trudy's Blog

Rethinking my watering methods
Jun 25, 2007 | 7:09 AM PST
Tags: corn , mators , garden , corn on the cob , sauce , soaker hoses

A couple days ago I decided to get started on my fall seeding.  I seeded broccoli, spanish onions, ga. collards, rutabega, kolhrabi.  I thinks thats all.  I also got to looking around at some of my flower beds an realized I still have some soaker hoses down.  I found 3 buried under the straw.  It clicked with me, actually just haven't thought about them in years.  I had put them down back when we got this property an was getting my beds established.  Anyway over the years there they sat.  So I got them all pulled out, checked them out by running water thru them.  Which amazingly I only had 2 spots that had to be cut off an mended, which I had the connections in my tool box on my truck.  Got that done an placed them in 1 watering station in the veggie garden.  My thinking here is why am I overhead watering when I don't need to,  no telling how much water is getting wasted by watering pathways, an the borders of the garden.  So far just by using 3 (which some had already had 2 connected together) which made them very long.  

While in the garden I picked some nice size mators which I'll save seeds from,  Paul Robeson, Black Krim, Red Brandywine, Picardy an Abe LIncoln.  Being how the other day the case of mators I got from the produce stand made 22 pts an about 6 pts of juice I may make something else outta these.  I need to can up some sauce an spaghetti sauce this year as well an I still need to can more plain mators into qt. jars but that'll be later on.  The qts come in hand for soups an chili come winter without running thru all the pts.  When I can mators I like to can enough to last for a couple years, so I can move to other things every other year.

 Yesterday afternoon we met our BIL in Albany to get the corn he pulled for me an enjoyed a nice supper, stopped by Wmart an got another 3 soaker hoses for station 2 of the garden.  Got home an got the corn spread out onto sheets so it wouldn't go thru a heat an today thats what me an DD will be working on,  Creaming corn!  We love fresh creamed corn.  He's harvesting 70 acres a day right now an by next week end he says he will be starting to harvest the white corn an it would be best for corn on the cob, so guess (I hope) next week end I'll get some of those. Well time to eat breakfast an get busy cleaning corn.  trudy

 

We got rain
May 13, 2007 | 4:13 PM PST
Tags: rain , crunchy , roses , tuber rose , chamomile , lillies , Spirea , Hydrangea , Spanish , Red 7 Sister , mators , cucumber , heat , raised beds Brugs , Sage

finally last night,  what a relief!!  It had gotten so dry the weeds I call grass was crunchy.   Since my last entry I've planted a few more things,  a couple roses, tuber rose an more chamomile.  A plant I'm not real familiar with called Pet????? Saxifrigara or something like that.  Will be interesting to see how it does down here in the heat.  Some of my Asiatic Lillies are blooming or full of buds.  Several daylillies are blooming, my Spanish Flag Vine, Red 7 Sister rose, Duranta, Anthony Waters Spirea, The Lady in Red Hydrangea is trying to bloom.  Can't wait to see that one seeing how I rooted it from a friends that had already bloom right b4 winter.  

 I got about 3 Brugs planted to replace some that didn't make it over the winter, 3 Pineapple Sage herbs an finished up with planting the rest of the tomatoes.  Took an potted up some Monsieour Tillier cuttings that had rooted that I should have already done.  Still have others to do, just finding time in all my spare time to do it.  Picked a handful of strawberries, which of course got eatten right away.  Spend some time with my DD's an a couple grandsons, was a pleasant day.  Now just to finish up watering the veggies,  you'd think they wouldn't need any, but being in raised beds I have to think about the heat tomorrow and they won't get any water til late tomorrow afternoon.  But I do have mators,  even picked a cucumber for my salad today for lunch.    Man was it good!   trudy
 

Life at the Lane today
May 7, 2007 | 5:35 PM PST
Tags: pinestraw , backyard , mators , flowers , heirloom , beds , tree , rose , containers , chicks , chickens , eggs , plants

Got home and remembered I wanted to check with the neighbor up the road about a pile of pinestraw he's had in his back yard. So I asked him what was he gonna do with it an he said he was gonna give it to me if I wanted it. He had told me a year ago when he had a pile of that I could have it. I never got around to getting it. So today I made time for a truckload at least. He had to show me his mators and flowers. I mentioned that I had some extra plants if he wanted some, so tomorrow I will take him a few things. He also wanted to try some of the heirloom mators I have extra of so he can sure have them. I'm outta room for them anyway. Before I left he came back around to the truck an said that for me to get all I wanted of the straw today an saturday he will deliver the rest to me for sharing my plants with him. Says he rides by the house occasionally to see whats in bloom but never stops. So I invited him to take a tour anytime he wants to. I've been knowing him for years, but we hardly ever get the chance to talk. He's bought eggs from me before as well.

I got the truck unloaded and had enough to do 2 fairly good size bed, a tree, a rose and part of another huge rose bed. Its looking better already. I am hoping he has enough to do all the others which will amount to about 6 more loads, I think he will judging from his piles of straw he had here an there. Got busy watering all the newly planted plants and containers as well as the garden.

The baby chicks have been flying around in the pen and I keep looking for them either to get hurt or get out over the door where there is an opening. Its the smaller pen inside the large pen, but the fencing on the outter pen they could get out without much difficultly. So I clipped their wings hoping that will keep them landed a little better. The older chickens have been sporatic on laying, some days I get 8 an others who knows. Today I only got 3, but not complaining seeing how I have 6 doz in the fridge I need to do something with. I'll give my neighbor some tomorrow when I deliver his plants. Well thats life on the Lane for today.