Plant #4 after weeding

Planted 2 hills of zuchinni and 2 hills of burbleess cucumber after weeding the south fence edge with the scuffle hoe, also on all three paths between the two rows of okra.  And then watered them.  Picked cosmos, zenia, and marigolds - one green and one yellow squash, and a few hot peppers. In about 1 hour from 7:30 to 8:30.  Light work compared to yesterday. Two young couples were around working.

Monday's garden, viewed from the north side

 The garden weeding was after work, after we had gone to get Sam's gas ($2.97 a gallon, and 13 gallons) in Deej's car, and the at the pet store - Jado cat food cans, dry food, and kitty litter - the last bag of kitty litter was horrible - clumped and hard to clean. Then, after the garden, I came home to a nice meal Deej had prepared of shrimp, a wonderful okra dish, fresh cucumber and hot peppers, plus desert of her peach cobbler with some ice cream.

We had a nice lunch (Tuesday) with Kathy at the Corner (No. 3 restaurant) - she leaves tomorrow.  Demonstrated Facebook, before Kathy went with Deej over to special collection. Highlight of work - re-estimating the number of pamphlets of cataloging - probably more around 2500 instead of my initial 1200 I had made months ago.

Yesterday (Monday 16th July) I went by myself, leaving an hour early, to weed at the garden, from about 5:30 to 7:30.  Boy, was that hard.  But needed, and a lot easier with the two showers on the weekend that totaled about 1 inch, and soften the soil, for it's hard rockness because of the drought during the past 3 weeks. Mostly pulled grass along the east edge where there are some gladiolas.  And then planted some seeds which I had had soaking for 2 nights - 3 hills of pumpkins, plus 4 or 5 watermelon seeds along the eastern fence and on the cucumber cage, and then three places along the middle part of the west, north, and east fence.  But the main seeds I planted were flower seeds along rows in the east fence rows - 3 type of cosmoses and marigolds.  Also did an L of okra in the northeast corner. Two Mexicans were can watering in a garden to the east, the truck guy to the west was there when I fist came, and an lady drove in to her garden to the east, and the Pakistani lady was working her garden to the west up by the basketball court - her little daughter playing around their van.

We'll see if anything comes of those seed plantings so late in the season.

Here are some photos, taken from the north side for a change (see above)
Three orange cosmos - blazing away

 

The okra / zucchini hills and the row of planted flowers

The recent history of the garden? after the April and May tillings and plantings on weekends, we went to the beach the first week in June and weeds grew.  And we spent considerable time weeding corn, peppers, tomatos, okra - and placing newspapers over some weeded areas. We did get some onions, and started to get beans.  In early July we mowed the higher grass in the central path and the eastern edge, but then we hit a dry three weeks and could not pull any more weeds, nor scuffle hoe - it was way too hard.  We started to get cucumbers by mid July, and peppers, more beans, dug the small potato area, tented the kale, picking zennias and marigolds.  We watered during the weekends, including last Saturday, before we got almost an inch shower. And then Monday and Tuesday (above) I weeded and did some planting. We sprayed some oil on the corn tassels. Still to come is corn and tomatoes - and those may come at the wrong time - while we are away all next week in Seattle for the WOSA reunion, sailing, a day trip to the Victoria, Canada gardens, etc.

Saturday we bbqed vegetables and hamburger, finished cooking them just in time as the shower arrived. I had mowed the back yard also.

Sunday I bought metal stakes and put up a little fence around the back yard blue berry bushes and the corn / bean / squash hills - the shower that evening came before I was done, so I worked in a nice 10-minute natural rain shower.  By then Kathy H had arrived.  I showered and we went and had a nice meal at Sticks.  Kathy showed some really fantastic photos of cicadas, grasshoppers, spiders, frogs, insects which her colleague (Piter?) had taken in May when they had a month in Mozambique with EO Wilson. 

That's it - a story of weeding, planting, fencing, picking, showers, Kathy's visit - - - -

late June 2011

Ah, now we are in to summer.

Lots of weeds grew while we were away at the beach a couple weeks ago.  We both went and weeded some of the garden, late morning on Saturday 25th June 2011, but much needs to be done.  We took a break on Sunday, and I went to the garden after work and tried to clear up some stuff for 1.5 hours - especially around the ochra, then some around the middle flower area and ended up thinning and transplanting some zenias in a circle there.  Weeded and scuffle hoed the remaining unplanted flower border the west side by south and planted more zenias and cosmos.  Cleared some more weeds around some of the flower borders, but weeds are overwhelming some and some flower seeds do not seem to have produced. For the back yard, mowed it Saturday late afternoon and Sunday cleared some vines and pulled them off of bushes around the shed. Deer had come and eaten lotus leaves in Deej's large tub on the north edge - and two of the 3 fishes we had bought recently also died.

That's about plants and yards and stuff.

Back to work on the Urdu Fest on Monday, exporting the Panel 4.  Then Tuesday we met with Phillip T of Shanti and finally got the remaining of 5 videos onto the web.  Still left is Panel 1 - and I still want to know how to save sequences under a new and different name in Final Pro, as also to learn how to insert good cross dissolves or fades.  Disappointingly learned on Tuesday we probably cannot provide navigation to sections in the videos.  Drat.

Learned also Tuesday that others were selected for the upcoming SAS voyages - again drat. Good deal for all the others, though.

Worked on normal library stuff - purchase requests, double monthly (May and June) report, etc. as well as searched for Walter on confirming where Bharauli, Ujiyar, and Narainpur were located where SSS traveled to in 1908.

