On Fri, 19 Jun 2015 15:53:15 -0400, Derald wrote:

Gratified to read that you're up and around and doing a little gardening
despite the hot weather. I inferred from some of your posts that you'd
been a bit infirm recently.

The Cook wrote:

is doing pretty well now. We have most of the weeds under control but
I need a couple more mornings to finish up. I can get in about 2
hours between 6 and 9 am. Then it is well on its way to 90.
The cukes are almost overridden by weeds
Hot here, too; and humid, whew! Most days, though, I can make it
'til elevenish before giving it up until much later in the day. No
weeds in my cukes. The cukes are trellised and a base planting of
yellow squash pretty well shades out weeds.

George, I wish we had some of your rain here. We watered peppers &
squash yesterday and the sprinkler is going on the tomatoes right now.
I must water almost daily, even the mulched beds, unless we have at
least an inch of rain within a day-or-so.

Zukes have both and male & female flowers but haven't seen any insects
yet. The cukes are flowering and waiting for the weeds to get pulled.
No zucchini here but the cukes are loaded with blossoms. The
yellow squash is holding its own against the heat and sunshine and
there's no sign net of mildew. Today, though, I did begin hand
pollinating the squash because at the present temps the insect
pollinators aren't up to it. They're too busy carrying water or hiding
in the shade.
The peppers have fruit, at least the pimento and jalapeño do. Tomatoes
are every where from no flowers yet to fruit that is almost up to
size, if as I assume, they are Early Girl. Waiting for the
blueberries to get fully ripe.
No peppers this year but it's not too late. No tomatoes or
blueberries, either, because no one here wants to fool with them. We
don't eat enough of either (well, _no_ blueberries) for them to be worth
the trouble most years. However, for the winter, I may have a few tomato
plants if the space is available.

We have them netted but birds still sometimes get in. It is fun to watch them trying to get out.
Netted? You must not have blue jays or cedar waxwings. They'll
destroy netting just because they can and, in retaliation (or so it
seems) will damage the fruit by pecking holes in every one. I make
cages over the tomatoes using "bittie" wire, or 2"x4" "no climb" wire
fencing

Guess I better get started on some of the things in the house.
...groan. .93 inches of rain yesterday revealed a roof leak in a
room filled with computer doings, high-end photo equipment, and hundreds
of vinyl records. Most of the records are/were pristine and the jackets
frequently are worth more, monetarily, than the vinyl they contain,
although, that valuation does not consider the intrinsic value of the
_music_ thereon. Oh, well, that's the way the story goes; at least it
didn't get my clothes and I'm a little cooler in there fooling with that
mess than I'd be if outside fooling with some other mess....


Thanks for asking. I had back surgery last fall after about 3 months
of flat on my back and living on pain meds. The surgery went well and
I have pretty much recovered. Still careful about lifting anything
too heavy but completely off of pain meds.

All of the weeds this year are a reminder to do some more prep in the
garden area. A few years ago I put a few layers of newspaper around
the base of the tomatoes and covered it with grass clippings. Did a
great job of keeping the weeds down.

We just got about 10 minutes of rain. Actually happy that it didn't
really pour because we watered peppers and squash on Wednesday and
tomatoes & watermelons yesterday. Now if it will dry enough for me to
get the rest of the weeds out. I can manage about 2 hours early in
the morning and after that it is too hot.

Time to get the pizza going.
--
USA
North Carolina Foothills
USDA Zone 7a