100 DEGREES IN THE SHADE TODAY

... and it's been that hot for at least two weeks now. I've been doing other things besides blogging lately - gardening, online games, disk golf, etc. But today I went out and took some garden photos.
These are the zinnias I planted around the corner of the laundry 'house'. I love tall, large zinnias. I think they are about my favorite (non-wild) flower.
This is the other side of that corner. Patti-Jo or Carl has another big hole dug there. I had two rows planted, but they've just about eliminated the row nearer the wall with their digging. I try to keep pots or lawn chairs or something put there overnight to deter digging, but sometimes it doesn't help, or I forget.
Although it is turning brown and curling up now, despite all the watering it gets, this tomato plant started early in the season and produced a lot of tomatoes. It is still producing, although at a slower rate, and with smaller tomatoes. I don't remember what variety it is, but I am pretty sure it was just a hybrid of some kind from Walmart. There's also a Chinese Tallow tree coming up in the pot. I need to pull it out while I still can, but thought Mathieu might want to try transplanting it.
This is a German Queen heirloom tomato in a pot on the northeastern corner of the house. It is just now starting to produce, although it was planted within a week of the other tomato plant. The basil that is planted with it, has already gone to seed, as did the other basil plants all around the house. The red you see, is half of a soon to be (I hope) ripe tomato. The tomato has bulging quadrants and two of them are red, while the other two are still green. It looks funny divided exactly in half by color.
This is part of the area on the south side of the house, between the studio and the old gun shop, that I had - still have - covered in black plastic to kill the bermuda grass. I needed to plant pumpkins now if I wanted them for Halloween, so turned one end back a little, even though it was a little early for all the grass to be dead yet. Bermuda grass is almost indestructible. But I got the seeds planted, and they are up now...the ones the dogs didn't dig up with their hole digging. Today, I hope to cover the ground around the pumpkin hills with cardboard to help keep the grass out and preserve some moisture. Moisture is hard to come by here lately. The rest of that area is still covered in the plastic, and will be until Fall.
Then there is the artemesia. I think it is pretty chancey here anyway. Even though this only gets morning sun, it is dead. I am leaving it, and still watering it, in the hope that it may come back from the roots in the fall, but I'm not counting on it.
This honeysuckle went belly up just two days after we got the cattle panel trellis up and put it in the ground. I'm still watering it with a slow drip for long hours every couple of days. And I added cow and horse manure 3 days ago, hoping that might enable it to come back eventually, too.

NEW GARDEN SPACE

I spread this black plastic on a rectangle of Burmuda grass sometime after Easter. My intention was to kill that next-to-impossible-to-get-rid-of grass and make that area ready to plant a garden.

I took a peek the other day, and it looks like it's done a pretty good job in the month to month and a half it's been on there. I still see some pale yellowish green Bermuda grass that is likely to revive if I plant the pumpkins and watermelons there like I intend to, this coming week. For all I know the 'dead' roots will revive too. But I think I'll give it a shot since pumpkins planted in June will be ready for Halloween. And this is the last month I can plant the watermelons too.

MALABAR SPINACH

I found where I had read about Malabar spinach. It was in this magazine - the March-April issue of Texas Gardener.

And it wasn't an article but a tiny submission to the Problem - Solution column on the last page of the magazine.

This sounds ideal for our South Texas climate, and I am hoping to get some Malabar spinach plants from Zimmer's Nursery in September, when they will have them again.

Here is a really good article in the same magazine about a gardener in Corpus Christi. If you can find this issue anywhere it is really worth getting. They also had an article on the Corpus Christi Botanical Gardens.

GARDEN SHOPPING

Garrett and I ran errands today, and among other places, I wanted to stop at Zimmer's Nursery to look for Malabar spinach plants or seeds and pumpkin seeds. They weren't going to have more Malabar spinach until September, but I did get two six-packs of tall zinnias that I love, and then on the way out, I noticed this huge, gorgeous bush. I had Garrett get out and stand by it for a photo. We went back and I found out it was a ponciana or Mexican Bird of Paradise plant, and bought a small one to plant in the yard.
Besides a few groceries, here is what I ended up with today. Well, the Mexican Flame Plant (on the left side of the table) is from the Farmer's Market the other day. I still haven't planted it, because I got in a big weeding and flower bed cleaning project and now it'll have to wait until the spot I intend for it is cleaned. Apparently supporting slave labor and human rights abuses in China (sigh), I bought these three lawn chairs and the brown table at Walmart. I got the organic pumpkin seeds and some sunflower seeds there too.
It's still way too hot out in the yard now, but around sunset, I hope to get out there and finish most of the flower beds and get started on planting. Wish me luck!

