Feeling the heat.

Sunday 20th July

Rising at 7-30am. Temperature 78F
It's been a hot week with temperatures hitting over 90F by midday. The weather forecast for next week is HOTTER!

10-00am Temperature 91F
Hard physical labour of the gardening variety is almost impossible.
Well, it is for this Happy Gardener.

So I decide on a more mundane task...................................

..............and become The Happy Mower.

After a few hours of "therapy" it's time for a cool off indoors so spend a "relaxing time" catching up in with things in the office.
Mucho e-flurrying, letter writing, bill paying, forum reading and posting.

So a working lunch is called for comprising of croissant, ham, swiss cheese, homegrown tomato, potato crisps and low fat milk.

Lunchtime reading.

After the break it's time for a trip around to monitor progress.
The first stop is Plot 5, the potato patch and it's definately not good news..................

After being almost ruined by the heavy rainfall then virtually eaten to bits by the Woodlice they are now covered with the dreaded Blister Beetles.
Not only do these insects eat foliage at a frightenly rapid rate they also leave everything covered with their sticky black poop.
So, I dig out my prepared mixture of flour and lime.......................

...........and dust everywhere.
This is my first try with this mixture. I hope it works.

Sigh. Lets look for some better news!
This years tomato crop is my best ever..............................

.........and everyday brings more.......................

........and more.............................

......................and more.

The Three Musketeers, as I've named my volunteer tomato plants, are now settled in at the front of the house and will hopefully become part of my fall garden.

I need to keep a close eye on them as they are in peat pots which dry out very quickly in this heat. Should this very hot spell continue, which looks very likely, I may change them into plastic pots.

Eeeek, what's this? Looks like something from a sci-fi movie.

But it seems that this Skyscraper Sunflower is getting very close to blooming. I'm excited!

The Birdseed Sunflower....................................

........is past his best. But the good news is that he seems to have..................

.....two more blooms coming along, further down the stem.
I'm going to plant some more of that birdseed next year, that's for sure.

Beans, beans, beans.........................

....and more beans. And some here.................
.....bagged and ready for use.

News around the front of the house is that two cuttings from the Golden Willow Tree..............

...............have rooted. So I'm in with a chance of some free trees!

My friendly Blue Jays who did such a good job eating the carrot beetles......

.......have now moved onto my peaches.


I'm not really bothered for this year as I want the tree to recover more than I want to harvest fruit. But if I want to get anything next year I'd better get my "thinking cap" on and devise a way of keeping the birds off. Perhaps a net of somekind?

And last, but not least, I noticed this little fellow, growing alone at the front of the house.


He's made a home for himself in an area which remains unmown due to heavy frog/toad occupation. It looks like some kind of wild Iris?

Tomatofest!

Sunday 13th July
Yet another thunderstorm hit us last night around 7-30pm and it rained heavily for the rest of the evening.
I had to rush out and rescue the Onions I was attempting to dry out in Plot 1.

I relocated them onto the growing table.
This morning the sun is shining and everything is dripping wet, green and fresh looking so it's a warm but lovely start to the day.

The tomatoes have started ripening in earnest this past week and we've had a good steady supply of all three varieties
The Giant Beefsteaks...................................

.......are living up to their name.
Some, like this Old Virginia variety......................

.....are small and perfectly formed.
Others like this Big Red..........................................

......are slightly less perfect.
But whatever the shape and size they all taste great, especially when made.........

................into something like this.
Tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, oregano, red and white vinegar, a splash of olive oil and fresh ground black pepper to taste.
All thrown into a bowl and left to stand at room temperature for a couple of hours.
Note! Not in the refrigerator as tomatoes lose that "fresh from the garden" taste once you refrigerate them.
And, there's plenty more coming along.......

........which are almost ready for harvesting.
The tallest of the Tomato plants..................................

......must be well over six feet high I think.
I'll have to get the step ladders out to prune them if they get any higher.
I dug up the remaining Turnips and took them round to Corky.

This second crop could have done with being a little larger but were still worth the effort.
This means that Plot 4 now only has one row of Carrots and the Birdseed Sunflower in it.
The Carrots are about ready........................


......and I'll pull them next week.
But the Birdseed Sunflower.........................


...................has a home for the season. Cute isn't he?
I broke up the empty patch and will till in some compost soon to make it ready for a Fall planting. Of what, is yet to be decided.


The soil is too heavy to be worked today after last nights downpour.
Actually, there is another inhabitant in Plot 4. This guy.......................................

He's really not supposed to be in here but he's a Watermelon and he'll damn well live where he wants to!
Even the whole veg plot.............................

.....isn't big enough and he's climbing out through the fence.
Here's my poor attempt at Rainbow Swiss Chard in Plot 2.

