On 5/18/2014 7:55 AM, Terry Coombs wrote:
quits raining and warms up , maybe my garden would take off ! I guess I
shouldn't complain , we've started harvesting some lettuce and bok choy .
The tomatoes have recovered from the freeze that hit the night after I
planted them - well , the ones that survived . I had to replace 8 plants ,
but 4 of those would have survived if I'd left them alone . Patience might
be a virtue , but it ain't one of mine ... I replaced the dead/dying with
some Roma's at my wife's request , she wants to make ketchup or something .
That leaves 4 Rutgers and 7 Beefsteak , so we'll still have plenty for the
table and neighbors ... .
Everything else seems to be doing well , though slow because it's been
chilly and wet . Some of my corn is almost a foot tall , all my vine stuff
squashes and melons is sprouting , and for the first time I've got
strawberries to grow . We had a part-bag of taters , looked all wrinkled and
too ugly to eat so I planted them . Might be another first for me !

Your garden sounds nice, I no longer grow corn because I can't find a
source for my favorite, "Trucker's Favorite" an old time fodder corn
that is absolutely delicious in the milk stage.

Just harvested six yellow squash about six inches long. Yesterday we
harvested another big batch of fern leaf dill, my favorite for putting
in dill pickles. We washed towel dried and then dehydrated five trays of
the dill. I think we have enough for the coming pickling season.

No ripe tomatoes yet, we have five varieties. We are picking a few sweet
chiles (peppers) every once in awhile. We have Carmen, Giant Marconi,
Gypsy, Green Bell. We planted a few of a chile that I hybridized many
years ago but I think the seed was no longer viable. Rats! It was a
cross between a sweet chile and two hot chile's and I found it very tasty.

The Hopi lima beans are getting ready to bloom and are climbing the
trellis rapidly as are the cucumbers. Already have baby cukes about an
inch long. Will make a goodly batch of pickles of various varieties and
also fresh eating.

Beautiful day here in SE Texas, nice wind out of the south and the sun
is shining nicely too. I got a new gas-fired smoker yesterday and put it
together. I have it "cleaning", ie. getting rid of the oils, etc. from
manufacturing. Will heave an eight lb pork butt into it later on today
and let it smoke for about twelve hours overnight. I'm a light sleeper
so will get up to check it every so often. First time with a gas fired
smoker so the learning curve may be a little difficult at my age.

George