Not too creative tonight. It's been a long day. Work has been rough this week. But tomorrow is Friday and it seems like the week has gone by quickly. The last 6 weeks have gone quickly- it is midterms for my student.
J17 and I broke out the flame thrower this evening. Unfortunately, it was too windy for it to be really useful. But I did get a little bit of weeding done before I had to make dinner. I rediscovered my dill and rescued the eggplant.
It was cool again today with lingering showers- weather more like April than June. Tomorrow should be about perfect- mid 70's and partly cloudy. Too bad I've got to work. I tried to encourage J17 that it would be a good day for her to get out and weed and earn some more gas $. However, she has landed a cat-sitting job and they paid her in advance so she isn't quite as motivated to work for me.
I did make several discoveries this evening. First- we have blueberries on the at least one of the bushes. They're not ripe yet but they're getting big. I'll have to get some netting over them to keep the birds out if we want to see any.
Second- the red currants are beginning to ripen. Unfortunately a deer munched the tips of one of the bushes. Grrr..
Third- said deer also munched a few things in the garden. The sunflower I didn't mind so much. It was a volunteer. But the deer ate every single leaf off the plant, including the top. Sadly, it didn't stop with the sunflower. Every single head of romaine that I was getting ready to start harvesting has been eaten off. sigh... I guess we really need to repair the gate that the tree fell on... not that the gate has ever stopped them. I hope it had a good meal... maybe we'll have to take my Dad's advice and get a landowner's deer license this fall and fill the freezer with venison.
Fourth- the little asparagus crowns that I planted this spring are up! I had looked a few weeks ago and they weren't there. I had almost given up on them and was thinking about writing a letter of complaint to the company. But, there they were this evening in all their wispy, frondy finery. 6 new crowns. Woo Hoo! Maybe next year I'll have more than one stalk! Although I will probably let these go a year or so before harvesting anything.
I'm looking forward to the weekend. The weather is supposed to be drier than it has been so I'm hoping to get lots done outside. Of course, the weekend that the weather is supposed to be great, J17 decides to go spend time at a friend's house. sigh. I'll have to enlist the boys to help burn things... and weed... and plant my new elderberry.
You are supposed to let the asparagus head out the first growing season. It is hard to do because those suckers taste so good but it rewards you the following year with lots more growth. This spring was our second year of eating off a 20 foot row of asparagus. I don't think I ever will tire of it. I eat it stir fried, microwaves a couple minutes with a pat of butter, grilled, roasted, sauteed, and creamed in soup just to name a few.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, it tickles me to hear you use the word flamethrower while talking about weeding the garden in the same paragraph. I am imagining a battle of epic proportions.
Me too, ED. lol
ReplyDeleteWe planted a second bed of asparagus this spring, and while I was out there mjowing yesterday I saw that they are up and flying in the breeze. The blackberries ate out last patch, though we still manage to get a bit of asparagus out from between the brambles. Now, the blackberries...THAT's where I could use a flamethrower!!!!
I do need to get out there and pick raspberries today...we have black and re. BTW--what does the copper spray do for the tomatoes??
Happy Friday!!
Sorry about some of your crops. The deer are a real problem in our area too. we don't live in a farm community but everyone tries growing a garden and every year the dear have a feast. my next door neighbor takes a cognition of different spices,a drop or two hot sauce and some egg to make it stick-she only lathers this on the tomatoes because in MN. if you get trough a whole season [weather wise] you defiantly want to show off your nice tomatoes-but if you get a lot of rain ,which we have been doing,it all washes off and you have to re-apply. hmph
ReplyDeleteEd- LOL! You haven't seen my weeds! It is a battle of epic proportions!!
ReplyDeleteAkannie- the copper is a natural fungicide so it will get rid of the nasty blighty stuff that is beginning on the tomatoes. It will also help with anthracnose. It may be an organic solution but it is pretty nasty stuff. Anything with 2 pages or warnings and first aid/exposure information in the booklet attached to the bottle can't be good. The catch is that I need to be able to apply it when it will actually dry on the plant. Not so good right now.
Judy- I've got some deer repellant as well but, like you said, you have to reapply after a rain. With it raining nearly every day recently that is a no go. I was hoping that having the dog wandering around in there more would deter them a bit more. No such luck.
Judy
Hubby is sad because we have been in such a drought we are afraid to use our flamethrower!
ReplyDelete