I am sorry for all who struggle physically. I know my own challenges have limited me and it’s frustrating. In my head I see me doing all the things but then I get out there and my body says ha ha ha. So I do what I can and come back in to cool off. That’s the main thing right now is to stay cool.

Kim, that is a great score! I'm super excited for you! You find the best things. I don't have wormwood and would love to have some too. I just think of the line....What would you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood? In Alan Rickman's voice.

lol

Anyway, you've got some great things. Why did the person give these away?

I'm always curious about such things.

Larry, you've reached your goal of teaching your kids about gardening! Well done. Take care of yourself. Do what you can. Enjoy spending time with Madge.

And, you're right, gardening changes with time. Each season/year is a new chance to re-imagine it.

Thankful to be home today. Got out at 7 and pulled a few more elderberries. Pulled them off the stem on the back patio. It's not covered, but it very nice in the morning until about 930 when the sun peeks over the tree. It's lovely too. Sorta like your pretty area, Kim. Nothing is wilty or sad in the cooler morning air.

I saw hummingbirds on the Scarlet Salvia so that was nice.

I'm mostly having a kitchen day. A neighbor shared a box of peaches from his tree. Tom cut them up yesterday afternoon. I worked late in Cordell at my new job. He made a cobbler but left a few for me, so I made a peach muffin recipe. It's not really Whole 30, but doesn't have dairy, grains, or white/brown sugar. They smell good. Just pulled them out of the oven. Thankfully he took the cobbler to work so I don't have to stare at it all day and not eat it. haha.

The elderberries I pulled this morning are going to be dried as are the ones in the refrigerator. I haven't pulled those off the stems yet.

There were 9 quarts in the freezer from last July, so they're thawing now and will made into oxymel and syrup.

Oh, I did get most of the onions cleaned up and brought in this morning too. The long day variety was pulled later and it's not completely cured. This was not the best onion year for me.

Jennifer they also came with a mouse. I will find out how to separate these. I’m going to take pictures today. Now that they have been watered thoroughly they look nice. I need that recipe for the muffins. I bought peaches at market and don’t want more jam.

I read an article this morning that said many medications can effect how you handle heat. Antihistamines, diuretics, most heart and blood pressure meds, depression meds and some for Parkinsons. I take several mentioned by name and Ron takes more. I'm sure you must take some of them, Larry, so blame it on the meds, not your fault.

My dog now seems fine, but we're careful not to let him out in the heat.

Going to PT today myself.

X O X

Kim, I remember that lunch. Seems like it was in the middle of the zombie apocalypse, when we just needed a chance for a normal lunch after being locked inside for so long. We really need to do that again, it was fun.

Lynn, my mom and dad used to have so many hummers around their place. When she was so sick, we'd lay in bed and just watch them through the window. I've only seen a couple, but I also don't put up feeders for them. I'm not diligent enough to keep them clean, so I'd rather not have them at all. Maybe I just need to plant flowers specifically for them, less work for me that way.

I got one of those fairy tale eggplants too. It's struggling, but it's also in a too-small container. It was all I had at the time, and unfortunately the monsoon rains didn't give me a chance to get it in the ground when it neeeded. But it has 3 fruits on it right now. Debating on removing 2, see if that gives the plant a chance to rebound.

And for the first time here, I have honest to goodness beefsteaks producing. I've gotten 3 or 4 Black from Tula so far, and there's about a dozen or so still green. Also noticed a couple other varieties are turning colors, so i'm finally starting to enjoy home grown tomatoes.

Cucumbers are slowing down finally, but I have about half a dozen jars of refrigerator pickles going and no room for more. We started a foolish kitchen remodel so half my kitchen is unusable until I finish the counters, which means I can't do any canning until then either. So the neighbor has been enjoying my excess, and I'm enjoying her eggs in trade. Having a neighbor with chickens is even better than having chickens myself. No work but I still get to enjoy them.

Nancy, I have to laugh at the idea of your yellow garden. I did that one year. Planted partridge pea (yellow flowers), marigold (yellow), cosmos (yellow), snapdragon (yellow), and tiger lilys. Then when it all started blooming, I realized my oversight. It was pretty, but a little too much yellow.

