The family that works together...

.... gets the roof patched together. J & Uncle

What Autumn brings

Whan Autumn arrives, most people think of the leaves changing colors, or grass that turns green again. Pumpkins and holidays are on everyone's minds. Everyone except me. While I do enjoy the change in the leaves and the colors of the grass, I keep thinking, "What is this thing in my yard?"

It seems that the wind has increased, thereby laying down the old, dry grass. And with the recent rains, it's washed away a lot of dirt and dust. And the combination of these two events leave me with findings such as this, embedded in my yard.

Really, where did this hammer come from? I've spent the last year mowing and weedwhacking this area down to he nubbins and yet, this had not surfaced until now. I've also found half buried hoses, buried rocks, and long forgotten pieces of rebar/miscellaneous trash. It never ceases to amazes me at the amounts of garbage people drop and leave just because they have enough land to do so.

You like this tree?

A few days ago, J and I were looking out the glass door while we ate dinner, enjoying the view of the backyard. The Coyote bush is in bloom and has grown exponentially this year, despite the severe pruning I gave it in the Spring. Discussion turned to the bush, now a good foot and a half or two taller than the fence. "Coyote bush is pretty big this year," I say. "Yup, he says, "pretty good sized." Coyote bushes are native to the area, and the ones near my work aren't nearly this big or voluminous. Then again, those Coyote bushes don't live on the fenceline opposite a neighbor who over waters and over fertilizes. We speculate this is the reason the bush is so happy this year.

Today, I'm home sick, working remote, minding my own business. I let Howl out for some air and exercise, and I hear her barking within minutes. Not the "you're a squirrel and I'm going to catch you!" bark, but a serious, "you don't belong here and my hackles are raised to prove it" bark. I went outside and she's staring at the fence, not at all aware that I'm at the door to back her up. However, I can't see what she's barking at because of the Coyote bush, which, as previously mentioned, is in full bloom and huge.

I walk down the sidewalk and see a guy I presume is my 'behind me' neighbor peering over the fence. I hush Howl long enough to hear him barely squeak out the words, "Uh, yeah, hi. You like this tree?" He's pointing at the Coyote bush.

"This tree?" I reply. "Yup, we sure do."

"Really? This tree? Cuz, um, it's blowing stuff everywhere."

"Yeah, I know. But, we prune it 2x a year, so.. yeah, we like it." I left him with a smile and my back, then directed Howl to the door.

This is how CB looks, first totally pruned, and how CB looks today. I think either way, CB's beautiful, shapely and showy.

Late August garden update

The watermelons are really taking off. They are growing exponentially every week, more than doubling and tripling in size. What was a golfball size last week, is softball size this week. I'm almost afraid to see what next week will bring, since we are up to a count of no less than 5 melons on the two plants. Four of the melons are shown here, all of the photos were taken a week ago today.

The first is just a tiny bit bigger this week. The 2nd melon is now the size that the first melon was last week (WOW!) I just keep watering and hope that the water and some heat will ripen them soon. Now I just need to find the seed packets that I used to plant these, so I know what kind they are and how big they are supposed to get. I have no clue how to tell if they are ripe or not...


First

Second

Third & Fourth

2010 garden

My garden isn't much of a garden this year. I had planned on growing all of my veggies and tomatoes at the Rancho, but the jackrabbits had other ideas. They decimated my watermelons, my peppers and my sunflowers. Left me nothing but nubbins and dirt. Happy dirt, ready to grow things, but dirt, none-the-less.

I hadn't started any veggies at the city house because of underground bees. Big, honkin' bees that were like bumble bees on steriods who attacked from below. Each time I tried to pull out the bermuda grass to give my seedlings a chance, the bees would attack. They would attack not only me, but they went after Howl as well. But finally, they seemed to have left the area and I was able to plant the 2 melon seedlings and 2 pepper seedlings that were left over from the bunny invasion. one of the melons is even producing flowers, how sweet is that? She must be pleased that she wasn't eaten early, and is offering up beauty in exchange.

I think the peppers are just happy to be alive..

Tomato seedlings

While I have been neglecting planting other vegetables so far, my tomato seedlings are quite happy. On March 21st, I planted a 6 pack of Sungolds, which finally sprouted exactly a week later on the 28th.

My Bloody Butcher and Odoriko were planted weeks ago and are quite happy. In fact, I think it's time to plant up to bigger pots and start planning the garden layout, both here and at the Rancho.

Garden status (again)

I planted tomato seeds at my own home about 2 weekends ago. I got out my Odoriko & Bloody Butcher seeds and planted a 6 pack of each type. I'm 100% out of Sungolds, so I need to pick some up at my local nursery. I know I bought a pack already, but cannot find them.

I tried to leave the 6 packs outside along the back/south side of the house, as the stucco gives off good heat, but the ants have completely taken over that bed and any/all pots that I leave there. They killed off last years peppers and have invaded my special fairybell orchids. Because of this, I had to find a different place for my upcoming seedlings, so I saved some styrofoam trays from some meat we used earlier in the week, washed them and used them underneath the 6 packs as I left them in the south side window.

Last night, I did my first seed check after they had been in the window for 2-3 days. I had 2 Odorikos and 1 Bloody Butcher. I re-watered and will continue to track status. :)

2010 Garden, cont'd

I heard back from Pigeon yesterday. All of my tomato seeds have sprouted! Of course, I cannot recall exactly what I planted, so I have to go back to my trusty cell phone to look at my picture that I took of my marking sticks.

Let's see, Miss Maryanne - what can we see today? I planted Sungella & Arkansas Traveler. Apparently my trusty cell phone picture is not that trusty, because even when I copy the photo to my computer, I cannot read the last 2 sticks. {sigh}

2010 Garden

It must have been early December when I pulled everything out of the 2009 garden. Howl was a young, very small puppy, and was spending way too much time diving into the old plants and such. While I adored a puppy that smelled of tomato plants and basil, it gave her too much hiding space to get into trouble and none of the plants were producing, so I yanked it all, dropped it onto a tarp and hauled it to the road.

The 2010 garden will be much different as it will be at the new Rancho. JW Pigeon, Mrs Thunderbird and I gathered 2 weeks ago to today for our annual tomato planting. We choose seeds, pack seed trays, make notations and plant tomatoes. Then Pigeon waters and keeps them in her greenhouse for an early grow cycle. Today, Pigeon sent Thunderbird and I an email, saying Thunderbird's "Aunt Gertie's Gold" sprouted - our first of the year.

I'll also grow tomatoes from seeds I've collected over the year. Our pink Japanese Odoriko does well for us and is delicious.

I'd also like to grow watermelon - I think it will do well at the Rancho and be a refreshing dessert during those 100 degree days.