Too Hot!

Yesterday was really hot, and humid to boot. There were thunderstorms in the mountains. Rick C did a little watering, but other than that, we didn't really do any work at the farm.



So rather than work, I took some pics of the plants. The apricots are getting ripe.



The apples set pretty heavily, and the fruits are getting big.



The chard has been suffering a bit from the heat, but it perks up when it gets watered.



I snuck a few dill plants in, down the middle of row 6.



The peppers are really getting big. The anaheims are particularly large and vigorous.



And the tomatillos are really growing quickly.



It was even hot enough that Rick C got in the tub for a second, but he made me promise not to post that pic.

Two Months

Yesterday was the two-month mark. And we've accomplished SO much. Remember what it looked like before?



Well look at it now!



Our tomato cluster is larger than ever.



Susy came to visit.



I did a little more work on the tub area to get it ready.



But best of all, I got to sit in cool water on the first 100-degree day.



There you go gang: Now you can't say there are no pics of me in here!

Melons Sprouted

The big news yesterday is that the melons have already sprouted! Here Rick C points proudly to the new sprouts.



We planted a lot of seeds in the watermelon hill, and most of them came up!



Look how big the tomatoes are. This isn't the cluster we've been following, but they are huge anyway. I'll put more cluster pics up tomorrow.



We got the last row mulched. We ran out of paper again, but I'll bring more and we can finish off the edges. For future reference, 6 bales of straw was about right.



We spend a little time weeding.



And I brought some flowers and herbs to put in pots around the tub. I put blocks in the bottom of the drain hole, and put the pots on top of those.



But mostly we did what we do best.



The moon was a tiny sliver as we finished for the day.

Tubness

Yesterday we planned a big work day. Unfortunately, Bill was stuck on a 12-hour CARD shift, but the rest of us got a ton of work done. I made tri-tip sandwiches on homemade rolls for our lunch.

We put up the second fenceline for the tomatillos, this time choosing to cut off the part with the tighter wires. We also finished making cages for the big tomatoes, although we need to make a few more for the determinates.



But the big news is that we got the tub area cleaned out and rehabilitated. This is what it looked like when we started. Actually, in this picture, Bill had already cleared enough brush that we could see the tub.



Not very inviting is it? After a ton of work, it looks like this now:



And here's a view of it from the beer garden side.

Tomatillo Fence

On Friday, we put up the tomatillo fencing. Rick and Rick lined up the stakes.



Then we cut and lifted in a piece of the deer fencing. This should provide sturdy supports for our tomatillos.




The crops are just jumping out of the ground. The squash is setting fruits.



The tomatoes are fruiting well also.



This is that same cluster we've been following.



And we had a lovely bouquet from the flowers that are blooming.



Today I'm hoping to attack the tub. We also need to get the second tomatillo fence up and make more tomato cages. I'm grilling tri-tip and making fresh rolls for tri-tip sandwiches to share.

Melons!

Tuesday was Art Day, and Wednesday we went to the fair, so I didn't get any farm work done, although folks came and watered both days. However, we all got ribbons and prizes at the fair! Susy got two best of show out of her five entries, and my entry also got one. Bill's art got ribbons too. Check the Art Day blog for fair pics.

Back at the farm, we got the melon area dug up, rototilled, and planted. We put in three major areas. The one closest to the stepping stones has a medly of watermelons: Yellow Doll yellow, New Orchid pink, and Tiger Baby orange. The next one has Solid gold cantelopes and Gallery Galia melons. And the third one, closest to the fence, has Earlidew honeydew melons. All these are from Renee's Garden Seeds. We plan to let the melons sprawl over the graveled area.



I also planted seeds for creeping thyme between the stepping stones on 5-16.

We have tomatillos forming! All the plants are showing the first fruits.



We scattered borage and marigolds seeds down the middle of row 6, because those plants are still pretty small.

And Catherine continues her crusade against the rose of sharon seedlings.

More Mulching

Right now, we're focused on getting the rest of the mulch down. It's a good thing RickC had access to so much straw, as we've used about four bales so far, and we aren't finished yet. We are close though. Here's how much is done:



Katinka blew through town on Sunday, on her way back to Ob's, then on to SF for the flight back to Australia.



The tomatoes are larger every day. That cluster we're watching is getting huge!



We've started to work on unearthing the old bathtub. It will make a fine swimmin' hole once we get it pulled out and drainable. This is sort of a "before" picture, although a lot of brush has already been cleared.



You can barely even see it in there! Here's another shot that shows the tub.



I'm planning to make this a wonderful little hideaway, surrounded by flowers and filled with cool clean water to rinse off in. It's gonna take a little work though! First, we have to get it propped up so it will drain.

Here's RickC looking like some aborigine.

Saturday

Yesterday was hot! We didn't even go to the farm until after 4. Rick C had done some mulching at midday, but the heat got to him.

Even when we did get there, it was too hot to do much besides water the lawn and drink beer... so that's what we did.

Still, we managed to get a few fun things done. Rick brought over the sink he had, and we set it up in the shade of the orange tree. It fit perfectly (well, after we trimmed a couple of branches) and the runoff can water the orange.



I went to the Farmers Market and bought spring onions and spring garlic, so I put those, olive oil, and salt on top of flatbread from bread machine dough. It was tasty.



I keep forgetting to post a pic of my gourd vase, so here it is, artfully posed in the tree.

Refrigerators Gone!

Yesterday I had the three old refrigerators picked up and recycled. The guy they sent looked like a refrigerator himself! He manhandled them out of the yard and into his truck. I was very glad to see them go.

This doesn't look like much, but it's the hole where they used to be.



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Weather Note:

It's getting hot! We had a pretty nice week, but this weekend it's moving into triple digit temps. It's still getting to be about 60 at night. Next weekend is the fair, so I expect we'll get at least a little rain. We almost always get the last rain before summer during fair week.

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Rick C got some straw, and we began to mulch the rows, setting down newspaper at first, then plenty of straw.



Rick C and I survey the results. We will get more straw and mulch more of the garden today.



We found more yardafacts:



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What's Blooming:

The star jasmine coming over the neighbor's fence is delightful. We also have day lilies and poppies blooming.



The climbing roses are already about done; although flowers remain, they are old and beat up. We should plan to do flowerbud necklaces between the first and 15th of May next year.

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Remember those tomatoes we're watching? They are growing more every day.



And I got a whiteboard and some post-its so we could leave notes for each other, or take a note home to remind us what to bring next time. And I couldn't resist making magnets for each of us.



The cherries are almost finished, but we agree that we've had our fill. I figure we ate 4-5 boxes at least, and boxes sell for almost $6.