Monday.

At 5:33 this morning Ace wanted to tell me that he lurved me

Ace - Hi Mama! I lurve you!!
Me - What cat? I have no cat. Leave me alone
Ace -I lurve you1 You're my mama!
Me - You have ignored Mama for weeks. Go away.
Ace - It was all a misunderstanding!
Me - I thought you ran away!
Ace - I was just playing hide and seek! Playing!
Me - You haven't played since you were fixed.
Ace - That's not true! Last week I played with a toy.
Me - Watching a cockroach is not playing.
Ace - I stalked it!
Me - The dog ate it.
Ace - Protean!
Me - He spit it out and I had to clean it up.
Ace - Work those abdominals!
Me - Go away.
Ace - I can go under the bed and made that noise...
Me - What do you want?
Ace - I lurve you!


What he was really trying to tell me was that the door to the attic had closed and if I would get out of bed and open it for him he would let me go back to sleep. I didn't get it and spent the rest of the morning licking plastic under the bed. Loudly.

When I wasn't having imaginary conversations with the cat, I got other things accomplished. I took Rocket to the Bluegrass festival downtown Friday night, on Saturday tore out the rest of the garden, blanched and froze the remaining peppers, made and frosted a layer cake and Sunday I put away all the hoses, went to my nieces birthday party and bought new sneakers.

 Once a garden, now compost

The only usable watermelon this whole season.

 



 Volunteer tomato plants

 Volunteer potato plant

 

Still some work to do , but much better job this time.

New shoe, the new thing in new shoes is color, color, color. The more color the more money.  This shoe is damn near Amish. The really pretty shoes were really expensive, even at DSW.

Yard Work

And its Friday! Finally! Now I can to tearing out the rest of the garden and getting my yard back and getting the garden soil in shape, I can't wait to use the compost I've made! Its going to be a yard work weekend.

I'm going to have to think about what I'm going to do with my hoses, I wasn't completely happy with what I did last year, as it resulted in hose chaos and I really should have put some thought into this before I decided I was going to  rip everything out and  had to deal with these hoses. I can't really put the hoses up right away because they are going to be soggy and covered with dirt and I can't leave them like that all winter. I'm thinking  after they have dried out, bringing them in the house and putting them into a plastic box to spend the winter in my basement. Safe and out of the way.

What is going to happen this weekend is that I will get the hoses out of the garden and then I spray them off and they will spend some time stretched out in the yard drying out, then I'll try to get them coiled up and secured and then they will go to the basement. I want to not have to re-buy drip hoses every year. The regular water hoses are faster to put up and this year I vow to do more then throw them down the stairs and hoping they don't fall apart over the winter. I'm going to spend a lot of time muddy, damp and smelling like dirty water.

I'm going to keep the peppers in the ground until the young peppers are ready to be harvested but I think I;m going to pull up the hoses and remove the weed barrier anyway. I am really looking forward to seeing that exactly the weed  acted as a barrier to  because from what I can tell, weeds grew through it really well so I haven't been sure exactly what it was designed as a barrier against , maybe zombies? I'll find out.

Garden Day 11

Time is marching on, right through my garden First it was the potatoes and then the sunflowers and now the green beans. They had a burst of productivity but now they are thinning out, one plant just died all together - I don't feel bad about taking the rest of them out and pulling out the bean tee-pee. It's time.

I would love to pull out the watermelons but I have two growing and while I have no faith that either will mature, I'm going to give them a chance and hold off with the Great Melon Purge of '13, it is coming.  I'm going to spend the winter  adding new dirt and feeding that patch and getting it ready for corn next spring. I've decided that while I can grow watermelon, I don't have to and I'm going to give the melons a break this next year.

The peppers seem thrilled that the tomatoes are dieing back more and more and they have taken advantage of the elbow room by growing peppers! I'm so happy to see them because prior to the new growth I pulled maybe two or three total over the summer and that was not what I had planned for when I put them in the ground last spring.  This year instead of trying to keep whole frozen peppers around, I'm just cutting them up into strips and bits and they easier to use in more ways. Also the fridge is full of tomatoes and there simple isn't room for whole peppers.

I  also need the room for my green beans, this was defiantly not their year either, but I managed to get some and I'm going to spend some time this weekend getting them prepared and ready to freeze. I'm also going to roast my sunflower seeds although I am a little afraid I waited too long on them. I don't think the birds will mind either way. I hope.