Congrats, Kim! Sounds like a huge score for you.

My Weather station hit 99* today. Its summer time in Oklahoma. I won't consider it scorching hot till it reaches 105* .

But for sure, the tomato plants ..... can stick a fork in them, they're done.

Lynn my porters I have been growing and saving seed just keep going. They are about 13 years old and they really do laugh at the heat. I should send everybody some seed after this season. They are larger than a cherry and smaller than a Roma

Kim, at this point in the gardening season, I'm glad they're done.

This is when I've had all the gardening I want .

That’s true. I have been moving a slow dripping hose all day

I don't even feel like walking to the garden.

Madge took me back to the clinic again today, and I got X-rays and meds. I was told my back was shot from L2 on down. From the way I feel, it may be all shot. Anyway, I am to rest and take meds, I don't like doing that, but I don't like hurting ether. I feel like I need to sneak out and water the garden anyway, but Madge may not agree. I feel like I need to do as she says, I feel like I am a burden, and not able to pull my own weight. Of course Madge does not act like that, that is just how I feel. The meds make me feel a little dopey, and I was told to just lie around and rest.

Larry I am sad for you. I hope you get to feeling better and able to move around. But at least feeling better and comfortable and not so much pain.

Hi Larry! I am so sorry about this dadgummed pain! Pain is such a downer. . . three years ago I was supposed to drive to Mpls. I was frantically trying to find ways to numb/dull/alleviate my back pain at the time. Garry said, "You'll never be able to make that drive in your shape." Doc couldn't prescribe pain meds, said she could refer me to a pain clinic. There wasn't time to get there before my trip. But about that time, I for some reason decided to put on a pair of loose elastic band lounge pants instead of jeans........ it was like mini-magic! And between those and ibuprofen, I was able to make the trip. And when I got up there my kids got me some medicinal gummies, which helped, as well. Several months later we had another doc appt and she wanted to set up referrals for this or that--and I put up my hand to stop. I told her that if I couldn't get any relief for my real problem--pain--then I wasn't interested in any of the wasteful "screenings." Since then the back has gotten better--that was at a time less than a year post hip replacement so I was in terrible physical shape.

But I am really feeling for ya. Prayers.

Jen, unfortunately, or funnily, my yellow plants are all more of the permanent varieties! LOL . So we may have to name this place, "Sunny Yellow Brooks Farm,." It's all good. Yellow shows up better in this shade than, say, blue or red.

A few--and this is nothing compared to how it'll be in another two weeks when Jerusalem artichokes and rudbeckia laciniata are in bloom.

Kim, Nancy, thank you for your concern. I am on top of the world, thank god for medication. When Madge was gone to the beauty shop, and grocery store this morning, I watered the north garden very well, and plan on watering the south garden after sundown.

When Madge got home I ask her to take me to Ft, Smith, that I wanted to take the most beautiful woman I know out to lunch, of course she had to drive. We had a great time. Madge is asleep now, and it is past time for my next dose of meds, if I can stay on these meds., I should be 20 years old again real soon.

Here is my north garden of peppers and sweet potatoes, it is suffering a little, but if I don't run out of meds, and they don't cut my water off, I think that I can pull it through.

The 4 short rows of sweet potatoes were panted 7- 14, ans 7-16, they were planted a little too late, but I had the space, and slips, so why not stick them in the ground, they can be ground cover if nothing else. The potatoes on the left, and along the top of the picture were planted late May, early June, they should make okay. The last 4 rows don't get a lot of sun, so that will slow them down also. The last slips have been in 9 days, so they should be rooted enough now to keep going if they get a little water every now and then.

Larry I’m sorry you feel bad - so frustrating. You don’t have to go outside to be valuable - we all enjoy your posts and garden stories - I’ve got some good advice from you. Take it easy for awhile and keep Madge from worrying - she just wants to keep you around awhile longer. You forget I know how women from SE OK and Arkansas are - you better listen to her! haha

Nancy, I know what you mean sbout loose soft pants. I’d worn jeans all

my adult life until my last accident - now my leg from knee to bottom of foot is tender and jeans rub my leg and hurt my back - I wear knit pants or shorts always

Glenda, thank you, I mostly listen to Madge, but I also hear a lot of, "I told you so", but my daughter is not so nice. Emmy told me Thur. evening, " dad, the damage in your back is still there, whether you feel it or not, take it easy and we will be over Sat. morning and help you get caught up". I had hoped to get out and work more this afternoon, but Madge suggested that I rest more. I feel so much better than I did at the first of the week.