Made shrimp supper Sunday night, and continue to eat it, as Deej made her own salmon cakes and are eating those. Monday night's new 10-grain loaf mix was huge, and we had no large plastic bag to store it, until Deej got some more bags after her dentist appointment Tuesday.

Discovered and skimmed through a wonderful little book on Joseph Stein (Innocent Abroad) - wrote David S about it including some pages from the book in pdf - wish I could locate the 2001 India video on him.  I'm also plowing through Cyberabad - a dull, narrative only story / chapter by a genetically enhanced Vishnu kid.  Also read a little more of Auel's Children at lunch.

We've got some rain (1/3 inch) a couple times in the last 4 days.

Washed out

This week I've been trying to go and do some gardening after work - not too successful. I get rained on or it gets dark and I need to leave, etc.

First tried to go and water some on Tuesday after work, but I went to late, so had little time before it was dark.  Did do some weeding and a little watering. Rushed away to beat the "Park closes at dark" but forgot two things - my $300 camera and our $100 digging fork.  Deej drove me back and we retrieved them in the dark and escaped out of the Azalea Park before it closed.

Wed - went and weeded in the no-corn area some, and picked a few flowers and peppers.  Then the rain came quickly before I was ready to leave. What a deluge. and I left a handful of peppers, but grabbed the camera bag before it got too soaked.  It was touch and go driving on the way home, the inside wind shield fogged up and would not blow clear, so had to wipe with my hand, at the same time drive the 4 miles in the trusty 1987 Dodge Diplomat through sheets of rain, loud near-by thunder and bright flashes of lightning, splashing slowly through flooding streets, and trying to make sure to avoid anything in the headlights.  Whew, made it home.

Thursday - got off the #6 bus and had to run the last two blocks as the 50-mile an hour wind and beginning rain started.  I knew Deej and Karen would be getting off the other #4 bus in pouring rain, so went up and got them as they got off the bus - they still got soaked in the 20 yards to the car.  Dropped off Karen and then drove in the downpour to the Greyhound bus depot to pick up the two boxes of mangoes Betty had sent.  The rain had almost stopped by the time we loaded the 2 boxes in the trunk.  Unpacked the 56 of them, in pretty good shape, but the smell ! good at first, but then overwhelming.

Friday went an picked up Deej's sister at Barracks Road Kroger.  After we got home, I grabbed to soaked corn and bean seeds and went to the garden, working about 1.5 hours as it got dark, and weeded, prepared the soil, and put most of the corn and bean seed in as it turned dark.   Nice hotdog, potato, corn, tomato simple meal.  No more rain today.  We had gotten .82 on Wed, and then .52 yesterday, Thursday.

Washed out roads some places, but the vegetables are going to enjoy and thrive on this week's rain.  And three packages came Friday - a hand held voice GPS, a portable photo gps tracker, and 3 $10 digital thermometers.  I set up one already so we can see the temperature in the basement where Deej's beer is bubling and brewing.  Now, how do I learn how to use the other two devices?  All those gadgets.

Garden, visitors Early July 2010

Today went to the garden in the morning and evening - about two hours each time

Our garden this year is not great - we had a very late start and have not done much very often. Got the peas in mid-May, too late to really get much from them. We pulled them this week, and tilled over them and planted corn, very late now.

We got up fairly early for a Saturday, around 9, ate and stuff, and went to the City Market with the slim possibility Robert and Suzanne would be there for breakfast stuff, but didn't see them - I got beans as Deej dropped me off, and she found a parking place quickly and got peaches. Then we went to get seeds at South States - corn, squash, zucchini, okra, and (against Deej's advice, cause it's way too late) watermelon and pumpkin. They had no veg plants so we went off to K Mart which had a $6 pot of about 8 watermelon plants.

Then home, and off to the garden around 11, working there in the hot sun until about one. Deej watered some and picked garlic, dug holes and planted zucchini and squash seeds; also a third row of beans; I weeded and then tilled the pea area.

Came home and rested, after picking up Taco's taco and burrito each. Saw Spain beat Paraguay. I went by myself around 6:30 and worked until about 8:30. Planted the corn, dug holes for watermelon and pumpkin and planted their seeds. Also dug six holes and planted watermelon plants. Also okra seeds at the east end between the corn rows. And watered what I had planted. Indian family came to water the east Europeans garden. Earlier the girl, just to the Indian's eat pot, worked and watered her plot.

Exhausted, showed, made ice tea, drank refreshing vodka and tonic, before warming and eating the hamburger, corn cob, and bean supper.

The garden has pretty good pepper plants, and the tomatoes are coming. Last weekend we worked, forked up and tilled the northwest area, and planted two rows of beans.

That was Saturday.

Last night, Friday night - Robert and Suzanne came to town, staying at the Hydraulic / Emmet road Holiday Inn, we figured out. We picked them up around 7:30 and went to Maya restaurant; moving to a back quiet room to ourselves. Fish and oyster suppers - including Robert's story of bumping into an Indian women at a Texas convention, getting her to pinpoint she was from Jabalpur, with an aunt in Pendra Road, and maybe even one of her aunts was a nurse for Robert's father. Robert was facing the window and got exited as trains went by - much to the derision from the women - hey, trains were important in our Indian childhoods. And I told them the story of killing Frederick Hart and Gene Markowski's cockatiel. Robert had asked if we knew Fred, and so I told him.

After going past the parking lot for the City Market, we took R and S back to their hotel. It was a pleasant, and different Friday night. Really glad they contact us when the come through.