When I'm not in the kitchen I am planning on transforming my guestroom back into my bedroom, at least for a short time before it gets cold and the freezer like qualities of that room kick in. Its cooler downstairs this time of year but I am getting tired of having to strip and fold up the futon every morning and then remaking it and folding it down every evening. If the futon people really loved us, they would make them easier to take up and down.

The bedroom, after I  move the bed - a huge undertaking because it is an enormous, heavy bed, I'm going to have to figure out what to do with the rest of the heavy furniture in the room and then get bedside tables from somewhere because there really aren't  any in the room and I have clock issues and I need to be able to see the lock or I get anxious and I don't want to wake up with anxiety at 1:30 in the morning because I can't see the clock clearly.

So, going into the weekend with plans and goals. Yay!

Garden Day 10

Since the gardens been producing so well, I haven't really been paying that much attention to it, I go on my daily Easter tomato hunts and I search for green beans and check in on my watermelons but I haven't really been looking at the plants themselves closely enough.

Example "A"

 Do those look like happy plants? This doesn't even include the two plants I took out Saturday because I noticed that they were very dead. The plants pictured are still alive and have fruits set, but once those fruits either come ripe or get eaten by 1) squirrels or 2) some sort of  evil caterpillar, I'm pulling the plants out. It won't be long.

The plants in the back of the garden are still doing well though and have some time left.

The green beans have made a come back and I have been pulling a handful of beans off every day.

I'm not going to have near the amount of frozen beans I've stock piled in the past, but I'm going to have  a little supply handy for the winter.

I had thought my corn farming days were behind me until next spring, but apparently I might have an ear or two coming up.

My sunflowers are over for the season and I pulled the last one up on Saturday. I have a good pile of seeds that I need to roast so they will last for me to feed to the birds this winter.

And then we have the watermelon, and again, no melon for the actual summer but isn't fall really watermelon season? I thought I just had the two

But I was shocked to find Baby Watermelon! I can't believe I've missed him or missed stepping on him!

While I was usy doing nothing on Saturday I started to think about things I could do. I had been thinking about re- potting my smaller fern because it has had a great spring and summer and has really grown.

 I did a quick internet search to see when I should do that and it turns out the plant needs to be looking down being root bound before it really needs to be re- potted. Smaller fern is not root bound and really seems happy where he is. He still has plenty of room in his pot and his roots look happy. So no re potting for him until maybe the spring.

And then I started to think about Big Fern

He has had another good growing season this year. I replanted him last year and I was worried that maybe he would need a new pot. A really big new pot. A pot perhaps out of my price range - but he too is not pot bound and he seems happy. I don't know where he is going to live over the winter because he is huge, he has lived in the past in the front entry way but I think small fern may take over that spot and big fern might end up in the back bedroom. I would say that he could live in the bath tub but I'm pretty sure I can't life big fern anymore.

My carnivorous friend Bill also has had a good spring and summer, he has grown three pitchers!

 

( two pictured)

 

 

This makes me very proud. But also a little freaked out because Bill really does need to be re- potted and I'm not sure how is pitchers would like that. Maybe I'll wait until he's sleeping in the winter to do that.

 

 

So, so far so good.

Garden Day 9

After considerable editing, the garden has retreated back into it's assigned places and we are again living in harmony.

The second lesson I learned this year, after "plant corn next year!" was "do not plant as many watermelon next year" . I planted three of on variety and three of another. I did not think this was going to be a big deal. In the past I have planted three plants total and got a reasonable yield for one person and a couple of gift melons. I do not know why this did not seem good enough. In years past I got multiple fruits that grew to maturity, this year with twice the number of plants I think I'm going to come out with maybe two watermelon total! This isn't good enough, next year I am back to three plants and hopefully better outcome.

The most mature and mostly likely only melon I am going to get this year. There are a few of others, but one has stopped growing and the others are still too young to get excited about.

I had to do serious pruning of the vines or I wouldn't be able to get around in the yard. I do not think this was harmful to the plants as the vines had grown thick and matted and there as very little light getting through. The plants seem happier and the baby fruits have a better chance of growing to maturity.


Another crop that isn't going to have a big year is the green beans. This is just not a good year for the green bean.  I planted them in questionable soil and then I didn't plant nearly as many seeds as I usually, thus I have far fewer plants and predictably, many fewer beans.  Next year I am going to really work to enrich  the soil much more than I did this year and I am going to bring the trellisi out of storage and put them back into use.

My experiment with the corn paid off. I didn't get a lot of corn, but I got enough and that was enough to earn them a place next season. I'm pretty sure I'm going to pull the plants up soon because I think their growing season is over and there are no young corns? cobs? growing.

Another successful addition to the garden this year were the Sun Flowers. They did spectacualllry well. I wish I had been here for their few days of full on blooming, but I did get to see pictures and now I have many, many, many seeds.

The peppers. My poor sad peppers. I had eight plants. I have two.

The tomaotos are doing spectacularly well, pepper stomping good.

I do now understand why people hate squirrels though. They are greedy and wasteful and spiteful. I now really get why people go to war with them. I was really happy because I came home for lunch and managed to "rescue" a ripening one and was very proud of myself.


Not proud of the fact that both my spell check features crapped out on me.

Garden Day 8

When I was planning on coming home, knowing that I would be coming home alone, I made some plans about how I was going to fill the petless void.

My plans included cleaning out my wretched attic, removing some loose stones from the driveway and cleaning out drawers  and closets throughout the house. This in turn was going to lead to a much needed trip to Goodwill. I was going to fill whatever additional time I had with a membership at the indoor pool and a vow to ride my bike at lunch.

And then I got home and got a look around.

The backyard is a jungle! I could spend days just trying to get it back into some sort of order! There is no floor space! You can not walk without stepping on a watermelon vine - Vines I want to point out that are not supporting melons. I looked through the mess and found two very, very young melons. I planted six plants! This is not a good outcome. The melons are only a small part of the jungle.

The tomatoes. Last year was a terrible year for them, I got very few and so In response this year I planted the hell out of them this year hopeing that if I planted more I might actually get some sort of harvest this year. It turns out that this year is a very good year for tomatoes. An outstanding year. I am going to have so many that even after I have drowned in them I will have buckets to give away.

I also planted a lot of peppers. I use them in cooking all year, I really like peppers. This year is not going to be a good year for peppers. I have gotten a total of two and that looks like the sum of it. The tomato plants  strangled my pepper plants and they are now gone, they no longer live in my garden.

The corn plants, stayed put and I came home to a single perfect ear. I'm pretty sure that those will be all I get off my plants this year but next year I will plant more and plant over time and I will have a better harvest. The fact that the plants produced at all made me incredibly happy and so they earned a place next year too. Growing corn  successfully in a container blocks from downtown made me feel like a farmer.

The green beans were working in my absences as well. Working in vain, but working. The pole beans must have been fab while I was gone because I pulled off a huge amount of over ripe beans, this made me sad. The bush beans however, produced a few days later and I was able to harvest all of those, they did a wonderful job and I have to rethink my pole bean bias and maybe plant both kinds again, this time on purpose.

And in the meantime, I'm going to sit in the front if the TV and clean out my DVR.

Garden Day 7

Okay. Time marches on and so do the plants.

The Sunflowers are getting taller

These are the tallest and the strongest, this is despite the fact they are not covered by the sprinklers and pretty much are doing things the old fashioned way, they do get more and better sun though. They should get a couple of feet taller than they are now, right now the tallest is just about six feet.

I thought they would get good sun here but apparently its not quite as much as the other patch. These are getting regular water though. These plants are topping out about six inches shorter than the other patch.

I'm going to miss this blooming! Broskey doesn't know it he's going to be keeping his camera on this guy so I can see it. Its going to be gorgeous.

Speaking of getting tall! Not quite as tall as an elephants eye, but its doing well.

This guy is almost ready to go. I might take him Friday just because it will be my last chance and possibly only chance to get to eat my corn. I don't know anything about corn so I looked up online and learned that the corn is ready to go when the corn silk is brownish-red and dying back. Its getting more brown/red everyday and I don't want it to get over due.

Baby watermelon! I wasn't expecting this! I know that the male flowers appear first and I started to see them here and there for the last few days but I was not expecting to see the female flowers this soon. I only was able to find the one, but if there is one, there is more. I have six plants, which I thought was going to be a lot of padding because they could not all reach maturity. Oops.