The pain pills I am using are from in 9 years old bottle of pills. The Dr. offered more pills, but I told her that I had 7 left from 9 years ago, if I need more I would let her know. I think the steroids are doing more good than the pain medication. I had steroids many years ago, and it seemed as tho they got to where they did not work. I hope that is not the case this time. I will have to admit that I was not fair with the steroids before, I would not give myself time to heal before I started abusing my body again, and like a lot of men, I don't take advice very well. Do you know of anyone else that has been called "hard headed"?

Kim, I’m glad you got those Fairy Tale eggplants. (You too Jen!} They’re a controversial vegetable. I can’t give them away. But they sure are cute, and handy if you have only one person who likes them. I’d love some of those Porter seeds for next year, or a couple plants at SF.

My tomatoes are in a holding pattern. Just trying to keep them going until it cools off. I‘m optimistic about fall tomatoes. Definitely need to research a systemic fungicide though.

I’m inundated with cucumbers. My nephew loves them, but they arent coming until next weekend. I think I have enough fridge pickles. I get a couple okra at a time, so I just keep a jar of brine in the fridge and pop them in as I harvest them. My family loves them pickled.

So, how do you tell if eggplant is ripe, HJ, Jen, and Kim?

I’m having a lazy morning today, because mom and I got our covid boosters yesterday, and that usually makes me feel off for a day. I need to go out later, though.

Rebecca, I still haven't figured out eggplant. I've been unable to cook it in a way that we like it. Let us know if you figure it out.

My kids came over today, Emmy mowed the lawn, and Jerry repaired my RTV, then we all stripped as much produce from the garden as we could, everyone got all they wanted, and we have a pack to take to the senior center.

I have never been able to do well with eggplant, I have 5 plants in the garden, they are producing, but not as well as they should. Laken is going to try to string some cayenne peppers like I use to see as a child, I am not sure how that will turn out. ..

I air dried cayenne once. I found if you want to use them for food, you had to open them or break them, because sometimes they were black inside. Mold? I hate the taste of cayenne, to me they're bitter. I grew them because I was going to make hot sauce for Ron. It also worked to break them in half and throw them in the garden where the beagle thought she could wallow.

Larry I'm glad you got some help!

Egg plant, bleach. (My opinion). I had a really pretty one that made small eggplants, white with purple streaks, Asian I think. They were acceptable in a stir fry, but Ron wanted the big black ones his mother made eggplant parmesana with. If you coat with breading, fry and cover with tomato sauce and mozzarella and parmesan, it's edible, but I'd rather have chicken.

Grand kids have been here for a week. Ron is wearing thin.

Amy, this is the first year I have tried to grow cayenne. I never developed a taste for peppers till later in life. With my limited exposure to peppers, I have settled on Ashe County pimento, and jalapeno as my favorites. I am growing the cayenne for Jerry's BIL., I have know idea what he plans on doing with them, but we sent about 10 pounds to him yesterday, the kids also took tomatoes, onion, and garlic.

I cleaned one row of okra this morning. I can crawl without a lot of pain. The okra is only about a foot tall, the weed maybe a little taller.

I have been extremely late on everything this year. I also sat under an oak tree and sprayed a stream of water out into the north garden trying to water the peppers and sweet potatoes. It seems impossible to get a good watering through a thin stream of water, but I am being very careful not to do much. At least I can walk without a lot of pain, and I want to keep it that way.

When the sun goes down I hope to water the peppers and sweet potatoes in the south garden the same way. I have a stool sitting at each garden so I can water while sitting down. I did notice that I have some sweet potatoes pushing through the soil in both the north and south garden, so I should have at least a few sweet potatoes within 8 to 10 weeks. As hard and shallow as my soil is, it is not hard for potatoes to poke through the upper crust. I can see where growing sweet potatoes in a raised bed would have its advantage.

I must be the only one dumb enough to get out in this heat, but I try to get out when I feel like it, which is mostly early morning. Sweet potatoes, peppers, okra, tomatoes, and onions are all that I have in the ground. You cant kill walking onions, and the sweet potatoes are doing well, but you may say that everything else is on life support. I had to take a few days off, but I try to spend a little time each day, weed and/or watering.

This morning I pulled a clump of Johnson grass, and pull up a sweet potato in the process. the larger bunch of potatoes is what came up with the Johnson grass. So often I get deformed potatoes from under the main plant, which I think comes from root bound plants, plus my shallow, hard soil.

The smaller sweet potato is one I scratched out of the soft soil while weeding with my Japanese weed, which is my favorite weeding tool. You can see why I like the potatoes which grow under the runners. In another 2 months that small potato would be just the size I like.

I think that part of my problem is that I try to start too many plants for the small light shelf that I have. I tried to think back and count the number of sweet potatoes that I started this year, all total, it has to be north of 400. If I am able to start slips next year I think that number should drop down to about 50 plants, maybe less. I then can plant the first runners from those plants to increase my total number of plants, no way do I need more than 100 sweet potato plants. I think that 50 well cared for plants would produce more potatoes than we need. I have shown the kids how, now they need to plant their own potatoes, or come over and help me. I am just not man enough to do the things that I once did. I am not trying to say that the kids don't try to help me, but they need to take more of a leadership role, because the old man is worn our.

You can see that the bottom potato has a much better shape to it, and within another month or two it would have plenty size to it. The top clump was curled up in the clump of Johnson grass.

Larry, Ashe County Pimento is one of my favorites. I didn't have seed this year so need to buy some. It's a pretty little pepper too. Rick really liked cayenne. Many years ago I grew a multi colored cayenne. It was really pretty threaded--almost ornamental in the kitchen. Maybe that's what Laken is trying to do? I purchased one this year "for" Rick...his memory anyways. It's in the Fire section of my element garden. Someday I would like to grow enough to powder because we use it in the kitchen often.

That's an interesting sweet potato, Larry. Funny how the grass shaped it that way! One of the hoop house beds has sweet potatoes. One of them is pushing out of the soil. I can't wait to see the outcome. We also have them in three mineral tubs. Really, a good 24 should be fine for us. We like them, but don't eat them every week, although we should.

And I have been out in it too, you're not the only dumb one.

Jennifer, I expect that the deformed sweet potato has more to do with a root bound plant when I set the plants out. Some of my plants even had small potatoes on them when I planted them. I tried to pull the small potatoes off, and straighten out the roots, but that was taking too much time

I started my slips too early this year, and it was so wet that it seemed forever to get them in the ground.

I started using the larger potatoes for a decoy last year, and trying to encourage production of potatoes out on the runners. The rats, voles, and gophers would start feasting on the potatoes under the main plant, and somewhat ignore the smaller outlying potatoes. I bought a Gopher Hawk trap that Glenda suggested, but I have not had a chance to try it out. My plants are so thickly planted that it is hard to see where the voles and gophers are working. If I can learn to use the trap, I may be able to live on gopher meat all winter.

Jennifer, I have some unused space, and would like to plant a fall crop of something. I am thinking, maybe beets, but I have a hard time getting anything started early enough in late summer, early fall. What do you do to get your fall crops going?

This time of year, every year, I hit the wall. I need time away from the garden.

So far this July, or this summer, we've not hit 100* . Only two times in the last 50 years has that happened. It won't be today. But forecast for tomorrow is 101.

And if doesn't get there tomorrow, it won't on Thursday as we've got a " cold " front moving in Wednesday night.

I never know what the temp will be here. Our car thermometer pretty well matches the towns we drive through, and pretty well matches or min/max on the back porch. A few weeks ago it seemed so hot, I moved our car out into out front lawn, where we have 10 shad trees, into and area that almost never sees direct sun. I let the car sit there for a few hours, and it was cooler that the temp on the back porch. Now my min/max is showing 7 degrees cooler that than the temp in Ft Smith about 20 miles away. I show no the min/max that we had 102 today, that is 3 degrees above what Ft. Smith showed. I looked on the computer for the Wed.'s high, one place said 99, the other said 100. The only thing be sure of, is, that it is too hot for my liking.

Got exciting drama today !! Will OKC reach 100* or will we go the entire month of July without a 100* day. This is what life is like for me at 73 yo , hahaha.

NWS says 99* today, Mesonet says 100*, and Weather Underground ( which is owned by the Weather Channel ) says 100* at 4 pm.

wow what fun

Lynn, it is exciting here also, so far my high today is 1 degree cooler than yesterday. We hit a high of 101, dropping down to 100 now. Ft. smith was showing a high of 100, with feeling like 111. I have news for them, it feels hotter than that to me.

I went out and tossed some hay around my peppers plants, that bare ground was heating up like a side walk.

When I was a kid we went barefooted, all the roads around here were cover with dark shale from the coal mines in the area. The lane to the mailbox was a half mile long, and which ever kid walked to the mail box would have to walk the center of the road where a little grass would grow, so they would not blister their feet.

OKC Will Rogers hit 100* at 3 pm this afternoon. First time this year that OKC has seen 100* .

So we did not go the entire month of July without 100*. Oh darn .

99 in Moore and Norman, Lynn.

OK brains. I am trying to run drip line in my garden and I have only 50 foot. Not 100 feet. My garden is 12 feet wide on one end and 8 feet wide on the other and a total of 21 feet long on the sides. Well, technically, the angled side is a little bit longer like 22 1/2 but I just call it all 21. So I am not really sure how to run this drip line and I don’t know why I can’t think it through.Normally this would not be a problem, but it just seems very confusing to me and I don’t wanna start punching holes in this tubing until I know what I’m doing. I’m gonna work on it and take a picture and I’ll come back in a minute.

Will I messed up my picture. And I am out of graph paper.
I think I have the drip lines figured out. I just hope it translates to the garden. We had a nice rain last night. Few miles down the road mobile homes and rvs blew over in a weather event. That’s what they called it. They’re so scared to label anything anymore as what it truly is. The people here and Valley View that experience the tornado last year never got any real help from FEMA or anybody else they showed up and they fed the people, but as far as clearing debris, fixing and repairing homes, it did not happen. People are still trying to clear debris a year later. It’s a shame in our country that we can’t take better care of our people. On a lighter front I am planting more beans. I am going to try to get some ground cherries to grow And I am getting this drip line set up today. Then I’m gonna work on apples. I don’t feel like my Black Eyed Peas, my pink eye, purple hole peas, and whatever else I planted in that family have done as well as they should. I got a lot of peas, but now they’re dwindling. They are not blooming on, of course producing. I guess they quit at some point. I was hoping they would keep going until it frosted. I may have to plant another round because I only got one bag in the freezer.

Kim, I only got a few peas this year, and the ones I got were volunteer purple hulls, they came up from peas I missed last year, and some are still growing. I may just let those peas go, and maybe they will do the same next year.

I got another cantaloupe this morning, that makes 2 for me, and 4 for the critters.

This is a beautiful morning, its 10:30, and just now getting up to 76 degrees, and no sun yet.

I have been working in the north garden pulling weeds out of my sweet potatoes. The ground is so dry and hard, causing many of the weeds to break off. We had 50% chance of 1/4" of rain, but I think got just enough to make the grass damp. I will rest a while and go out and spray the sweet potatoes and okra with the hose-end sprayer, that's a poor way to water anything, but at the time it is the best I can do.

So far I am satisfied with the sweet potatoes. I always have gopher and vole damage, but I am seeing very little damage from above, I have no idea what the damage is below the ground.

Larry, it’s good to see you. I think everybody else is taking a summer‘s nap. I was just about to go out and do a garden tour video and I pray that people see what I see and not the dead stuff. It is very hard to keep enough water on this little garden. We had a good rain last night and we’re expecting more tonight tomorrow morning and on Sunday and maybe Monday I’ll take all I can get right now. I did plant more long noodle beans because they are my favorite. I love to eat those every day and they’re just so good chop up and throwing a skillet with your hamburger or whatever else you’re cooking. My new herbs I got are looking great. They are recovering from being ignored before I got them. I have them quarantined until I make sure that nobody had any disease or funky something so they’re about ready to go into the main garden. I don’t know where they’re gonna go, butsomewhere. I’m about to process 2030 pounds of apples and then I will be done with fruit that is laying around the house. I still have lots to process out of the freezer, but at least it won’t be something I’m tripping over. The absolute best peas I’ve grown this year. Are the PIGGOTT peas and they are a family heirloom that I got from Sandhill preservation center years ago. They average 11 to 18 peas per pod. They are easy to open and shell and they take forever to dry out unlike pink eye purple hole peas that take two minutes and they’re dry. So I really appreciate those and I have saved a lot of seed for those for next year. But I might plant a little patch if I can find something somewhere to plant some more right now.

