Friday, July 15, 2011

Convicts, Crops and Coincidence?

The Chicken Convicts are on the loose daily now.  Every.Stinkin.Day.  At least they don't go far.  They run the fence and talk to each other instead.  I don't understand why they can't figure out how to get back in if they were smart enough to get out. 

Remember when I said all that rain we had last month would hit us on the opposite end of the spectrum?  Yup.  Dry as the bone out there.  We went from 15" one month to .11" this month and I am having to water. 

Last month:
This month:
I have spotted grasshoppers here and there but not too many other pesky critters.  And although the Japanese Beetles haven't been bad this year, they are terrorizing my raspberries.  If they keep it up, I am going to sick The Convicts on them.

After what seems like a very long 'forever' this year, we had our first whopping garden harvest:
A whole .25 oz.!  I think I should leave the peas to the professionals.  Planting on both sides of the trellis didn't even overcome a bad year here!  Bummer.  Debating if I should plant a Fall crop of peas or not.  I will say this, Lincoln did better than the Little Marvel for me.  Worth the learning curve.

We pulled all the garlic too.  It was a bit disappointing also, but I will take what I can get.  I was lucky to have found the marker stakes because for the life of me, I could not remember what varieties we planted.

This is the Little River Giant:
They are the closest to size one may be accustomed to.  So I will try these again next year based on best production in our ground.

This is the Inchdium:
Like the Chesnok Red and Ailsa Craig, they are very small.  I suppose in the end and all things considered how this season has gone, I am pleased enough.  We harvested several hundred bulbs.

The weather has given us a few beautiful days at least.  It got so hot that I managed a few sewing days even:
I have a few other projects to work on when this next heat wave hits as well.  Seeing as how the weeds are relatively under control at least.  Last year by this time, I picked blueberries on July 9th.  They aren't even ready yet.  Next thing you know, it will frost.  Errrrr

And how do you like this for a coincidence? 
Look familiar?  It's not the same one that crashed Greek Easter.  Yup.  The plant behind the last plant that blew had a fire yesterday.  This was a big'un.  No evacuations as it is a rendering plant.  Good thing the wind wasn't blowing in our direction.  Do you think they will send a gift certificate or free lard?

This is why people move to Minnie-soda. 

Did I get that right?  ;-}

14 comments:

  1. Your garden does look a lot better than a month ago but I will have to say it doesn't look as lush as it should by this time of summer by (normal) Illinois standards.

    Congrats on your garlic harvest! Even with the smallish bulbs, you should have enough garlic to last the year, no?

    I'm not making fun of you, but are those ALL the peas you got from your spring planting?

    You be one pretty smart gal to plan sewing time during those periods when it's too hot for (wo)man or beast outside. Cute (and useful) bag you made there.

    Pack it all in and move on up, Sweetie! We'd welcome you in Minnie-soda any ol' time!!

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  2. That bag is BEEEUUUTIFUL! It should rain more often, you talented, girl, you. I haven't worked up the nerve to dig up my garlic yet, but I'm gonna this weekend. It will be interesting. I find that all the notes I'm making on the garden this year are about what NOT to do next year, LOL. I thought the reason we should all move to Minnie-soda was cuz Mama Pea lives there! Wouldn't that be fun?

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  3. Susan and APG - Yes, yes, yes, you should all move here. We can't grow tomatoes or eggplant (I LOVES eggplant!) or peppers without help but if we all lived together we could put up one heckuva hoophouse for them. We CAN grow peas! And any root crop under the sun with no problem. You can survive on potatoes, ya know! And we could raise sheep and spin and knit and quilt and . . . and . . . and . . .

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  4. nice fire! what, no wiennie roast?

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  5. Oh, look out now---Mama Pea is planning again!!!

    The garlic harvest turned out well--remember---SIZE DOESN'T MATTER---hahahahahah!. Yea.
    ;)

    We're dry as old toast here too. Can anyone spare a drop (or 42,000,000) ??

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  6. MamaPea, :( yes that would be ALL the peas. There are a few blossoms on a handful, but that be it. Most the plants are yellowed at the bottom, so I think I may pull them all and hope for this Fall. What say you? Besides get the heck out of dodge that is!

    Hopefully the garlic gets us thru the year. If it shows any sign of spoil, I will dehydrate. Until that point, I may have to tough going to the spooky cellar and get over myself. ICK

    Susan, thanks ma'am. I believe we all should move to a kinder place and I bet MamaPea would have arms wide open!

    To you both, oh we would have such fun! We could just raise a nice little old country folk town and peddle and barter our wares between us. Then when the squirels attacked we wouldn't care :o)

    Pops, eeeeeeeeeew! Not on that fire!

    Sue, HA!!! You are so right you sly doggie!

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  7. Your garden is looking much better! What's up with this weather??? We haven't had rain in forever!

    Hey, I'm with Sue, your garlic harvest should get you through the year and remember about size and beauty!

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  8. Ya know, I always have such a hard time figuring how to plant a fall crop of peas. I mean, they need cool weather to germinate so you have to wait until after the worst heat of the summer, but then will they have time to mature before the first frost takes them out?? Seems to me like it's always kinda nip and tuck to see if you can win that one. (There we go again . . . gambling in the garden!)

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  9. We're fighting a dry spell here too. We've emptied our 600 gallons from our rain barrels twice this month, plus what we siphon from the kiddy pool and the additional city water tap. We're using a lot of water these days. I'm glad to see your garden growing!

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  10. Several hundred bulbs of garlic! I am absolutely envious. Of course I've never planted that much, but I need to because garlic is an important staple around here.

    I loved the "last month", "this month" photos of your garden. What a wonderful difference. Peas puzzle me too, and I was interested that Little Marvel didn't do well for you, ditto for my. I went back to Wando this spring and had a better harvest (about like yours :)

    We usually have a dry spell this time of year, but lately its been rain and mud, rain and mud. The weeds are loving it though and taking over!

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  11. Oooooh, ahhhhhh. That's what I said as reading. The garden is coming along nicely and the purse is oh so fabulous. And you know what they say about garlic, it is not the size that is important, it's how you use it :O.

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  12. I will forever be giggling over that pea trellis thing :)

    Our long stretch of rain is over here, too. I'll resume watering tomorrow morning, the plants are back to being stressed again, what a yo-yo!

    Love that bag, it's my favorite colors all together! I can't wait to drive my sewing machine again :)

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  13. Looks like you have amazing talent APG. I like the bag and while browsing on Jane's page, I saw the cute things you made her too.I have not been around in awhile but I figure, it would do me more good if I have the time to make sure you gals stay out of trouble.I am facing a tough battle ahead. in fact I'm still in denile. I will be losing my husband unless someone from above can come up with a miracle,my husband has pancreatic cancer,but to stop me from thinking about 24/7---I am coming back to keep me out of trouble,YOU ALL MAKE ME LAUGH WHICH RAISES MY ENDORPHINS

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  14. I like the bag! I've been crocheting here because its been too hot. My mom pointed out I was crocheting with wool and how that wasn't very smart. Oh well. :) I like the looks of the garlic too. Hoping to grow some when we ended up at a more permanent place...someday. :)

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