Wednesday, June 13, 2012

This and That

While things have been busy, I don't really feel like I've got much to write about.
The garden is growing but not much to report.  The tomatoes seem to have grown about a foot over the weekend while I was gone and are blooming like mad.  The peppers are blooming and I've finally got little broccoli heads forming in the plants.  I replanted most of my vining crops due to a germination failure.  I'm not sure if it has been too hot and dry or if there is something else going on.  The one thing that germinated well, amazingly enough, was the ancient zucchini seed I planted.  This is seed left over from 2008 or 2009- the little round ones- and every single seed I planted came up.  The new stuff- Long Island Cheese Squash- had only one seed germinate.  The new luffa seed had nothing.  I also planted two kinds of melons from last years seeds and got no germination there either. I planted bush beans and scarlet runners (saved from last year) about a week and a half ago, so far I've got 2 beans up.  sigh...
This evening V is off at the Coralville Public Library.  He is the featured speaker/ local author at a summer reading program for teens.  Show and tell with ghost stories is always fun.  He will also be participating in the Iowa City Book Festival in mid-July.  At least he no longer has law suit stuff hanging over his head so he isn't afraid to appear in public and talk about his book.  I guess I never explained that whole situation- it wasn't something we talked about until it was wrapped up.  Another local author who has written extensively about the Black Angel accused V of plagarism because V presented the same historical facts in the same order as he did (duh- I thought facts are facts and history is usually presented in chronological order!).  He went so far as to involve a lawyer and make numerous legal threats.  It was all unfounded and V was vindicated but it was still an expensive, stressful process that really turned V off promoting his book.  This guy seems to think that he owns the facts surrounding this story and, I hear, has taken legal action against others who have written about the angel.  Actually it strikes me as pretty sad that he seems to have so little else to hold onto.
I'm hoping for some sewing time soon.  I'd like to finish Justine's quilt before she goes off to school.  And I've got a shirt that I cut out that I'd like to be able to wear this summer sometime.
V and the children finally got the pool set up yesterday.  Of course, it now presents a water hazard for the frisbee field.  Just another challenge.
Back to gardening stuff, the raspberries are starting to ripen.  The strawberries were a bust. A late frost got most of the blossoms and the few we did get were small due to lack of rain.  That and I was fighting a losing battle with chipmunks over the ripening berries.  But, I noticed in the grocery ad today that there is a big strawberry sale this week so I'm hoping to pick up some to make some jam.  One store is also having kiwis at a decent price so I'm thinking strawberry/kiwi jam.  Mmmm... I'd much prefer being able to make it from my own produce but this has been such a bad year that it's not going to happen. Maybe next year.  Even with purchasing the ingredients it is still a cost saver and I much prefer homemade to store-bought jam anyday.

16 comments:

  1. My strawberries didn't do very well either so I need to find one of those sales! I'm with you on homemade jam, no matter where the berries come from.

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    1. Hopefully you can find a good sale soon. We gotta have jam!

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  2. glad your having luck ,I was getting fretful,so many bloggers out there with horror stories

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    1. If I don't get blight this year at least I should have tomatoes.

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  3. Lots of people are having germination problems this year...curious...

    I had strawberries for a few years, but it's like playing roulette! I don't mess with them anymore and buy them when I can....I do have lots of blackberries, raspberries, peaches and apples. So...

    I bought seeds from Baker Creek this year and the germination rate was atrocious...I've had to replant almost everything...just went back to my local family market that sells bulk seeds...it's all doing well now...won't be spending over 50 dollars there again...sigh...

    Glad the ordeal for V is over...that sucks.

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    1. Hmm, the worst culprits are from Baker Creek. I know I had trouble last year with the tomatillos I got from them. Maybe they have an issue this year. I'll have to do some checking around.

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  4. Ditto on our strawberries.

    I wonder if your germination problems have anything to do with the cool wet early spring we had. I know the corn crop here in SE Iowa suffered from some bacteria that thrived and takes out the primary root system on the corn plants and thus killing them. My parents lost several hundred acres to this and had to replant it. They said they have never seen this stuff in the 50 plus years they have been farming. Maybe it affected other things too.

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    1. I'd believe that there is something going on. But most of these things are what I planted fairly recently. I'm more thinking that it is the dry weather. I may have to water a bit more than I have been.

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  5. hey! long time no see :) i have been having a slack garden this year too, in germination and in early bolting. i loved the post about your family dinner at the old school - the old school here in rutledge has a slide fire escape, too, and i have always wondered what it's purpose was. now i know! and dude, your camera is NICE! i would LOVE to get pictures of the moon like that. i applaud you for only posting three... :D i'm gonna have to skip back to older posts to see if you have pictures of the quilt you're making, i would love to see that.

    anyway, glad to hear life is keepin on, gardens are growing, kids are surviving on week days, etc. :)

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    1. Joan- how's it going! I don't think I've got any pics of the quilt here but they are on my other blog (see the sidebar link). It's a steampunk themed quilt that she requested.

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  6. Ditto here with germination problems - no matter what type seed (organic/non/bought/kept) it was atrocious. I finally sprinkled dried blood meal around my strawberries and it seems to have worked - until it rains. Looks like it's going to be an ongoing strategy. Too bad about the idiot with the lawsuit threat. Sounds like he doesn't have enough to do.

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    1. Hmm, I may have to try the dried blood meal next spring. My strawberries are done already.
      And yeah- jerkface with the lawsuit needs to get a life.

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  7. That's just crazy about the lawsuit guy, hmmmmph! Here too, things are growing out there but not uncontrollable and not much harvesting yet, which is good because there are so many other things going on, more than usual - not sure why, just one of those years I guess!

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    1. It does seem to be a particularly busy year this year, not even counting gardening stuff.

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  8. Wow I hate hearing about all the seed sowing issues everyone seems to have. I actually feel guilty I'm glad I was too busy moving to sow anything... Do you have a favorite strawberry jam recipe that you use? I've never tried to make jam before but with my gardening on temporary hold I've been itching to do something like that. And yeah, the jerk with the lawsuit really does need a life.

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    1. It is bizarre how many people have been reporting problems. I do hope it's just a fluke year and not a sign of things to come.
      Jam is really easy. It involves lots of stirring but isn't difficult. I'll try to post my recipe. I use the one from the Amish ladies that came with the bulk pectin I got.

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