Haven't seen you on lately, welcome back!

I will have to stop at Lowe's here and see if they have any.

Thanks Mr. S.

You're a good egg. :)

It's been so hot and I have been dragging the hose trying to keep everything alive. That and canning, so I am worn out. Horrible heat and no rain. Have to go out three times a day to change out the water for the chickens and cats who prefer staying out all summer. Even in the shade their buckets of water heat up very fast. I spray the patio twice a day so it will be cooler for the cats and my houseplants. I have been spraying up into the trees over the chicken pen to cool things down for them - poor girls. It helps, but it sure is a major drag. Can't get anything else done for all the watering.

Hope the weather is being kinder to youz guyz up in Ohio.
Everything is burning up down here. I am the only one around here who got any tomatoes this year. Everyone's gardens burned up in June I was told by the feedstore guy (the guy who knows ALL in this dinky town). He was amazed I had enough to can and even more amazed that I still have tomatoes growing on the vines. Mine would have burned up too if I hadn't been dragging the hose every day...all day long. It is hot, sweaty work. I have to tie a do-rag around my head to keep the salty sweat out of my eyes. My hair is soaking wet. Awful. I am not usually bothered by the heat, but I am this year. Bummer.

I hope you can find that Black Kow compost. It is amazing stuff!
~Annie

Overnight? Are you sure it wasn't the watering that did it? :-)

Yes, of course I am sure it wasn't just the watering. If you have read any of my posts this summer (and other years, too) you would know that I have been watering deeply every day, all summer long, dragging that heavy water hose around every day. I live on a hill, so it is a major drag, excuse the pun. I am worn out.

I tried various remedies - gave them my homegrown compost and tried various products, soil amendments, and things, but not until I added this stuff did it make any real difference.

Where I haven't added it around the plants they still look wilted and some things even died back to the ground.

So yes, I am certain it is this product that made the difference.

For under $5 you can try a bag in one spot and see for yourself. Of course, I cannot guarantee the results will be the same for your garden as you may have different soil needs, climate and etc., but in my garden it is a miracle.

I mostly just wanted to come on here and thank those who recommended it. Darn it, I cannot recall the ones who wrote about it. Seems like it was some of the Texas bunch.

Thanks you so much!
~Annie

Alisande- I think she's been watering non-stop, but giving the water something to soak into...

It's amazing the difference some good manure can make in poor soil. My clay (which cracks in the summer and turns into slime in the winter) would be a disaster, if it weren't for all the aged horse manure we use :)

As a matter of fact, I've worn out three well pumps since we bought this place from all my summer watering. This weekend we have to replace the pump again. Every five years we have to pull it up out of the well casing disconnecting each section as we go. The well is 120 feet deep, and each section is 20 feet long. It is grueling work. Always happens in the hottest part of summer. I am sure it is my watering that does it, but DH never complains, bless his heathen heart.

I have to find a way to reduce the amount of watering. It just evaporates instantly in this pathetic soil. DH says we will be buying truckloads of it and building up our topsoil with it.

The other alternative we were thinking of doing was to have truckloads brought down from Kansas (they have awesome, rich black soil up there).
Major excavating, digging out all the old stuff and replacing it with good stuff is not doable for us. There is only a thin layer of dirt on top of red iron rock. The workers would have to blast or dig out the rock and then add dumptruck loads of topsoil. That would be way too costly.

It's either that or we have to move to a new location (ack!) or I just have to give up gardening on this rock altogether.

I pray this helps.

~Annie

Annie- I love the title. As soon as I saw it I was immediately curious. I was pretty sure you didn't get 3 live real cows but then if you live in the country who knows!

I wish they had such a wonder product around here. I do buy the bagged compost and even the bagged manure they sell around here (by the same company) but both have peat sceeened in. Especially the cow manure. Recently I bought some bagged topsoil from the same company. You guessed it, peat screened in there too.

