November 1, 2017

"Harvest is ended, and summer is gone," quoth Anne of the Island, I think.  

Only it is a lot nearer winter than we want to think, having had our first snow October 31st.  The Old Wives say that we will have 31 snowstorms this winter, or is it 31 inches? I think I'll go look it up.

Well, I found a bunch of tales I never heard of, but this one comes close:

• As many days old as is the moon on the first snow, there will be that many snowfalls by crop planting time.

Jim dug the sweet potatoes at the end of October and we got some huge ones.

We also got some funny looking ones.  We went looking on Google for some answers to this phenomenon, but we didn't get any.  We did find out that this happens to other people. This particular shape grows directly at the base of the plant and then as other roots go down, traditional looking sweet potatoes form.  We planted six plants and got more sweet potatoes that regular potatoes in the two rows that were about 4 times the length of the sweet potato row. 

It tasted just like a sweet potato.  I scrubbed it well, and baked it with the peel on.  It peeled easily after it was cooked. 

That weekend, which was the last nice day we've had, being sunny with no wind, albeit cold. I cleaned up the rest of the flower garden that I was going to.  I got rid of the morning glories and swept leaves off the patio and the porch.  We put away the deck chair cushions, and the rest of it will have to wait until spring.

The last thing I hope to do is cover the base of the roses when the ground freezes. 

August 18, 2017

I'm not doing a very good job of chronicling the garden for this year.

We worked really hard on the place before Lynette's wedding and it has never looked so good.  Jim watered some of our weedier 'back yard', that has never been 'lawn' and mowed it.  The garden has never been so weed free (until after the wedding).

The flower gardens which were under my care were kept weeding and starting the first of July we covered them with a thick mulch of dark brown wood chips (two large pickup loads) with some Preen involved.

Our corn is all in the freezer and our tummies, and Jim has mowed the stalks down. Lorene and Aaron came again to help

The cucumbers are going gangbusters and I don't need anymore pickles, I have too many leftover from last year. 

The summer squash is nearly done; the plants are all dying. 

I can't get too much enthused about any more garden.  

I'm okay with more beans and we are eating okra.

I've pulled up half of the cucumbers, I think I need to pull up some more. 

One big day's picking.

Our first canteloupe.  Jim said it didn't taste as good as store bought. Who knows, it could be soil, temperature, water, seed, that makes the difference.

This is one of Lynette's wedding gifts.  We got to enjoy the flowers while they were gallivanting in Maine.  I LOVE this vase.  I would like to have one this shape. 

August 1, 2017

Because of the wedding, I haven't been posting what has been going on around here.  We've been too busy.  Jim has watered all over the place except the pasture, done extra mowing, and extra weeding and the place is beautiful.  I've worked hard in the flower garden and put on extra thick mulch.  They are gorgeous.  We planted our garden late, but I've put a couple gallons of beans in the freezer, made 20 quarts of pickles, 5 of which are dills, the rest Caddie pickles. We have now, in two days, put 81 quarts of corn in the freezer, half of which is going to Lorene's family.  We have one more batch to do.  We've rather let the squash go to baseball bat size or more like heavy club size, but there is only so much one can do in a wedding summer!

Corn, 39 dozen ears in two days.

May 21, 2017

We are having a cool spring.  It isn't as bad as last year with colder temperatures longer, but we had a frost a week or so ago and then a week of chilly cloudy days and the corn came up white because it had no sun. A couple days later it is light green.

April 28, 2017

April 22

April 28 

Swinging from Spring to Winter in a week! 

April 19, 2017

The beets, onions, spinach and peas are up in the garden.  The potatoes are planted, yukon gold. Jim put the pea trellis up this year before the peas were planted so we should have better luck with them.  Saturday my mom was here and we did a quick clean up of the dead mum plants.  An hour's work seems to be all I can do right now, I'm tired out by then.  I've done some weeding and hope to do more.  Yesterday was a beautiful day.  Just right for temperature, wind and sunshine.  Today is chilly and damp and windy.

The tomato plants are nearly dead.

April 17, 2017

These sound like they would do well is our sticky clay soil, but would they spread too quickly?

April 7, 2017

My tomatoes and peppers aren't doing very well. I think they need more light.  I don't know if we are prepared to really get into this growing from seed bit.  We need to be more serious about it. 

While 'home' for my birthday visit, Mom bought me some flowering plants.  

Purslane looks like a weed that grows all over our driveway.  That weed doesn't bloom and this one blooms like crazy. It like it. 

Begonias are pretty, but hard to keep alive.  I got some yellow ones, too. I wish I'd remembered to look for 'double' ones.  

Jim has onions in.  

February 18. 2017

I guess gardening season has officially begun.  I planted twelve tubes with tomato seeds and 5 tubes with pepper seeds.  That's all the tubes I had.  I was going to take a picture of the tubes, but the planting was going on while the supper was supposed to be grilling.  However, as I put the chicken on, I dropped the thimble that was still on my finger (I was quilting) into the grill.  I shut everything down to dismantle the grill to get it and while I waited I planted.  I couldn't figure out how to take apart the grill so when Jim came home, he did it, and I hurried supper on and forgot all about taking any photos except these of the seed packets.  As you can see, I had a horrible time getting the tomato package open.  I spent a little more time on the pepper packet.  

Now I hope they grow. 

February 1, 2017

Plant pepper seeds in toilet paper rolls.  Cut slits into the bottom and fold in to made bottoms.  Place in a plastic tray.  Unfold the bottom before planting.