Wednesday, July 29, 2015

A Day No Paint Was Spilled

My title post is a flippant play on the great book by Robert Newton Peck, A Day No Pigs Would Die.  Although no paint was spilled today, not much of it was applied either.  

Well, okay, the garage people door got a much needed new facelift and two more window boxes are now sporting their matching green house paint, but that was about it.

Sometime in the very early morning hours of this day, a low front moved in with high winds (yes, again) and (thank you, Mother Nature) much cooler temps.  Although the air temperature all day was delightful, the winds made spraying on paint a no-go.  So, nope, the last of the house painting did not occur today.  Tomorrow.  Tomorrow we're hoping for a much less turbulent day, and we'll finish applying the new green paint to the last of the siding.  We hope.

Without a paint brush attached to my right hand for most of the day, I had a chance to get out into the garden.


Because the soft neck garlic was such an eyesore and actual embarrassment to behold, I pulled all of it.  Other than about 12 bulbs that actually look like something you might recognize as a bulb of garlic, these gumball sized orbs made up the bulk of the harvest.

The stiff neck side of the garlic bed looks much better, as it has from the word go this spring, so I'm still holding out hope that I'll get a better harvest from it.


My zucchini plant has finally started bearing.  I think the bed, with the zucchini in the middle, looks especially attractive right now with the blooming nasturtiums on either end.


This picture doesn't show up the pods of the shell peas very well (too much green-on-green), but the vines are more loaded than I can remember them being in years past.  I figure about two more days, and I'll do my first picking of them.  We do love our fresh frozen green peas, and I should be able to get a big bunch of them in the freezer this year.

Also made our first picking of raspberries today.  This may be the last year for this particular planting which we put in eighteen years ago.  One of the three fourteen foot long rows is particularly weak this year, and I know it would be wise to start a completely new patch in a spot in the field garden that gets more sunlight.

Off to bed now so I can get up early to start another day of fun tomorrow.

20 comments:

Dawn said...

I have years when the garlic hasnt come to much, this year has been a great harvest, your peas are looking great, I have jut started picking peas and just sown more :-)

Sue said...

Wow-love the nasturtiums in the bed--really adds a pop of color. And I bet that brings in the bees for pollination as well.

We were sitting sweltering in high heat/humidity for the FIFTH day in a row last night when that lovely wind came up out of nowhere. The humidity just vanished--it was HEAVENLY. I had just reached that breaking point on misery--it couldn't have come at a better time. Thank you for sending it our way. You did-didn't you?

Have a wonderful day with the paintbrush. I'm going to actually have a humid free day in the garden. Hooray!

Myrna said...

I am down to picking just a handful of raspberries a day. Ours are just about done for the season. We are further south and I have been picking for several weeks now. Glad you got a break in the heat.

Mama Pea said...

Dawn - I've never tried sowing fall peas because our frost usually comes just on time to zap them before they can mature! Glad to hear you got a really good garlic harvest this year!

Mama Pea said...

Sue - This year I noticed our honey bees really, really liked my (your!) purple poppies!

You're welcome for the nice wind I sent your way! Unfortunately, parts of it were apparently left here because it's still windy this morning. Rats! No spray painting today????

Mama Pea said...

Myrna - For me, picking raspberries is a slow, laborious task (but I do love them!) so I'm being a little less-than-excited to see them starting this year. There's so much else going on around here right now! But that's not a sensible attitude because we wait all year for our garden harvests. Maybe I'll just stop sleeping for a month or so!

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

That garden looks wonderful. I hope to be energized enough to start all over again next year with ours.

Lisa said...

Your garden is gorgeous!

Mama Pea said...

Kristina - You will be all ready and rarin' to go on your garden next year, I'm sure. And, let's face it, your trials and tribulations with it CAN'T be as bad again!

Mama Pea said...

Lisa - You're very kind to say so. I hope to get to spend the majority of the day (we have cool weather again so far today) today working in the garden.

DFW said...

I agree, that zucchini bed is really pretty. Garlic is something that is on my list to grow. The last time I tried, the squirrels kept digging it up.

Sandy Livesay said...

Mama Pea,

I think your garlic heads actually look pretty nice. I have to tell you this, the other day when I went to our local farmers market they wanted $1.00 per garlic head and their heads weren't even as big and nice as yours are.

Your peas are so full and nice, I wish I could grow them here in my location.

You planted your raspberry bushes over 18 years ago, and they're still producing, how wonderful :-)

Enjoy working in the garden and remember to give yourself a break every now and then.

Hugs,
Sandy

Unknown said...

It's all so green! Your nasturtiums look great! Mine are slow this year...

Mama Pea said...

DFW - The squirrels must have been concerned about protection from vampires! ;o)

Mama Pea said...

Sandy - My garlic shown in this post was as round as an onion . . . absolutely no indentations indicating the formation of cloves! Just never matured, I think.

I'm going to start picking the peas tomorrow. Yes, I'm sure your location is much too warm for the cool weather loving peas.

We've always taken care of our raspberries . . . pruned and fertilized them each year, and enjoyed their harvest.

I had a great day in the garden today although it did get very warm. Tonight I'm working on getting parsley ready for the dehydrator. My plants had grown very lush and full. I use a lot of dried parsley year 'round and I know I need more than I've dried already.

I think my break today started in late afternoon as I sat at the kitchen table working on the parsley! Now I'll go finish it and pop the trays in the dehydrator . . . after I do the dishes!

Mama Pea said...

Nancy - We owe all our green lushness to the many rains we had earlier this summer. Now we're on the dry side again. The garden really needs a good soaking.

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Bateman Homestead said...

Oh I am so jealous of the peas! Mine didn't produce at all because we got the heat too soon this year. But I'm going to try again in the fall.

http://batemanhomestead.weebly.com/

Mama Pea said...

Ms. Bateman(!) - Yep, heat will do that to peas. They definitely need the cool weather in which to grow. Probably why I can always get a good crop up here!

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