I am here. its been a very busy week. No napping but I wish!

Unfortunately, I have been taking lots of summer naps, but not because I wanted to only because I was heat sick

I have left a plant in my garden that I am calling Lambs Quarters, am I correct, and is lambs quarters and wild spinach the same thing?

Also, I have potatoes large enough to dig. I also have areas that I find gopher diggings, and no sign of potatoes.

Larry that’s awesome. I haven’t checked my potatoes yet. I feel like I just planted them. I will have to go watch my own YouTube video to find out when I planted them.

Kim, I am not sure when I planted that row of potatoes, It was the first row I planted, at this point I am guessing that row was planted between the 15, and 25 of April. My last potatoes were planted 7-16-25. I always have plans to drive a stake at the end of the row to state when planted, but I often don't, and sometimes I cant find the stake, or cant read it. Anyway, those are the largest potatoes I have found. That is the south garden, and the last row in it was planted 7-1, the next to last row was planted 6-1. I am trying to learn how to spread out my planting and harvesting. I don't like asking for help, so it will help me to learn how to stretch things out, and do a little at a time.

With at least 2 more months of growing season left, I should have a pretty good harvest.

Naps are good and good for you, Kim.

Larry, those sweet potatoes look great!

According to my YouTube documentation, it was two months ago that I planted the sweet potato slips in the main bed. I usually don’t start checking until after 80 days.

And yes, naps are good for me. I do a lot of physical work so I am not concerned about being lazy. My family used to think that if someone took naps that meant they were lazy.

Kim, if you look on a thread I started titled April 26, you will see the row of sweet potatoes soon after I planted them. I was trying to get them in the ground before the nest rain storm. From the last week of April, I was planting sweet potatoes ( as weather permitted ) till June 1. I like to have my sweet potatoes in by June. I also planted some slips on 7-1, 7-14, and 7 16, just to see how late I can push my last planting date. The 7-14, and 7-16 potatoes are planted in an area that gets a lot of shade, so I am not expecting a lot from them, but I do expect to get small roots from the 7-1 potatoes, they are in an area that gets more sun.

Larry, you should get a really good harvest. I was looking up information for curing spaghetti, squash, and Johnny’s seeds has some great information about harvesting curing storing all the crops. So if you ever need information about that that would be my go to place.

Thanks, Kim, I do like to read info on growing and curing sweet potatoes and winter squash..

I went out to check my cantaloupe this morning. I knew that I had 2 that were about ready. As always, I was a day late. This now makes the score,Larry 2, critters 6. Now that the critters have found them, I doubt that I will get a melon, or another cantaloupe.

I planted these out in the pasture garden. Other than a little water every now and then, they have had no care.

Larry I have seen people put milk crates or even laundry baskets over the melon with a cinder block on top. Don’t go stealing Madge’s baskets you would get in trouble for that. I have a crate. I put over my melon last year because I only had one melon and I kept stepping on the edge of the vine. So it grew and did fine, but it didn’t get as big as it was supposed to. I think I ran out of heat last year

Thanks for keeping the thread going, Kim and Larry. I've simply been slammed with busyness, but it's good stuff mostly. I'll try to get back in it soon. Things are dry out here. The rain has missed us each time. But, hoping for some tomorrow and Monday.

Well, I tried to start a new thread, but it looks like I have forgotten how again.

I plan on doing less today, I had sort of a rough night, and it may have been because I spent more time out in the garden yesterday. With the weather being cooler if is easier for me to be outside.

The kids are to come over today, I plan on taking them out for Chinese.

I'll start one, Larry.