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| Zinnias, the flowers of summer |
Hello Everyone!
This is the month we call "Bright Time" (the solstice falls in this month - get it?). It's been a dry month. As of this writing, we've only had measurable rain on two days: 6/1 with 1 1/4" and 6/24 with 7/8". In spite of the dryness, the garden is progressing quite well. The plastic mulch must be helping to keep the soil from drying out.
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| North end of the garden |
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| South end of the garden |
We've eaten a lot of lettuce, and have just harvested our first cabbage. Half we'll eat fresh, half will go into the freezer. It's good to finally get a little variety.
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| First picking |
The strawberries have been tasty this year. We've had a few less because our old bed is slowing down, but they've been good. I plan to plant a dozen or so more runners in our newer bed this summer.
We started some of our corn plants in pots and transplanted them to the garden using our "new" method. We took some photos because we thought that some of you might be interested. It worked quite well.
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| Holes made with a bulb planter (on right in photo). |
Holes are made in the plastic using a bulb planter. The plants are then set into these holes.
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| Adding fertilizer |
Fertilizer mix is placed into the empty holes that you see between the plants.
All of these plants are now knee high or higher.
We're also feeding twice a week with a product called Neptune's Harvest : a combination of fish emulsion and seaweed extract. The plants are responding very well to this. Bob got a nice 2 gallon sprayer to apply this, but when full it's a bit too heavy for my arm and shoulder. We went to the Finger Lakes ReUse It and bought a golf cart for $2.50. Bob made a few modifications and it works very well to carry the sprayer. It sure saves wear and tear on my arm and shoulder!
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| DIY Sprayer cart |
As is our practice, we celebrated the solstice this month.
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| Midsummer meadow |
It was a lovely day, so we went for a walk with Lunette in our meadow.
After a nice lunch, Lunette rested while we went for a walk at Watkins Glen State Park.
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| One of the cascades at Watkins Glen |
We had a nice supper and ended the day by toasting the season with a black currant "fizzie". A nice relaxing day!
Bob had the county inspector in and he approved the drainage rough - in for the downstairs bathroom. Now Bob can begin to repair holes in the walls, as time allows. We won't be finishing the bathroom this year, due to financial constraints. Just after we bought the cook stove and the car, we found out that Bob needs extensive (read: expensive) dental work. Isn't that the way it goes! The money for the bathroom fixtures is going for his dental work. We're "putting our money where his mouth is", so to speak. Our investments will have to build up again for a while before we can finish that project. In the meantime, there's still plenty to be done.
Well, that's about all the news for now. We hope you're enjoying your summer. We'll check back in at the end of Fire Fly Time.
Take care, all,
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette
