No rain here and 96 degrees. I just hauled in 330 gallon of water from the other side of the property. I can buy water cheaper than I can haul my own "Free" water. The water company has such regulations and fees that make you not want to break their regulations.

I got my lawn mowed this morning. Now, I need to build some trellis for the north, and south garden. I also need to make some irrigation tubes to water the plants that I want to save. It is amazing the amount of water that dry ground can soak up.

We got rain. I haven't looked at the rain gauge in a couple of hours, but it showed a hair over 3 inches then. I'm pretty sure I hadn't emptied the half inch from last week, tho. So, as of a couple of hours ago, we had 2 and a half inches.

Larry, sorry you haven't had any yet and for the 96. We were nice and coolish today. A good break from the heat.

Amy, there's some fruit that's looks almost ripe on the whippersnapper. I'll let you know how it tastes and the texture too.

I worked this morning, went to lunch, took a little nap and didn't do much outside. Rick came out to get his half of the canned potatoes and we fertilized the super hot peppers in buckets that live in the hoop house.

That's about all I did outside other than feeding animals are looking at the garden.

I did clean out the refrigerator. We really must finish a jar of jelly/pickles before opening a new jar. I also took a box of tomatoes to my neighbor whose tomatoes are slow this year. These are the less perfect ones. She's like me and will just cut off the bad spots and eat/can/make salsa.

The pretty ones I take to share with co-workers and others. The non gardeners don't understand how it works with less than perfect tomatoes.

I won't have to water this week other than some pots maybe.

Hoping to do a little clean up and tie up. Pull out some dead stuff in the native garden.

Oh....speaking of. The son of a girl I went to school with was on Oklahoma Gardening yesterday. He has a native garden in his backyard in a normal neigborhood. And some food plants too. And a little garden for their toddler girl.

I really don't have much to talk about today. Sure wish I had some cucumbers, tho.

No rain here either. I think we've had a total of 2" in the last month.

Maybe rain will be coming to y'all soon.

I have tomato seed fermenting in jars right now. Just waiting on the first German Johnson to fully ripen so that I can save it too.

The Dr. Wyche seed that I saved a couple of weeks ago isn't germinating. I tried to rush the process....and that wasn't a good idea.

It is getting to be too late to start seed for fall tomatoes. Although I did last year and had some nice sized heirloom fruit, but it was still green when I pulled it before the first frost. I'm not sure it will be worth my time this year. I'll just save this seed for next year.

I do have Sungold seedlings that I might plant out in a couple of weeks even tho it's a bit late.

Just popping in to see if anyone had posted.

Jennifer, I am just starting to get some of your rain, it may not be much but I will be glad to get it. I just now came inside, I was at a good stopping point, and the rain had just started.

I was out watering the north garden, and making a trellis for my fall tomatoes. Jennifer. it is not nice to talk about it being too late for fall seedlings ( which it is ) because you may jinx the ones I am planting.

I think one of the first books I read about gardening, stated that if you were not losing some of your crop in the fall and spring, you were not planting early enough, or late enough. To squeeze all you can out of the growing season you should expect to lose sometimes every now and then

This rain is really needed.

I have been making little batches of pasta sauce with porters, fresh herbs and onions. I really am not supposed to eat tomatoes but I couldn’t help it. I got some beautiful lemon basil from my nephew and his wife and I made lemon basil tea. It was amazing. I will be growing lemon basil. Richard seems to be shy. I work on him several times a day to get him to understand. I am a friend. He gets around really well, occasionally getting caught up in the long grass so I’m working on getting that all pulled out. We got quite a bit of rain today all at once. It rained into my house through my Gappy door.. I am enjoying being off school, but I think I’m going to see if they need any help next week. The summer is going so fast.

Kim, sorry about the rain getting into your house. That was probably a mess.

Lemon basil tea is amazing! I haven't made any this year, tho. Next year, I need to just have a couple plants of each variety of basil. I have too many and get overwhelmed with pulling off the blossoms. The ones in the KG are out of control and I finally just let them flower out. And I want them close to my house in the future.

The holy basil is everywhere on the property. Once you have it, you have it.

Tom and I were watching a cooking show on Saturday morning. They were talking about a famous restaurant where the chef/cook uses holy basil. (I believe it was a Thai or Indian restaurant.) The host of the show made it seem hard to find holy basil, so when they recreated the dish for the show, used Thai basil because they didn't have a source for holy. There's probably 50 plants scattered around my property. It's really not hard and it makes good tea too. And it smells delightful.

We ended up with 3 inches of rain over the weekend. Much appreciated and needed.

I looked at the gardens last night. The first cantaloupe fruit is developing.

Also, I planted Rick's Heatmaster tomatoes in the Vego bed where the dwarf tomatoes had lived. There are 3 and they are determinate. I'll probably need to rig up a shade cloth for those beds this week.

At one of the garden forums, someone posted bistro light stakes/poles they use to hold shade cloth. I'm wondering about getting a couple of those. Attach one side of the shade cloth to the covered chicken pen and put the poles on the other side of the Vego beds. Then I could stretch the shade cloth over the Vego beds. The poles are tall enough that we could walk under the cloth.

Today is the day to clean out the pantry and look for those little Drugstore beetles. I haven't seen many, but don't want to get an infestation. It will be a good time to clean it well and throw out stuff that we don't need/use.

I'm putting it off because it's not a task that is very enjoyable. But....it needs to be done and I need to get up and do it.

It does not take long for livestock to take over in a pantry Jennifer. I had weevils once thanks to a friend. It was horrible. After that everything was in real Tupperware. Now I have most stuff in glass. I was gifted rice and beans recently. Picked up the first bag of rice….. livestock….. all of it went to the trash. I am not taking any chances. I cleaned my little cabinet. It was as bad out times consuming as I thought. Happy cleaning happy gardening.

We finally got enough rain to have some runoff, and the gardens are watered well for now. I expect that I will have some tomatoes cracking, but that is what happens for me when we have a rain this time of the year.

I doubt that I will go for a tank of water today for fear of getting stuck. Madge let me know real quick that she did not want to be part of the recovery team that pulled my truck out of the mud, she gets very uneasy in an operation like that.

My late garden is trying to take off now, and I am trying to get some plants trellised or staked. The garden will look like a jungle in a month or two because I have the plants planted too close. Planting too close is an addiction of mine, I just cant seem to kick it. It seems as tho I am always wanting another plant, but no place to plant it.

It looks as tho I am close to loosing the battle with the squash bugs, but I loose every year, sooner or later. As I was out picking the squash I stepped on a hump in the soil, the squash plants and sweet potato plants have run together, I did not look, but I know that the hump that I stepped on was caused by the sweet potatoes, if they are pushing up the ground this early, I should have a good harvest if the gophers and rats don't eat them.

Larry we were posting at the same time. All the slips you have me and I grew myself were eaten by grasshoppers. They did not leave one tiny leaf behind. I tried covering tightly and watering for a couple weeks but they couldn’t recover.

Kim, I am sorry that has happened, I have had sweet potatoes eaten by the deer before, and they recovered, but there were vines and roots left, plus I would install an electric fence because I knew that the deer would keep coming back.

I have a lot of insects eating on my sweet potatoes, but the grasshoppers seem to have another place that they like better. I am not sure where the other place is, but they may be attracted to the young Johnson grass that is growing back in the pasture after having the hay baled, plus there seems to be a lot of birds hatching out, and parents are catching insects like crazy.

This is a picture of the south garden sweet potatoes. I have 20 purple, 20 Red Wine Velvet and 45 Covington in this garden.

This in my north garden, which is my late garden, because I could not get it ready in time. You can see 2 short rows of Covington behind the trellis, then 1 row of Covington, running east/west behind the pickup, which gives me 33 slips in this garden, they are about a month younger than the potatoes in the south garden, but the roots are starting to swell, so I expect to get a harvest from these potatoes also. I am also expecting a harvest from the peppers in this garden, the tomatoes, maybe not so much.

I am hauling water with the tank in the back of the pickup, if the water company cuts off outside watering like they did last year my gardens may suffer.

I might add, that I am trying cowpeas as a living mulch between the sweet potato rows. I have never heard of that before, but I thought that it was worth a try. At this time you can hardly tell the difference between the pea vines and the sweet potato vines.

Larry, your garden is so pretty.

We have grasshoppers too, but they've not been devastating yet. Currently, the majority of them seem to be hanging out in the native garden area.

Kim, I hear you. I will be very careful about bringing anything from anyone else into my house. You never know what's lurking in a bag of garden produce or even canning jars....or anything else that's been in storage.

I had some success. There were more beetles than I thought were there. A lot went into the trash or to the chickens. Everything else is in glass or plastic. We're doing Whole 30 right now, so don't have bread, crackers or other snickysnacks lying about. I scrubbed the pantry and am carefully looking for any remaining ones everytime I go into the kitchen. I open the pantry and scan for any. I've found a few that were probably hiding in crevices.

Tomorrow, I'll tackle the baking cabinet, although I've not seen any beetles in there.

What a pain. There's so many other things to do.

I brought in a bowl of elderberries tonight. A spider, stinkbug, and leaf-footed bug crawled out. I have to be careful from now on.

In good news, I have a LOT Of elderberries. I'll be stocked up on elderberry syrup for the winter.

Jennifer, thanks, my garden is looking better than it has for several years. I am not spreading myself as thin as I use to, old age is dragging me down some. I am not working on the place as much as I use to, and not working with neighbor as much has helped also. I guess you could say that not making a wildlife garden has also given me more time to work on the house gardens. Madge and I both have tried to cut back on the things that we use to do. The only thing that Madge and I have become more active in, is going to the doctor. We have become like old cars, something breaks of falls off about every week. I can't complain, I have lost two more classmates in the past week, well it was one classmate, and the wife of another classmate.

We went to Mena AR. this afternoon to visit family, that I something that we try harder to do also.

Rick, I would like to try corn again, but I really have critter problems. Coons, squirrels, and crows are tough critters to keep out of corn.

I have trouble with coons getting my sweet corn over east .I have better luck with it over at Jennifer's. Except this year it got too hot too early right when it was starting to pollinate.

So now I feel obligated to try fall corn.

Rick

Larry, I do think it's good to scale back and focus on things that you'll use more and see more.

I had time to watch one video last night and it was Elliott Homesteads newest--Growing and Preserving. Towards the end of the video, she talked about not wasting effort--growing and preserving what you and your family will use and eat. What things will you truly use during the winter months, what things do you want to enjoy fresh in season. It's something I've been thinking about for a couple of years. Preserving takes a lot of time and work (as does growing and caring for plants and animals!) I can look in my "canning" pantry and freezer to see what we eat and use. Then can adjust for each year. For instance, I don't need to make jelly. We like it, but don't use it often. Dilly beans--nope. No one eats those here.

It all depends on one's life. Some people's lives are pretty routine from year to year, without a lot of changes in lifestyle and they like to grow the way they've always done it and the things they've always grown and preserved. Nothing wrong with that.

BUT, sometimes physical limits or life changes can make us rethink how we grow and preserve. All of it really is a lot of effort for jars of food to sit in a pantry for years and years and never used.

Same with the garden. To me, it's better to have a smaller garden that looks and produces well. One that I can care for properly.

That's my life right now. But, it could change again. And then change again again.

Everyone has to figure that out for themselves.

Anyway....your gardens look so nice, Larry. It seems that focusing on the house gardens have paid off for you.

I'm about to tackle the baking cabinet--it needs to be sorted through anyways, but I want to check it well for those little Drugstore beetles. Probably my tea cabinet too.

It's funny that I don't see those lil guys on my tomatoes that are lying on the counter or even my compost bowl.

They are tiny tho. About the size of a flea. I've noticed them over the past few months-- a couple here and there. I just thought they were some type of gnat. I don't worry a lot about little critters. BUT, I should have worried.

I looked in my dried herb pantry and see nothing. But I keep all my dried herbs in glass jars. I'll check it again.

I'll probably need to water some pots today. I watered Rick's super hot peppers yesterday, but that's about all I did in the garden, other than getting some elderberries.

I started Sungold tomatoes, and it looks like I'll have 6. Why did I do that? I don't need 6 Sungold tomatoes.

That's another thing that needs to be scaled back next year.

Maybe 3 or 4 cherry tomato plants and that's all. I like Sungold and the Isis Candy that you brought to me, Larry. It's very sweet.

I remember growing it in 2020, but it was such a busy year that didn't remember how delicious it is.

Those are my two for 2025.

If I have time, I need to pull the berries off the stems and get those drying somewhere safe. I have quite a few in my office that have been drying for a few weeks, but they're still on their little stems.

It takes some time to do that because those berries are so small and so many.

Jennifer I foraged my first ever elderberry blooms in Oklahoma. I was so excited I almost gave my sister in law whiplash. I was leaving my nephews and there it was. I only took two blooms but they were glorious. I went back to tell my nephew so they can harvest the berries. The only thing to forage here is occasionally I find wild plums. Over by church they have mustang grapes. Hopefully I can find some tomorrow.

Jennifer, how about sticky traps to catch the beetles? You can get the ones for pantry moths that are covered so you don't stick your fingers in accidentally.

That is exciting, Kim! I really haven't found wild elderberries. I think I saw one this year, but didn't make Tom stop so I could look for certain.

Amy, I've gotta make a trip to the feed store this afternoon when Tom comes home from work. I will look for some sticky traps. Thanks for the idea! :)

I've had a nagging headache for the past two or three days. I think it's from not eating grains.

Speaking of....there were very few beetles in the baking cabinet. Weird because that's where flour, etc. reside. I put everything into glass or plastic now. Got that done this morning.

BUT....those little suckers like my tea. It was time to clean out old tea anyways. I didn't drink much hot tea this past winter. Did we even have a winter? Lol. Maybe because it was not a really cold winter. Maybe because I was painting, scraping or texturing every night.

Some of the tea was Ethan's. So, at least a couple years old. Time to go. I also found some packages of herbs to MAKE teas. They were old and went into the trash too. Some of them weren't even open. Two packages of elderberries from NG. Projects that I never completed. Trash.

I have a basket of a new tea I'm trying--Magic Hour. Wow. It's good. They have an iced tea line. I bought several, even though it was a huge splurge. The prettiest little pouches too. Lucikily those were fine. They're sitting on my counter, tho, next to my electric tea kettle. And luckily my Beulah(R&R) tea is fine. But, it's all in plastic and glass now too. Except the basket sitting on my counter.

Picked my first cucumber when I went out to grab some herbs to get dinner started (crockpot). I'll be eating it for lunch.

Jennifer I am forcing myself to drink all the teas I have on hand. I have quite the collection of fresh, bulk fresh from natural grocers and tea bags. I’m am juicing drying pickling and canning today.

Kim, I was going to do the same thing until I saw the beetles! Most of the older tea is stuff that I drink hot. The new stuff is for iced tea.

I was able to save some of the old hot tea. I won't buy anymore until this is gone.

I hope you had a great and production kitchen day!

Rick, Have you tried Early Sunglow corn, If I had ground ready, or ground that I thought I could get ready quick, I would try to grow a crop of that. The things I like about Early Sunglow is that it is short, it makes pretty fast (60 days +). I have a lot of wind here and the Sunglow does not seem as bad to blow down. The ears are close to the ground, so it is easier for the coons to get, but I don't think that matters much because I think that the coons ans squirrels would get the corn even if it was on a 20' stalk.

I am trying to clear out a space in the south garden to plant a few more things, I am not sure now, it just depends how much space I can open up. I have taken out the last of my Egyptian Walking onions. I will replant some of the walking onions some time in the fall.

I have got the tools out to trim the trees in the yard. I wish I had my tractor running so I could chop up the brush pile, but I guess that in the long run it will just be better to burn the limbs

Larry , I've heard of Early Sunglow. Dawn talked about it.

She'd grow it in the early spring and try to harvest it before the coons knew it was there.

I already ordered some "Ambrosia" 78 days and shooting for a late Sept harvest.

Hopefully it'll be cooled down enough by then for it to pollinate.

I hear the ear worms are worse in the fall and the ears are smaller too.

If I can't get up a good stand of Ambrosia , then might still have time to try again with Early Sunglow.

This is over at Jennifers where there's no coon problems (yet).

I gave up on sweet corn over east and went with field corn instead ( harder for the coons to get at)

but now the grasshoppers are striping down the stalks and chewing the silks off the ears but I did manage to get a few ears of it .

Rick

Rick, I have a lot more insect problems in the fall, and when growing corn I have to depend of BT to get good ears. I found some Depil and thuricide both in my cabinet for garden things. Both Thuricide and Dipel are BT, but I think I like the Thuricide better because It is liquid, and I have a small garden and plant very close, and spray the silks without getting into the corn stalks much. The last corn I grew was Tender Treat, which is a good corn, but very tall, and like all my corn, it blew down, I got a good harvest, but it is more work if you have about lying down.

I fixed a 12' long row to plant something in. I put 6 qt of perlite and 40 qt of Top Notch potting soil. in that 12' row as amendments, I will likely add some 13-13-13 before I plant, but I will have to make up my mind on what I plant before I go any farther.

You could put up a one wire trellis along a corn row to hold it up during storms . Just a little more work.

Rick

Rick, I did use a trellis. I had 20' + rows with tee post set at each end of the row, and I think I had one or two post set within the rows, and a minimum of 4 rows wide. The short corn ( sunglow) worked best, some of the taller corn broke at the string height. I used binder twine ( hay baling string ) for the wire. I collected gobs of used hay cord/string at that time, but now most of my old cattle buddies are dead, and most of the ones I know now use hay wrap. I bought a new box of hay string just a few weeks ago to use in the garden.

I got some different garlic for the fall.

My cantaloupe are already getting sun scald. Probably won't get any to the ripe stage. We only received 3/4 of an inch of rain from Beryl. That wasn't near what they predicted. They have started cutting the hay here so the bugs will be swarming the garden.

You know, sometimes I think life would be easier if I just ate crap from the grocery store.

(We actually do eat food from the grocery store)

As it is, I didn't sit down until about 10 minutes ago and it's 10:00 right now.

I got home from work a little after 5. Fed the dog, cats, chickens. Looked at my recipe for the night and almost decided to do leftovers, but pushed through. Pesto Salmon. Salmon is easy and pesto is easy enough, but there's the traipsing out to the garden to get the basil. Then, finding a red onion in the shop and grabbing a pint of cherry tomatoes from the garden. (I also cooked some garden green beans, okra, onion and leftover bacon in some olive oil. It was delish. And some roasted Yukon Golds. Those are the best potatoes ever)

Making the pesto is easy enough with the food processor, but getting the food processor out and all the parts put into place does take extra time. Store-bought pesto isn't as good, but how easy would it be just dollop that on the salmon, tomatoes, and onions?

Okay. Dinner is done. Tom went to the store to grab some ice. I did my workout real quick. Then, we ate. Then, it's time to wash dishes. Maybe it's around 7:30 at this point. We have too many tomatoes, so I sorted through the ones that weren't too bad and got a box and bag ready for a neighbor who stopped by to pick them up. I watered a few pots and dealt with some of the elderberries--pulling them off their stems for about an hour. Then put a shade cloth up over the Heat Master tomatoes. LOL. They don't love Oklahoma heat. Then, took Josi for a walk. It was dark when we got home. Closed up the chickens, gathered the eggs. Grabbed some jars from the shop because I've had bone broth in the crockpot for a day. Cleaned the litter boxes, fed the turtle. Put the broth into jars and labeled for the freezer. Brought Juno up to sit next to me now. And am texting with my Mom and son. And now the jars need to cool down before putting them in the freezer. Yet, all I can see is the stuff I didn't get done.

Yes, a frozen lasagna sounds easy doesn't it?

Anyway....I'm just tired and cranky and it's hot.

I love cooking and I love cooking from the garden and I love all the things that I do. But, there's just not enough time to get it all done.

When is winter and "fall back"? When is that first frost? LOL

Right now that sounds so nice. A little Netflix and some cozy blankets and hot tea and/or wine.

Yesterday while I was home all day, I continued to clean up the cabinets looking from the beetles. (Amy, Tom ordered some of the sticky traps) I had a chicken in the crockpot to make "whole 30" cobb salad. And was also trying to make grain-free, sugar-free muffins/protein balls WHEN Josi's nasty mole burst. Wow. Poor thing. I couldn't get it to stop bleeding and finally went to get styptic powder which did stop it. IF I was a good herbalist, I would have yarrow on hand for that purpose.

Anyway. it was a MESS. I need to make an appointment for her, but sorta dread what they might tell me.

I'm going to have a LOT of elderberries for syrup. Excited about that.

If you actually read all of that, thanks for "listening" to me whine.

Y'all I made the whiniest post last night and it didn't show up. (One of those posts that I can see, but on the thread list it shows the last post was 11 hours ago and my post was 9 hours ago. That's how I know that my post isn't showing for anyone but me.) That's really a good thing.

I'll repost the positive things...or less whiny things.

I made a delicious dinner from garden food. Pesto Salmon (cherry tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil), roasted Yukon Gold potatoes (they are the best potatoes), sauteed okra, green beans, onions with a bit of bacon.

It's not unusual to make dinner with garden food, but this dinner was particularly delicious.

The heatmaster tomatoes were limp and wilty, so I rigged up a shade cloth for them. They might like the heat, but apparently not Oklahoma summer heat.

Let us know what you think about your new garlic, busy1. I think I stored mine too quick before it was fully cured. But, maybe it will continue to cure in it's basket.

I don't know where to store things that the little buggies won't find. Right now they're in my office with the drying elderberries.

Amy, Tom ordered some of those sticky traps. They're supposed to arrive today.

I've been pulling the clusters of berries off and throwing them on the hanging drying "rack". But, with the newly picked ones, I'm pulling the berries and need to add another layer to my drying thing.

Anyway, I do need to take those dried ones and/or mostly dried ones and take them off the stems. That might be a task for today. There's several more cluster of berries to get too, still on the bushes.

I have about a quart and a half of berries so far, and will probably have a gallon by the time I get them all pulled. They are tiny little things and my fingers are stained. I told everyone at work yesterday that my hands are not dirty, but stained.

According to FB memories, it's time to start brassica seed.

Today, I need to get the tomato seeds out of their ferments and set out to dry.

There's a lot of little things that need to be caught up today.

Making some onion broth.

Will slow cook for 48 hrs andand then pressure can .strain all the onions and garlic out. Added some tumeric and old bay and bay leaves.

Y’all I found and picked some Mustang grapes. I only got about 2 pounds but that will be enough to try some jam. I will get everything ready today and make pickles and jam tomorrow.

I wish Madge was more adventuresome, I like to experiment with different items, and methods. I have ask Madge to try different ways to use sweet potatoes, she does a wonderful job at the things she tries, but seems afraid to step outside the box. Madge was going to bake sweet potatoes yesterday, so I ask her to bake extra, so I could have some to play with (we still have plenty from last Oct. harvest). So I take a baked sweet potato, add butter, raisins, cranberry sauce, and marshmallows, I thought it was great, but still could be improved upon. I would like to come up with a better sweet potato pie, and use sweet potatoes in different ways, but Madge seems afraid to step outside the box. Outside the box is where I have the most fun, I can screw up, and tear up more than anyone around. Maybe I should just be thankful that I have someone that will help clean up my messes.

Madge and I went to the beauty shop this morning, you would not believe how pretty I am now. I have changed back into my old clothes, and plan on heading to the garden, I wont be pretty long.

I am going out and repair my old irrigation tubes. I have not used them in several years and I have broken several of them. I have them stored on top of the lean to on the west end of the shop and have broken many by snagging the rollbar of the tractor, or lawn mower on the feed end of the tube. I want to revise the feed end to where it wont hang down in the way of the rollbar.

We got 2 1/2” of rain on Sunday, I didnt have to start watering again until last night. Jennifer, you mentioned buying property near Edmond and putting in your own well. We live north of Edmond in Logan county. Most of the new additions are forced to go on Rural water which has reputation of no to low pressure and extremely expensive. Some will allow you to drill a well strictly for your lawn and garden but your household water has to be purchased from RW. They even monitor your water use! So be sure to ask. Hopefully, you can find an older home with its own well

and maybe a started garden. Our daughter had a well drilled last July. 160’ deep, with submersible pump and a pressure tank was a little over $10,000. If you decide to drill I can give you names of who we use and one to avoid.

Amy, we use the sticky boxes in the garage and behind each door to catch anything that makes it in the door. They work wonderfully and especially in an a closed area like pantry or closet. Usually scorpions in garage, keep in mind they have a sweet smell and pets are attracted. Getting them loose from a cat or dog’s fur is a nightmare!

Larry, I totally agree with your advice of planting more of what we need, like, and eat instead of enough to feed all the friends, relatives, and neighbors. Even now with raised beds and when we had a huge garden I found it near impossible to keep my rows as neat and clean as you do. I am envious and impressed.

I’m not sure who mentioned the Porter tomatoes seeming different, but I bought a new packet of seeds to plant for my brother this year because my seeds were several years old. Label said Improved Porters. They are still small and pink but larger and different than the old ones. Next year I’ll try the old seeds again. I’m still picking a few tomatoes daily and have cucumbers to eat, share, make refrigerator pickles, and still take a sack to church to give away. 4 plants have produced many times what I expected. They grow up and over cattle panel arches. I am ready for more rain and less heat.

Jennifer we all need to whine once in awhile, lets the steam out and makes us all feel better to find out we aren’t the only ones who are frustrated.

Porters. My seeds are 12 years old and still getting great germination. I haven’t bought seed since I first started growing them but I did receive a pack from mi gardener in my surprise pack one year. The plants were vigorous at first but never made it to planting. Mine and saved seeds from a friend of mine are going strong. Only the caged one is producing. Blueberry for comparison.

The heat has pretty much kept me in today, but I did go out and harvest the south garden. The okra is just now producing, the cucumbers are quitting, the tomatoes are getting too tall, the ground is getting dry, and the temperature is too hot. That is my gripe for today, but all in all, things are doing okay, other than the insects are taking a toll on the plants. When the sun goes down I will water, and spray in a couple of areas where the squash bugs are very thick.

Glenda, thanks, I put a lot of time in the garden, and it is always in need of some type of work, plus I don't often show the ugly views.

That's a great find, Kim!

And 2 lbs will be just right for you.

Glenda, thanks for the well information. The houses that we've looked at are in older neighborhoods that are on around an acre and many have wells and septic tanks. We aren't ready to move and maybe never will be ready. There's a lot to consider. If it was easy, I would do it in a heartbeat.

The sticky things are working. They've caught several and it seems to be bringing them literally out of the woodwork.

The pantry looks nice and tidy after throwing stuff out and organizing. I hope we can keep it that way.

Has anyone here worked with elderberries much? As in preserving, etc.?

Well, I got 2 cups of juice out of that little dab of grapes, which is fine for me. It’s going to be for jam for the kids, but I will do it in half cup jars so that everybody can have a little to try this year. I made a note about where those grapes are so that next year I can go back and Visit the same spot. I haven’t spent much time outside today. It is blistering hot. I did give everything a good water this morning and filled the ducks little pool. He got in all by himself and just had the best time. First time I have seen that. I have a lot of work to do in the garden, but I have to get up early and get out there so I don’t get sick. Lately I have been spoiling myself by not getting up so early. I have my list and need to get seeds ready And maybe Monday morning I can plant some things before I go to work.

I sure haven't gotten much done today. I had planned to work on my watering system, but I went out and found a flat on my truck, and I had over 3000# of weight in it, and it was not sitting on level ground, so I cant jack it up.

Here is one irrigation tube that I have modified. The water will not spray that high when I get it set up. The 330 gallon tote is sitting in the back of the truck, and the hose is not long enough to reach the garden. I will have to piece something together to run the water to the garden so I can get the weight off the truck so I can change the tire, if I even have the stuff to change the tire. Before I would just air the tire up and drive it to the shop in Greenwood. I expect that the truck sitting in the hot sun for 2 days with so much weight on it that the heat and weight blew the valve stem out, not completely out but leaking so bad that I cant air up the tire.

This is my north garden, it is smaller than the others. The pasture garden I did not even get it ready to plant anything this spring. I did not even start the pasture garden until last fall, and I may not even use it anymore, it just takes too much work to build another garden, and I don't think my health would permit it anyway. I just cant do the things I use to do, and its too much work to put the stuff up if you are not going to use it.

Larry, there’s lots of us that have cut back and looked at what we’re gardening how much and why. Some things I like to eat fresh but I don’t want to eat them in the winter. Like summer squash. Of course that being said I didn’t get very many summer squash Off of my plants because of the bugs. As much as I love to grow all the things in large quantities like I used to for the market, I had to slow down. It’s not worth it to me to risk my health. Now that being said, it thrills me to know when to run out to the garden and grab herbs and bring into cook with. No matter what size my garden is, I will always want it bigger.

We can okra and squash and fry it when we want it. There is a very simple recipe on YouTube by old Alabama Gardner. We have done it for several years. No water bath or pressure canner needed. It hasn't killed us yet.

That's interesting, busy1!

I started a new thread 11 hours ago but it's not showing up. When I go to my "activity" on Houzz, it shows that I started a new thread.

So odd.

I'm at work and I'll try to come back in a minute and copy and paste what I wrote and make another new thread.