, and having some successes too. Have a great weekend. God Bless.
Pinging the list.
My squash (zucchini & straight neck) are blooming like gangbusters ... and I have yet to see a baby squash! I’m getting nervous. Too many recipes ... not enough zucchini! We have gotten two out of mom’s garden & picked the first cucumber today.
It has been a beautiful two days here, but humidity is creeping its way back in & the temps will be heating up.
Found a big ol' volunteer tomatillo amidst the taters when I was weeding and hilling them. Moved it to its own spot.
Pulled a muscle in my back from all the hilling and hoeing. Ouch.
My green beans are being decimated this year. I’ve begun to apply hoy sauce/soap mixture. I hope they recover. Little white thingy’s are having a feast.
One big problem I have encounters is that my rhubarb is suddenly dying back. It was looking limp a couple days ago, so I watered it with a garden hose (previously it was only rain water).
I’ll be planting fall tomato plants later this week. Most will be cherry tomatoes for sauce. I’ve been picking lots of veggies from our garden.
Our neighbor asked to watch his garden while they were out of town. He has about 20 tomato plants that are loaded. I picked the ripe ones and put them in the “usual” spot when they are away.
The back field (production gardens) remains a mess. For the first time in my memory, it looks like my tomatoes will be a disaster. The soil is oatmeal or playdough depending on elevation. Each time it dries enough to till properly, we get drenched.
Oh well.
I tilled one section this week and planted corn in the doughballs. Last night I planted bean among the corn just to get the job done. If they produce - good. If not, at least I tried. I primed both by pre-soaking the seed with a smidgen of kelp extract to get them going. Last night we had a good thunderstorm so more nitrogen and plenty of moisture to keep them going for a few more days.
We take what we get from the Lord. Prepared the fields (as best we can) and rely on God for the harvest (maybe somebody else grows it and sells it in the grocery store).
Still, all is well. We’re butchering chickens tomorrow, too.
And from "Life on a Balcony"...
Slow slogging, after a cold Spring. Corn will be ankle high by the Fourth of July. etc. We have gotten a few strawberries, though; and the fruit trees are looking productive. The wheat is heading up nicely. The transplanted rhubarbs are doing well, as are the asparagus seedlings.
Put in second plantings of carrots, radish, and spinach; added a small plot each of Toy-Chow, a ‘miniature’ bok-choy; coriander (cilantro grown for seeds rather than leaves); okra; pattypan**; pie pumpkins; and 2 other varieties of corn. Potatoes got their second hilling, after I moved the volunteer leaf lettuce that was in the way.
Most of the short* day, after normal chores, was taken up with hand watering & weeding the 3 oilseed sunflower rows: 400 gallon tank in the pickup, gravity fed to a garden hose.
It was the water left over from doing the same last night to the 5 rows of Sugar Snap peas, which are now in full flower; should begin harvesting next week.
Naturally, having watered, we got an unforecast rain after we left for the evening: we’ll take all the moisture we can get, and the hail missed us again.
Stopped at a grain elevator on our way to Rapid City Wednesday, and they’ll sell us ‘wheat cleanings/sweeping’ at 11 cents a pound, once the commercial harvest starts to come in: cheap chicken feed!
They’ll also order us a 50 pound sack of winter rye seed for $24. I calculated that we need 14 pounds to plant; we’ll put some into long term storage, use some in the kitchen, and feed some to the chickens...and we’ll get straw next year. That should give the birds pumpkins/seeds; black oilseed and Grey Stripe sunflower seeds; wheat; rye; and corn to supplement commercial feed this winter.
* It was a short day because we had to go to an early dinner at another couple’s house, then go with them to an evening melodrama in the next town. Back to their house for coffee & dessert; just got in about an hour ago.
**I found my last 2 original “Benning’s Green Tint” seeds from 2011. Last year, we planted from saved seed, and got some, but the weird weather kept the selected squash from fully maturing, and so those seeds didn’t germinate this year.
News From the Red Devil 232 Family.
Mrs. Red Devil and I just returned from a brief trip to our home in Mississippi. We loaded up my F-150 crew cab and her car with everything we could get into them to store in a storage unit.
We had to make this trip so we could leave one of the vehicles in Mississippi, as we are renting a Ryder Truck on Tuesday loading it up and driving to Mississippi on Wed.
We will have help loading the truck here in Texas. Mrs.Red Devil asked the neighbor kid (17) if he would help us load the truck for $100 and if he had a friend who could also help for another $100. He said yes. An outside contractor wanted $80/per person/hour. We needed the help because my right hip has been giving me a lot of problems recently! I expect that we can load the truck in 5-6 hours. Good pay day for the helpers. If we leave early, 3-4am on Wed. we will have 2 and a half days to unload in Mississippi before we have to turn the rental truck in.
Lots of work for us to do next week. Everything here is already boxed and labeled, except for a few essentials, and the fridge, freezer, washer and dryer. So it is a matter of just loading them on a dolly and getting it up the ramp and on the truck.
Wish us luck!
Oh by the way my fig trees are doing great. Nice breba crop that will be ready for picking soon and a great new growth crop of figs for later in August or early Sept. One pear tree will produce some nice pears for canning this fall.
Forgive me for the long post, but we also added a couple of additions to the Red Devil family. Two 8 week old mixed breed Terrier pups male and female. Pics to come soon as I can, we can’t locate our camera right now. Boy what a lively pair they are! I will have to teach them how to garden and respect the garden next year. The Pups were a gift from one of Mrs. Red Devil’s co-workers. MRS.RD after seeing them could not refuse giving them a home. Cute little critters, they are.
We will be disconnected from the internet from Monday till we can get service up in Mississippi.
Another by the way. Both Mississippi houses have passed a law and the Governor has signed a new law (effective July 1) allowing any Mississippian, who is not otherwise disqualified, to openly carry a gun, with or without a permit. A permit is still required if the weapon is concealed.
RD
On the opposite side of the state the heat is on. I spent the week picking snow peas and snapping them. With the 90 degree + weather the plants won't last for long.
Last Sunday/Monday another deluge of around 4 inches of rain that pounded the freshly tilled beds into a solid mass that only weeds would penetrate. So the sun/heat is appreciated to dry out once again so I can make the beds ready to accept seed. Most of the tomatoes are planted and caged. I have been adding pepper and basil plants to their beds.
My green beans have only sprouted halfheartedly so I will be filling in the empty spots as the beds dry out enough to dig.
” Blackberries must be trying to recover from the drought or something, they are very small this year and not ripening very well. We are just letting the birds have them. “
I’m glad to know that! We have a LOT of berries, but they are small, and as you say, not ripening to the darker color.
My squashes showed their first blooms today (male!)
To anyone, especially MO area. I planted a dwarf peach tree 6 years ago. Never has done. Its always something.
Either leaves start to turn red/pink and look like flesh that has been burned, or last years my damn chickens flew up and were knocking down all the fruit.
This year everything was going well until last week. Now all the fruit, although small, is rotting on the tree. Shriveling up too.
Is it even possible to not have to spray a fruit tree with everything under the sun to get fruit?
Mama Bear and the 3 cubs were back last night and rearranged this stack of potting soil by the garage…