Why did I bother with cages?! Its a jungle! I think I should have spread them out more, but I planted them where I knew they would do the best and I did a good job.

And more and more and more! They just won't go ripe! Broskey and Alphagal and the neighbors and the girls at work will be able to harvest all the tomatoes that they want. I on the other hand... Well, there is always next year.

Still looking good, I am so glad I did this.

The store bought honeysuckle is going like gangbusters but I am especially proud of my little DIY project plant.

These still look awesome.

Yay for Bill! He's perking right along.I hope he is enjoying all the bugs he can eat.

Changing Up

We're going to see if he thinks telephone cable is eatable. I also think I'm going to move the knot to inside the stairwell because it looks like something that might be nummy to chew. I had to make it longer because the cat couldn't squeeze through! I made a new  slightly longer loop and now he can get up and down and I can get the loop off so I can get up and down. Dog can still not get up or down.

In the spirit of Change Is Good, I also switched out two of my sprinklers as well, one in the front and one in back The dog didn't eat those, but the other ideas weren't working out as strongly as I had pictured. Its important to recognize that your first solution to the problem might need to be re-visited . I am also happy that  these changes didn't cost me a dime - I was able to use sprinklers I all ready had. I still need to hook the timer up to the front, and I can't remember if its cranky or if I need anything else to make it work property. I  hate leaks and since the water will have to be "on" all the time, there is a real risk of leaks and even a little bit of water leaking all day every day turns into a lot of water .

I need to get off the pot with the timer thought because I want my sprinklers to be seen going off while I'm here do the fact that I am not is not so jarring. I want the message to be "She is just too lazy to water her own plants" not "She is not here"

Oh, I found the first blossom on my watermelons, its a male flower but they always come out first and then the female flowers make their appearance.. I am hoping that while I am gone that the females come out and I come home to baby melons

Garden Day 6

In honor of Fathers Day,  I am going to start with some images for my dad.

Last week my sump pump was working but the pipe that leads from it to the outdoors , was not. The problem with the pipe was that it wasn't a single pipe, it was pipes,  a short one from the pump joined with a longer one that attached to the line that went outside - and one of the junctions had come loose. There were a total of three separate pipes in use. This is two pipes too many. Now there is one line.

The new hose is an actual dedicated Sump Pump hose, this is what it was made for and it is a single hose from start to finish. Even better, it was only $22 and if gawd forbid something does happen to it, even I could replace it.

That job I had to job out, the next job I did myself, with coaching from my Dad.

I ordered a high tech version of this, but this will serve for the next few weeks before vacation. I was hopeing it would come to this, but the damn dog ate my shorts! He's escalating! First shoes than shorts!  He's still very young and this behavior is not unusual and it should be expected, but it doesn't make it less irritating or any less frustrating. I thought he was better than this.

But between the two of us, we have a solution and this should at least keep him out of the upstairs and away from my clothes and shoes but without keeping the cat away from his box and food.

Onto the garden update!

First off: We have Corn!

I am so excited! I made corn! I have all ready decided that next year I am going to plant corn in the actual ground.

The sunflowers are getting taller and better every day. I can't wait for them to reach their full height and start blooming. I see the tiny bug but I don't know what it is.

Onward to the beans

The issue that is becoming clear is that not all the beans are "pole beans", most of the beans are  "bush beans", which is not what I thought I was planting. So I have some pole and some bush, the pole beans will produce all season while the bush beans will produce all at once. I can definitely see them producing while I am on vacation. Super.


Still in the yard, next we have the watermelons and the herbs and the morning glories

The melon plants are stretching out and making themselves at home. No blossoms yet. The herbs are doing well and are another new addition that will be back next year. The morning glory plant is growing up but like the melons, not blossoms yet.

The peppers!

Lots of plants, lots of blooms, one fruit.

The tomatoes are doing much better. Lots of plants, lots of fruits. Not all the plants have produced yet, but I have three different varieties so I'm going to cut them some slack because those that are working, are working hard.

Backyard family picture

 

 

 

On to the front deck

 

 

Lots of berries but they aren't blue! How long does it take for them to turn blue?!

Still going strong. HA!

 

 

 

After a rough start, the strawberries seem to be settling in. I have high hopes for next spring.