Next Year

and wrapping up 2021

 I'm cleaning up the flower gardens since I haven't weeded for a couple of weeks.  I see that there aren't very many weeds, but I can get a start on the end of the year clean up.  This year we are having a warm fall and things are still nice. 

I have some ideas for next year based on successes and failures of this year.

Moss rose does very well by the mailbox.  

I think the petunias get too wet under the flag pole. They didn't do well this year, but I can't think what else to do there. There is a morning glory growing there this year. I hope a seed takes root and I can train it up the flag pole.

I want to plan alyssum again in the place where the mock almond bush is and a little farther back from the sidewalk.  The snapdragons did very well there, so I want those again.  I have a few forget-me-nots come up there.  I don't really want them there, but they are such a pretty blue. I need to watch for the "horrible weed" that grew up in the candytuft because we accidently transplanted it with it.  Something needs to go in the point where the forget-me-nots are.  This year the gloxinia seed I planted did NOT grow. Zinnias? 

The strip by the gas meter needs petunias across the whole thing even if the bulb leaves haven't quite died down. I have a corner that I'm trying to get a nice stand of forget-me-nots there, and it isn't going well.

My zinnia seed from last year did really well by the pond, but it blocked out my barrel.  I'm thinking next year some of the bare places in the rock garden would be good. I cut down the peony bushes. They were dry. 

October 4, 2021

                           

We took a trip to Illinois this week to pick up this tractor and implements that Jim bought on an auction.  He has an old and rusty John Deere MT that has been adorning our landscape for several years and he wanted to restore it to use as a tractor for our garden.  Our neighbor very kindly called Jim's attention to a plow for sale and Jim discovered that there was also a cultivator and a mower on the auction. The cultivator was what he really wanted, so we set a budget and he bid that amount and watched the bidding.  Somewhere in that process he decided to try for this tractor, an MT in MUCH better condition than we own, reasoning that the difference in price for the running tractor as opposed to the one needing restored wouldn't be much different.  I agreed on the condition that some of his unfinished projects and some of my projects would get done, pronto. This particular auction site continues after the ending time, resetting 5 minutes at a time until no one is bidding on anything.  Jim watched for an extra 2 1/2 hours, in case someone came close to outbidding him.  So, we went to get them, stopping on the way home at my folks.

When we got home, our neighbor came right over to see Jim's new purchases and revel in the idea of one more Old John Deere tractor in the neighborhood. Jim tried out the plow in the garden this afternoon.  He wants to clean up (sandblast, repair and paint) these pieces of equipment for gardening next spring. 

       

 

August 6, 2021

We put up our last batch of corn last night.  I'm glad to be done.  During corn season we eat and eat it, and put up bags and bags, and in three weeks we are tired of it.  Jim always plants two rows at a time 2 weeks apart, and it is usually all ready with in a week.  

The tally: 1st run, 17 1/2 dozen ears of corn = 50 quart bags.

                2nd, 11 dozen ears = 33 quart bags

                3rd, 10 dozen ears = 32 1/2 quart bags, this batch was almost too mature, thus more bags.   

I pulled up most of the onions this morning.  They are larger than usual and no so very many that have that rottenness at the bottom.  That seems more prevalent with the yellow ones.  I put another gallon of beans in the freezer this week, and made more pickles, 5 1/2 quarts of Bread and Butter pickles, 4 quarts of "Caddie" pickles, which are like a "sweet and sour" pickles, and 4 quarts of dills.  

 

July 26, 2021

 I seem to have lost my enthusiasm for blogging.  This is the most useful blog, or could be if I would use it properly.  We are well into the growing season, and with the 2" of rain this month and hot, but not too hot weather, everything is growing well.

We got our second picking of beans today.  We've been eating and putting up squash for three weeks.  We've been eating our potatoes and onions.  The yellow onions are the ones that get soft and rot, but we aren't having too much trouble this year.  Jim's little yellow tomatoes are producing more than he can eat and the garden ones are just turning.  We got round-up drift onto our garden this spring.  It was terribly windy and even with the farmer stopping far into his field, we still got hit.  We lost the peas and some of our tomatoes.  

I have about 20 qts. of beet pickles.  We got two white beets out of the deal and we ate them separately to see the difference.  Not enough to write home about.  I have 10 qts. of grated zucchini and yellow squash in the freezer, three batches of zucchini bread, 2 qts. of squash slices (there will be more) and 10 pints of zucchini relish.  We got two paper grocery bags of summer apples from a friend, and we got 11 gallons of peeled and sliced apples in the freezer and I made an apple crisp.  

Jim decided to buy meat chickens this year and we put 20 in the freezer.  We have eaten or given away the other three. It's a lot more work than Jim remembered.