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August 31, 2006
Dreaming: Cold falling misting burbling ....
..... refreshing clear wonderful water....
and seven pans
of baked hams
Posted by Sue at 10:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Dreaming of water ...
Water ... cool weather ... and, okay, muffins. The muffin recipe from "Boston Cooks".
Borrowed the picture.
There has to be a place with less sun ... more water.
Posted by Sue at 06:20 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 29, 2006
Aargh. More heat
The 100+ degree weather has returned yet again. This time it's been at least five days in a row. The tomatoes and peppers are surviving ok, probably because they have umbrellas over them. They were planted later in the season. The six tomatoes planted early on all got fried. They're still alive, but doing badly with practically no flowers, much less tomatoes.
Rumor has it there may actually be days sometime soon that will be less than 90, with possibly even a few clouds in the sky. But I discount this as tall tales told by those who'd been in the sun far too long.
Posted by Bob at 07:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 27, 2006
Which came first?
A twisted mind is a terrible thing to waste-- and we have two of them! Need we say more?
Posted by DJSueellen at 05:52 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Chickens
Not exactly gardening, but these are our latest effort toward self-sufficiency-- and to control weeds & pests and generate high-nitrogen fertilizer. We ordered 25 Delawares, dual purpose birds suitable for our climate, as well as being a fairly rare breed. They shipped us 27, but we lost one the first night. We figure they hatched on August 22, so they're 5 days old now. We've had them 48 hours, and already they've grown!
Delawares are reputed to be aggressive birds, which should encourage their survival here. They're also supposed to be good mousers, so maybe they are related to gardening!
Posted by DJSueellen at 05:47 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Termaters
We just harvested our first tomatoes. The skin is a little thick, but they taste awesome! Is this what a tomato is supposed to taste like?
These are Early Girl, but we have Roma, Rutgers, and one other variety right behind. (I don't remember what I planted, and the "cubed foot" guy's idea of tongue depressor signs didn't work very well. They all faded.)
First frost is about 3 weeks away, so we're hoping our tomatoes ripen soon...
Posted by DJSueellen at 05:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 26, 2006
More on giant yellow jacket nests
Alabama: Giant nests perplex experts
Georgia: 6 foot nest on pond
Posted by Bob at 09:52 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 25, 2006
You do not want this in your back yard
Giant yellowjacket nest. No, seriously, we mean GIANT.
Posted by Bob at 02:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 24, 2006
Succulent - 2
Posted by Bob at 12:17 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 23, 2006
Succulent - 1
Posted by Bob at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 22, 2006
Cactus - 3
Posted by Bob at 12:15 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 21, 2006
Cactus - 2
Posted by Bob at 12:12 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 20, 2006
Cactus - 1
Posted by Bob at 07:11 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
The heat is coming back
The past few days we've gotten some gardening done. Sue planted some roses, I've worked on the vegetables. Some tomato plants are finally flowering and small tomatoes are appearing.
However, the heat will return Monday and we will have several days of 100+ heat. Hope it doesn't stunt the finally ripening tomatoes...
Posted by Bob at 09:35 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 17, 2006
That's What I'm Talking About...
Sometimes I forget why we're putting all this work into a garden, but not today. Today we picked our first summer squash. Yes, one summer squash, about 7" long. Not the biggest harvest, but boy it was tasty. I've never had squash that good from a supermarket!
There's one more squash that will be ready in a few days, and plenty of blossoms, so I'm hoping we'll get to enjoy quite a bit more squash this season. Maybe some will be ready for our visitors over the Labor Day holiday...
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Onions!
We harvested the onions this week-- because, believe it or not, something was eating them! Onions are supposed to repel pests, but apparently our pests are not too particular.
I've read that onions are supposed to "cure" for two weeks before use, so these are drying on our patio. We clearly have more than we can use, so we'll probably take some to the local post office, where people bring their extra produce. We've been feasting this week on cucumbers from somebody's garden. Bet you can't get cukes at the post office in LA!
Posted by DJSueellen at 08:48 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 16, 2006
On the south fence
Posted by Bob at 07:32 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 15, 2006
The tomatoes are coming back
The 19 days of 100+ degree heat a few weeks ago killed three tomato plants and caused several others not to flower at all. Now that the heat has dropped down to the 80's-90's, the plants are flowering again. So, we may have a decent crop after all. Assuming, of course, we don't have another heat blast. September can be the hottest month here.
Posted by Bob at 10:39 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 14, 2006
Cactus, and pups
The large cactus had been much taller. One night, it fell, and four pieces broke off. We let them dry out for a week, potted them, put them it a shaded place, and within a couple of weeks, they were doing fine. You can see the four new pups in and around the original cactus.
Posted by Bob at 11:21 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 10, 2006
Bell peppers
These needed a lot of water during the recent heat and I've shaded them with an umbrella (it'll be 100 again today.) But they are surviving!
Posted by Bob at 08:14 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 09, 2006
The grapes are nearly ripe
The grapes that were shaded in the arbor did fine, the ones of the outside facing west less so. The heat got them.
Posted by Bob at 10:38 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 08, 2006
Ailing tomatoes
So far, the tomato harvest has ben puny. Apparently they don't form flowers when it's above 85. We had 19 days of 100+ heat and that certainly fried then. Now that it's cooled off a bit, little baby tomatoes are beginning to form, so there's still hope for a good harvest.
The peppers are beginning to produce too.
Posted by Bob at 11:10 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 06, 2006
Video coming soon!
I just got my first camcorder, and once familiar with it, I'll be posting short videos of the garden. Expect close-ups of Malo ("The flesh-eating turtle from Hell") eating baby carrots (They look like fingers...) among other things.
The weather has finally calmed down. The next ten days should be high 80's to low 90's, which is quite tolerable. The tomatoes aren't doing that well this year. The 19 days of 100+ degree heat took its tool. Oddly, two tomato plants are full grown but have not a single flower on them, much less a tomato. Odd.
Posted by Bob at 08:40 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 04, 2006
Pepper garden
During the recent heat wave, we lost several vegetable plants. However, the ones we planted in soil we made using equal portions of compost, peat moss, and vermiculite all did well. Vermiculite retains moisture, so this may have made the key difference. This photos shows ten pepper plants, all doing fine.
Posted by Bob at 10:04 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 03, 2006
Bandit on her perch
Posted by Bob at 10:03 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
August 01, 2006
More Yum!
Posted by Bob at 08:25 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack