The munchies.

After a heavy shower the weather turned hot and steamy here in Oklahomegrownvegland.

Nevertheless, the Happy Gardener had a task to do.

After reading about all these horrible bugs over at my friends wonderful blog called http://www.theinformalgardener.blogspot.com/ I discovered these buggers................

....Bagworms. And my Conifers and absolutely riddled with them.

They have probably been attacking these trees for ages but I didn't see them. They disguise themselves so well they look like part of the tree. That bag contains a caterpillar with a huge appetite and they are eating the trees at an amazing rate.

I broke out the sprayer and gave them a good coating of BTK but it may be too late for this year.

I can but try.

Here's the second of my munching problems............

....another type of Bagworm methinks. They live inside a huge web which is spun around the tree leaves and then go to work. These too got a spraying with the BTK.

Munchers number three are the birds and they have decided to eat....................

...or should I say "ruin" almost every apple on the Fuji tree. This I'm not too worried about but I'm hoping they leave me at least a couple so I can sample my efforts.

On the way back from the Fuji I call in at the wild Garlic......

....which is now setting bulbits.

I'll be gathering some of these later and spreading them around the garden.

The untended part of the garden which I purposely let grow wild............

....is in full greenery...

as can be seen in .....

....these shots. I like to leave this bit in the hands of Mother Nature and see what happens.

I think she's doing a pretty good job up to now. I'll take more pics another time.

On the Tomato front, I pulled a few from the Determinate plant..............

....as can be seen here. But I've been a little disappointed with this to be honest. The fruit seems too big for the size of the plant causing limbs to break in places. Also, the leaf coverage is inadequate causing some of the fruit to get sun scald.

The Cherry Tomatoes are everywhere.................

In the plot and......

....the containers.

The basil bush..................

...is romping on, as is................................

.....the Dill tree.

The Yolo Bell Peppers.......................

....are appearing at last though the plants aren't a patch on last years.

Still, there's time yet.

The Garlic crop has been pulled and I got around 17 heads, all of a pretty good size.

It's now curing in the sun. Well, it was until the rain started then I moved it into the garage.

The curing could take a couple of weeks.

Alvin sleeps on the patio, unaware of tomorrows early morning visit to the vet.

Poor "Little Al" has had some medical problems these last few weeks, pulling his hair out, loss of appetite and generally looking a bit out of sorts. He's had shots for allergies, treatment for worms, ear mites, tics, fleas, lice. You name it, Al's had it stuck in or on him and he's not too happy about all the attention. Tomorrow he's going for some blood work but don't tell him, eh?

In the meantime..........

.....Wilson and......


....Tommy offer moral support, all be it subliminally.

Enough!
Everyone's eating but me?

Tonight's dinner is.............

Roast Peppered Pork..............

....Garden Fresh Red Potatoes with Rosemary.......

.....and a little Kohlrabi Coleslaw on the side.

Enjoy!

Getting things tidy again.

Rising at 7-15am to the sound of Alvin calling from the bedroom windowsill.
An early start is required today if I'm going to get any outdoor work done and, boy do I need to get things straightened out!
Temperatures are due to hit 96F(36C) today which on the heat scale is actually 103F(40C) when you perm in the humidity. Not pleasant working conditions for the Happy Gardener.
Thunderstorms and the hot humid weather have resulted in the grass getting in a terrible state so the mowing begins around the house....





Done! Before I can get the grass cut down to the creek I have to haul the fallen Persimmon tree out of the way...........

.....using the trusty Saturn as a work horse as I thought it may have been a little too much....
......... for Herbie to handle.
Now the way is clear to finish the job..........................



The Flowering Pear trees seem to have shot up this year.
Beside them are the new little Conifers.

All done, it's mid day and.............................

.....things are warming up as predicted.
I was going to go round with the Weedeater and straighten up the edges of the garden but..................

...shortly after starting it ran out of wire. I said a silent prayer of thanks.
At the front of the house we have added...............................

...a couple of new hanging baskets and.......

......purchased new patio chairs to replace the scruffy canvas ones and a matching table instead of the plastic tool box we've been using since we bought the place.
The cats got new canvas chairs too....................


Here's Wilson checking one out for comfyness.
In the front garden everything is lush and green.......





Around the back.................

...the veggies are baking but I'll wait until the sun is off them before giving them a drink.

I pull my third Kohlrabi.........

....but haven't decided what to do with it yet.

This is around the size that I find most flavoursome, bigger not necessarily meaning better in their case.
Work is over for the day, BBQing awaits my attention.

Prawn Kebabs, Basmati Rice, Salad, French bread and a glass of Chablis.

Another loss.

More bad news about the Persimmon Trees.
As I mentioned earlier I discovered that one seems to have been killed by a lightning strike. Well, during the inspection of the strickened tree I noticed this........................

....at the bottom of one of the two remaining trees. Some kind of rot, similar to that which has affected two of the Redbud trees in other parts of the garden. I don't know whether it's caused by termites, the fact that the land is particularly wet, lawnmower damage from past years allowing disease to penetrate or a combination of all three. All I know is , at that point I had a feeling that this tree too would soon be lost.

But, I didn't know just how soon that awful moment would come.


Last Wednesday evening around 5-30pm we had a particularly bad thunderstorm, preceded by about 10 minutes of "Straight Line Winds" blasting from the South. I stood in the doorway and watched as every tree in the area took a terrible thrashing from this frightening blast and sadly after around 5 minutes the Persimmon could no longer stand the force and fell.

It was heartbreaking to see all those years of growth swept down before my eyes. These trees with their majestic canopy were a delight for us to view from our dining table and gave shelter and a regular supply of food to the birds during the harsh winter months.

Perhaps the strain from the ice storm of December 2007 shown here................

......was a contributing factor. We will never know.

We ended the year 2008 with 3 of these delightful additions to the garden and now we are down to one.

Lets move on.......................................................

Plot 6 is slowly coming to life.

The Yolo Bell Pepper plants are quite away behind this year and have suffered a lot of leaf loss in the thunderstorms and high wind. But they seem to be finding their feet now. I mulched them in an effort to keep the soils temperature more even and to retain moisture in the coming hot months. From left to right at the front the Dill, Basil and Curly Parsley plants look great.

In Plot 1 my "Cup runneth over" with Egyptian Onions.................

....so I gathered a jug full of the bulbits and made some...............

Pickled Onions.

I also got a roasting from my wife for forgetting to turn on the extractor fan and stinking the whole house out with the strong aroma of boiled Rice Vinegar. Eeeeek!

But I must have been forgiven because she made us a super Potato Salad using some of the Red Potatoes from Plot 5, Onions from Plot 1 and fresh eggs from our neighbours hens.

What a colourful and tasty feast!!
Enough.