UPSIDE DOWN VEGETABLES

Here is a project I had wanted to get done for awhile. It's like the upside down hanging tomato plant kits that have been advertized on tv for awhile. Only this is the homestyle version - Tractor Supply buckets (heavy-duty, sturdy plastic) with about an inch and a half hole drilled in the bottom, hung from heavy duty bungee cords (on sale: 4 for $5)into loops of chain threaded around the iron beams on the edge of the roof. I had bought two bell pepper plants, a squash plant and a cucumber plant in anticipation of this project, but by the time it actually got done, they were a little puny. But I threaded them through the buckets and filled about half full with soil. More soil and compost will be added later. Then I watered them and hoped for the best. If this works out well, I'd like to add more, and hang them all along the back of the house, too.

BUGS ON A TOMATO BUSH

I found these bugs on one of my tomato plants a couple of days ago. I haven't looked them up to identify them yet, but I am certain they were up to no good. I went in and got the spray bottle of soapy water and doused them and all the surrounding leaves and branches. It seems to have done the trick.
Hopefully we'll be getting lots of rain from Hurricane Dolly in the next day or two. The garden is dry.

COMING SOON: SQUASH AND BELL PEPPER

It won't be long until we have squash. So far, no sign of any kind of squash bugs. So far.
This bell pepper is still small, but it won't be long until it is ready to pick, too. Nissa is my garden buddy, so she came out from her cozy hidden den under the mystery vine, to pose with it. So far, this is the only pepper on any of the nine plants.

It rained again this morning, so all the plants ought to take another growth spurt. Maybe in a couple of days I'll have little tomatoes develop and the mesclun and chard will be leafed up enough, again, to get another cutting. I cut all of the remaining chard yesterday afternoon for a huge pan full for dinner last night, with enough left for another meal of it tonight. It will be a good while longer for the okra. The moon and stars watermelons didn't come up, unfortunately. I only planted one hill, because I was really short on room. I'll have to try those again. The onions are progressing, although they seem to be slowly 'digging' themselves out of the ground. Maybe they didn't get planted deep enough.

RAINBOW CHARD

I asked Zach to go out and cut some of the rainbow chard for dinner tonight. He came back with six leaves. I told him he sure was chinchy about it, but went ahead with just those, since I was already doing several things at once, including being in the midst of preparing dinner.
I cut up and sauted bacon about halfway, then added pressed garlic and the sturdier stems cut across into small pieces. When that cooked a little, I added the chiffonade... (chiffonade-d?) leaves, stirred to wilt them, then put the lid on and lowered the heat for 4 minutes.
Meager, but absolutely delicious! We divided the chard three ways. Next time, I will cut down on the percentage of bacon, so the chard stands out more. We also had an Amish tomato, cut into wedges and sprinkled with my fresh basil leaves (chiffonade, again!) and parmesan cheese.

Although I didn't get a photo, we had very small new potatoes, which I also bought from the Amish, when two friends and I went out to their farm on Friday. These were cut in half, sauteed and steamed with onions. The main dish was Chuck's pick - floured and fried cube steaks.

MY EMPLOYEES

The chickens have finished the larger area weeding, fertilizing and scratching up in the garden, so today I moved them to their smaller individual chicken tractors between the rows. They are working between the mesclun and rainbow kale rows today... and will be for awhile, as they get moved down the row to the end. Then they'll start on another row. Truthfully, I have WAY too many weeds that are getting so much taller since the rain we had. I think I will be forced to get out there and actually chop some of them mysef, with a hoe.

The chickens love it. I saw Goldilocks get a small grasshopper earlier. Both hens are banties, so are smaller than the usual chicken. The cats, who would like to try to kill and eat them, have been very curious about them in the smaller tractors. They can get closer and the sides are wire, not boards, so they can see them better and reach in! So Coconut is having a blast helping me by keeping them chased away from the tractors. Of course, SHE would like to get the chickens too, but knows I highly disapprove of that, so is very satisfied that I have lifted my ban against chasing cats, as long as they are loitering around the chicken tractors. The one cat that you see in the photo is Nissa, who has a free pass to be anywhere she wants. She is very old, and is a sweetheart who will not hurt chickens or anything else. Coconut is not allowed to chase her, ever. Of all the cats here, she is the only one who is actually 'ours', as a voluntary choice. And poor thing, she has it rough with ill-tempered Thorn attacking her and running her off the porch/patio every time she sees her. When you take a cat to be fixed you have to come up with a name for it, and 'Thorn' fit so well for our large, contentious squatter.

I had some stale bread, so gave the chickens some as a 'tractor warming' gift this morning. Coconut really, really wanted some too, since I was giving it to someone else. So I gave her a piece, which she carried off and reluctantly ate, lest the cats get it.

WORKING ON THE SECOND LOAF

Pay no attention to 'Speak-No-Evil". He is being melodramatic. The starter is proofing and getting bubbly, and it does smell kind of strong, but it is not awful. This will be my second time to make a loaf of bread from the starter I began over the weekend. At first I was disappointed in the finished loaf, but it has grown on me. I've been calling it 'Lead Bread' and warning the grandchildren who were here this weekend, not to drop it on their feet, as it could break a toe. But they liked it a lot and ate quite a bit of it. I did, too. I think there is only the last end slice left. I am hoping this loaf is lighter, but if not, that's okay.
When I took Shabree back to Corpus Christi on Sunday afternoon, she took a carton of eggs and a bag of mesclun with her. She is very proud of the eggs her chickens lay.
We had a good heavy rain in the pre-dawn hours a few days ago. It has done wonders for the garden. Today, I did a little chopping in the garden and put in two more dismantled cardboard boxes. I noticed there was another tomato plant that had come up, late, so I weeded around it and put a tomato cage over it. I am jumping the gun in putting tomato cages over them when they are still so small, but it keeps the small plants marked and safe from being stepped on, while they grow into them.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT

Because of the three long rising processes, this loaf of bread was nearly an all day project. I had used mostly whole wheat flour in the starter, so that slowed it down too. And the fact that I chose to make the starter as a purist would and not 'cheat' by putting a little dry yeast into the mixture. Also, I misread the bread recipe and added 4 tablespoons of sugar instead of the 4 teaspoons the recipe called for. It was okay, I guess, but really pretty tasteless. Blah. It was heavy, too, and didn't have a sourdough flavor. I kept thinking that I could have made my regular yeast bread recipe that I always used and be done faster and have great tasting bread... But I am going to keep with this starter for awhile, and see if it improves.

In garden news, Shabree and I will be cutting the first batch of mesclun tomorrow. It could have been cut before now, but I let it grow a little longer. The chickens are doing a great job in their chicken tractor. Shabree and I moved it again today. I'm wondering if they are doing such a great job in clearing out garden weeds because they don't like the pellets I got them last time for feed. If they don't start eating them better by the time this (not so) small bag is done, I guess I'll go back to the other kind. After they clear this new patch where their tractor is, I will be moving them to smaller chicken tractors (one for each hen) and putting them between rows and in tighter spaces.

CONFESSION SUNDAY, ONE DAY LATE

I really think I did pretty well this week, although this week wasn't TOO much different than most.

Thursday, I succumbed to temptation and bought an individual bag of chips and a Diet Coke at the corner store. I was hungry and this seemed quick and easy. Really, I shouldn't have, but it could have been worse. I also bought a local newspaper, but that is an allowed purchase, for me, as I can see what is going on around the area and I can always dream of seeing ads touting a farmer's market or locally grown veggies for sale or something like that. Dream on.

Friday, I went out to eat with two friends. I do this pretty often, but not as often as I used to. It was my turn to pay, so I bought the meals, but I really don't feel like I violated the challange. The money was paid to a local place, and I think it is a good thing to get together with friends and talk for an hour over lunch regularly.

Then today I bought another newpaper. I haven't read it yet, but hope springs eternal. It did have an article on an artist on the front, and the front of the second section had an article about a high school girl who is making and selling really nice jewelry - her own business. Of course, I am always late getting the twice a week county newspaper because I never think about it unless I am out somewhere and see them for sale. By then they are usually 3-4 days old.

Anyway, that is all I have to confess this week, I think.

It would be my dream for my town, or our nearby area to have three things:

1. A Farmers Market - I would love to have a place to buy (hopefully) organic or pesticide-free, chemical-free produce.

2. An Art...what?... gallery, studio, workshop, Something like that HERE, but not like workshops where they teach you to paint the stereotypical field of bluebonnets or scenes of Padre Island. Snooooze.... And something welcoming for just common people to do together, whatever the heck they want to do - even paint by numbers if that's what they felt like doing. The emphasis being on enjoyment, not on measuring up to any fine art standard. Just getting together and having fun painting or creating, no matter if anyone else likes it or not.

3. Something interesting taking place in the cemetery. I love old, non-cookie-cutter, non-manicured-to-the-nth-degree cemeteries. We don't have a really old, old cemetery with famous people buried here, like some in other places, that have guided tours in period costume with small vignettes and mini-reinactments in certain places, but still, wouldn't it be great to have some interesting activity out there? If not historical tours, maybe a Spoon River Anthology type of event, or maybe individual garden vegetable sales and art create-alongs under the huge oak out front for starters. That would make me three times happy all at once. ;)

I have been spending an inordinate amount of time, lately, puttering around in the veggie garden and the herb garden, sitting outside on the swing watching the garden and the animals, and playing a new online fashion design game. Yeah, fashion. Me. Unbelievable. I have become rich in FashionBuckz selling all my designs to what is probably the 10-14 year old girl crowd. ;)

I had a good friend visit twice this past weekend. La'Nelle and her family moved away from here several years back, but she had business in Corpus Christi, and was passing through. It was great to see her again.

We discussed so many things. One of them was the bee 'shortage'. I had seen a stray bee or two lately on the herbs, but today I saw what I guess were carpenter bees on one of the sweet myrtle bushes. And I did see a few more honey bees too. Hopefully there will be more when the herbs get bigger and are flowering. They were all over the basil last fall.

I am out of my beloved Arizona Diet Green Tea with Ginseng, but I may have come up with a new alternative.
I tried this today and need to go out an get it now. It doesn't take long for sun tea to make here in our climate.

HERB GARDEN RE-DO ...AND CHICKENS

So this is my work crew I had this afternoon. And behind them is part of what we did...completely reworked my herb garden. It's still in progress, naturally, with another of those cinder block raised beds to put somewhere, but I am happy with it so far. I went to Beeville and got the blocks at McCoys, then got 5 large bags of soil. I know I am going to need more, but for now, it's good. Tomorrow, I hope to get the new herbs planted in both raised areas, and start on getting the soil prepared in the front of the old beds. It sure is going to look sparse for awhile until the plants get big and bushy. And I am going to have to dig up a new area to replace the part in the herb garden where Mathieu has created his 'frog and garden snake town'.


Andrew and Samantha came today and brought Shabree her birthday present a couple of days early - a pair of chickens. They are bantams. She named them Goldilocks and Nightshade, although that is subject to change.
I have an appointment with the dentist in the morning, and then I want to go get some fresh chicken feed and maybe a better laying box set-up. Then it is home to put Goldy and Nightshade into the chicken tractor which Zachary re-stapled for me today.

THE GARDEN IS MOSTLY IN

...but it is a little late to start from seeds. At least tomato seeds. Look at that row of cardboard. Did you ever see a more crooked row? I drew the rectangles and had Zach cut most of them out. Mathieu marked the spaces through the holes, onto the ground. Then Zach dug most of the holes (every other space) for the buried water jugs. Garrett came over during Zach's break, and did a couple too. Then when I fitted the cardboard back over the spaces, it was all off kilter, requiring some extra cuts in the cardboard to even fit it over the places that had jugs buried. But, oh well... the beauty will be in the delicious tomatoes.

Of course, no one really gets the concept of what it is meant to be/do except me. The idea is to cut down on weeds, conserve water and water efficiently. The jugs (Yay, Arizona Green Tea with Ginseng!) each have a small hole in the very bottom that should slowly deliver a good watering directly to the roots of the tomato plants. The tomatoes are planted in every other space...tomato plant....jug....tomato plant....jug... There will be more cardboard (to deter weeds and conserve water) between the other plants (okra, onions, bell peppers) as soon as I get some more. And there will be cardboard between the rows, as soon as the seeds (mesclun, chard) we planted come up. I'm afraid it is a little late for the mesclun, as we are already having 95 degree temperatures. It won't produce for long.

And see the middle of the garden where Shabree is standing? That is all the unplanted space I have left. And I have the Three Sisters (corn, pole beans and squash) and watermelon seeds remaining. They aren't going to fit! I guess I will plant a hill or two of watermelon and the same of squash.

I went to Corpus Christi to pick up Shabree for spring break this afternoon. She has been really interested in gardening lately, so she was only too happy to help me get the okra and pepper plants and tomato seeds in today. Shabree and I have plenty of herbs to plant this week too. I am going to get some cinder blocks - the kind with two holes in them - and align them to make a square, raised bed to put at the corners of the existing herb garden. That is on tomorrow's agenda.

TILLING THE GARDEN

I finally got the garden tilled. Chuck rented a tiller yesterday and when he was unloading it, Garrett saw us out there, jumped over the adjoining fence corner and came over to help. Chuck got the first two passes done, and then Garrett finished the rest. I am SO glad it is done! :)