The pure stuff sounds just what everyone needs for their gardens. Glad your plants are loving
it :-))

There are clouds overhead...teasingly floating over and even a subtle rumble or two of thunder, but they are so high that any moisture they have dropped has evaporated before it could reach the earth. No rain here, but a bit cooler. When this "cold front" passes, the temps will shoot back up into the 100s again. If we don't get some rain, and I mean a good soaker rain, everything will dry up in spite of all my watering and the good Moo Poo.
I went out a minute ago to water. The pump shut off again. So, I walked out to the vegetable garden and picked some more of those big, juicy Beefmaster Tomatoes. Each one weighs over a pound and most are bigger than my hands. Sweet and good. Hot, dry weather makes them sweeter, but too much is too much. Those vines can't take much more of the high temps. Shading them doesn't help much when it gets this over 100 because it is still too hot in the shade. The lawn is shriveling and turning golden. The trees are dropping their leaves. So, I am going to enjoy my tomatoes fresh while I can! Not going to can the big ones.

Will go down in the basement here in a bit and flip the pump back on so I can at least do up the dishes and clean the canned tomato juice off the stove top where it spattered a bit.

Bummer.

It was getting a bit dry for a while in mid-July, but Ma' Nature took care of that. I looked at some of the charts put out by the NWS regarding drought and we are good here, in Ohio. I do not remember what it said about OK.

It's been an unusually hot summer, definitely. But oddly enough my bleeding hearts are still growing and green. Not sure how that happened, but I'll take it.

I thought fo' shizzles when I read your thread title that you got 3 real cows and I was like OMG I can't believe it!

It would be so sad to move away from your beautiful garden that you've cultivated! Could you imagine starting all over again! My soil is sandy, too, but beneath it is loam and a little clay so no where near the same situation you have. I do feel for you. It sounds as frustrating as working with clay soil, which we used to have. I swear I could have made terra cotta pots out of our old soil.

Speaking of which, do you, or anyone on this board, know why so many plants have evolved to grow best in sandy or loamy soils, when so much of the soil (at least in North America) is clay? It has fascinated me for the past 6 months - one of the big questions on my mind.

P.S. It's summers like this that remind me why I didn't stay in FL when I did a semester of college there!

Annie, I thought sure you had joined me in owning real cows!

The cow poops sound like a miracle thing. I have access to the real thing but have to fork it up in single dry blobs and add to the compost pile now and then.

The only suggestion I could make, and I know you already do this, is just to keep adding compost to each bed or around each planting every season, ala lasagna method.

We got just a brief shower yesterday morning. We are dry but not as dry as you are. I will keep hoping for rain for you.

I would, but can't afford the vet bills!

I used to hop the fence to the pasture next door and scoop up "patties" by the buckets full and put that in my compost. In fall I would pile it on the veggie garden and till it in and then pile on some more. By Spring it was awesome. I cannot hop fences anymore - sigh...and the scooping kills me. Raking too.

I used to clean out people's stalls and barns...no more doing that either.

The thing is, it leaches out as fast as I can pile it on. If I could lasagna all year round, it would be best, but that is almost impossible for me to do anymore.

Thanks for the suggestion though. I will TRY to do that again. That is all I can do - right?

Clouds still building and flying over us and no rain, at least not here. It just goes elsewhere and rains.
While watching the Chris Mathews show yesterday on MSNBC I saw that it was raining like crazy outside his window. I was so envious!

Tomorrow we will pull the old well pump and replace it and that will help. At least I will be able to run the water all day long without it continuously shutting off. Running up and down the stairs to the basement all day long every day to flip it back on has just worn me out.

I am glad you got a little rain.
Here are some pics of my peaches that I managed to get thru this heat. Water, water, water.

Peaches and Gird Grapes - it took a lot of work but got some grapes too. These were grown from a cutting, the original vine was from my GG-Grandfather Gird's vines in California. It was named for him. (Girdii) I am proud to have them growing for me. Tasty little grapes. Grannie made jam with hers. I don't get enough for jam, so just enjoy them fresh.

Today I am going to be canning peaches and tomatoes again.

Annie, those are good looking peaches and that Beefsteak tomato is beautiful!

I didn't get too many peaches from the late half tree. Most were faulty and fell off. The ones I did get were beauties and worm free. I may rethink cutting it down and just cut out the broken branches and top it.... at least until my two new peaches are up and running.

I think the secret here may be late varieties to escape the Japanese Beetle invasion.

How wonderful that you have the grape from your gg grandfather. So far I have been 100% unsuccessful with grapes.

Oh Annie, please let me know where in Ks that good black topsoil is. It might be close enough to me so I could get some.