mudpies's Blog

Daughters' Gardens, Fishing Weekend
May 27, 2009 | 7:57 AM PST
Tags: daughters , fishing , potatoes , tomatoes , onions , peas , beets , beans , Swiss Chard , parsnips , Sunflowers , gourds , pumpkin , cucumbers

Now that you've had a peek at Melissa's Secret Garden, I'll have to post photos of Jacquie's.  (I have to photograph it first, though.)  Hers are very different from mine and Melissa's, but lovely, just the same.  My eldest daughter, Dawn, studied landscape design and had beautiful beds when she lived in Ontario.  She hasn't adjusted to the growing conditions in Georgia yet, but I'm confident she'll eventually create something terrific down there.

 It's raining here today, so I won't be outside, which is probably a good thing because C is preparing to go fishing for pickerel (walleye) with several of his buddies this weekend. 

We got all 40 lbs of seed potatoes (Banana Fingers, Yukon Golds, Cal Whites and Chieftains) in the soil, finally.  That makes ten 40' rows.  I may have bought too many, don't you think?  We will share with family and friends, but I think I'll cut back to 30 lbs next year.  I'm just not sure which variety to eliminate.

My teenaged tomato plants (21 of 'em - the rest were shared with family and friends) are nestled all snug in their beds surrounded by eggshells and makeshift cloches.

Our onions, peas and beets are up, and I put a row of Swiss chard and one of parsnips in yesterday after I transplanted more volunteer sunflowers and seeded my shade bed with amaranth.  I still need to plant three varieties of beans, cucumbers, pumpkins and several different gourds.  We sell the gourds at a roadside stand.  I found a new variety of gourds yesterday.  They resemble apples in shape.  Had to buy a packet of seeds to try them out.  Tri-coloured pears used to be our best seller, but last year crown of thorns took over.  I also purchased a new, expensive hand trowel.  It seems to me that I break the cheaper ones on a regular basis.  I broke one of mine and bent one of Melissa's during our All Girls' Weekend.

I'm looking forward to having this weekend to myself.  No meals to prepare!  No interruptions!  No working on someone else's agenda!  I want to concentrate my efforts on edging up my shade bed and getting the last of the seed into my cutting bed, then weeding and mulching the beds at home.  That is, if I survive the preparation for C's fishing weekend.  I need to make several dozen of his favourite chocolate chip oatmeal cookies.  That's the easy part.  C tends to leave a lot of his preparations till the last minute then gets hyper about getting everything packed and ready to go.  I'll likely have to help him search for some of his stuff and undoubtedly have to assist with putting new line on his reels, etc.  He's just gone to town for some new swivels because he can't find the packet he bought last fall.  Ah well, it's a small price to pay for three days of peace and quiet in my flower beds and, hopefully, fresh pickerel for dinner Monday evening.