I suppose that sharing a raised bed with the watermelons is a bit intimidating. I'm a little disappointed that this didn't take off as I've never eaten it and was looking forward to trying something new. It is, however, a contender for a Fall crop.
The Pole Beans have now started to grow rapidly.....................

.........and I pulled a few on Thursday.
I even have Pole Beans..............

...........growing on my Sunflowers!
So I've been combing the 'net for Bean recipes.
I think the Skyscraper Sunflowers.........................

....................... are beginning to form.
And the Yolo Bell Peppers.....................................

...........continue to flourish.
More cucumbers.............................

......................are on the way.
The volunteer Tomato plant which was bunking up with the potted Petunia.................

.........has moved into his own place.
I may keep him around, along with a couple of others which I've discovered, and try them for a fall crop. Well, you never know your luck?
I'm also wanting to have a go at growing some Rhubard. The problem is that it gets too hot for it here in Oklahomegrownvegland.
I had a bit of a walk round the garden this morning, checking out potential sites and I'm considering here........................

....beneath the large Conifer. This area, if cleared would get full sun for the earlier part of the day but be shaded when the temps really get up there later on. It also means I wont have to mow around them. The soil beneath the tree is quite rich and loamy. With the addition of some compost it could work.
So thats a project to get ready for the fall. I'll plan to purchase plants in the spring. Rhubarb takes 2 to 3 years to get established so I wont see any return on my effort for a while.
I've pulled around half of the Peaches from the young tree. It had far too many and I want it to divert it's energies into growing more limbs rather than straining to grow lots of undersized fruit.

The fruit I removed was small and hard and was consigned to the compost heap.
The companion plants are thriving....................

........Basil, Marigolds.............

.........and even more Basil.

And the Black Eyed Susans are in flower now too.
As is the Cilantro..............................

....which has been grown specificaly for it's Coriander Seeds
So, this is what it's all about. The hard work digging plots, saving scraps to make compost. Working out in the cold, in the rain, in the heat. Watching things grow and sometimes fail.
But now, at this time of the season, I kinda feel as if the garden is running itself and I'm just there to keep an eye on things. That rain soaked waterlogged bog I struggled in earlier is now a lean, green produce making machine.
I'm just here to keep the weeds down and the bugs at bay as best I can

Feeling the heat.

Sunday 6th July

Rising at 7-00am to a wonderful, bright sunny day here in Oklahomegrownvegland
Alvin checks the thermometer and reports that it's a pleasant 78F.


In summer he hunts all night and sleeps in air conditioned comfort during the day.
Alvin is one wise pussycat!
It will get hotter here today. A whole lot hotter!
So I'll check things out in the garden now before the high temps hit.
The Petunia hanging basket requires constant moisture.

After watering I give it a half strength drink of Fish Emulsion liquid fertilizer.
Flower bed 1 below is another area that requires constant monitoring..........

..........as it dries out rapidly in the heat of the summer.
Whereas Flower Bed 2.....................

...................tends to hang onto its moisture a little longer.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm............................

..........I really must get this fixed sometime.
I notice strange foliage on the small potted Petunia...................


........and discover a volunteer Tomato plant has moved in there with it.
Moving around the back to the vegetable plots .........................


...........I pick my first vine ripened tomato of 2008.


A Big Red variety and my second generation.
Higher temperatures, of say 85F and upwards, actually slow down the ripening of the fruit. I check thoroughly for any sign of sun scald but they all look OK.

This year I tried a new variety of sweet Bell Pepper called Yolo and boy have they done well.


I've already harvested 12 or more full sized fruits and every plant is back full again.


There must be at least 8 to 10 more ready to be picked right now plus more on the way.
Some will be used in a tomato based mixture which we freeze and use in pasta dishes throughout the year. It's technical name in our house is "Mick's Tomato Gloop"

The second row of potatoes are rallying and have even come into bloom.


I'll water them because this will be the period of most tuber growth and they will need plenty of moisture.
Hey what's this?


The birdseed Sunflower is around 18 inches tall and the first to flower.
These Skyscraper variety are living up to their name and tower over me.


No flowers yet though.
Of the Torch variety I planted, not one seed germinated.

The second cucumber is almost ready.

.
Constant harvesting of cucumbers encourages more to grow.

This row of onions are all crowning and around three quarters of the onion tops are over....................


........so I pull the whole row......................


....................and leave them out to dry.

On the subject of onions, I discovered Wild Garlic growing on the edge of my small copse....


....so I pulled some to have with a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese I made for dinner last night.
This is a good find and I've saved some bulbils for planting in the fall.

Oh, and the Pole Beans have arrived....................

These were definitely not here yesterday, I checked! Maybe they were hiding?

Things are starting to warm up.

Time for................

..........a cat nap for Tommy and.................

........Wilson agrees.

Me? ..........................................

I'm just happy to be here.