After getting up at 4 am and spending time researching what was going on with the garden, Michael and I knew our previous plan of going out and watering in some inexpensive fertilizer with urea was a bad idea.
So instead we attacked another needed chore. Blackberry picking again. We got a little less this time. I think we might have another 10 or 20 gallons left on the canes for this year, so we are dwindling.
Just as we were finishing picking my mom and dad dropped by for a surprise visit, which is always nice. We did garden chatting for a little while then, as soon as they left, we rushed to get ready for the Civil War sewing meeting.
We were late, so I only got in an hour of sewing, but since I still don't have my ballgown ready, my friend, Lynn, is loaning me her extra gown. I can nip or tuck as needed and I'll be ready for the ball this weekend. This is the dress here, from our Spring Ball.
I need to spend time this week finishing up my corset. We are having a period dance and etiquette expert arrive for a workshop on Saturday, with a ball afterward. Homeschooling is awesome! :) Great history lessons here, as well as sewing.
Taking care of a necessary evil after sewing, we returned to our dental haunt, but this time for a cleaning for Michael. Upon -
UGH - IT'S RAINING NOW AGAIN LOL
-Upon returning home Michael showed his sparklies on our way down to get that giant pumpkin!
Here is red clover. It's pink in color. This is good for general immune system strengthening. If you ever see clover that blossoms red, it is Crimson clover.
Walking through the garden now. Here are our tomatoes. Many of them are split from so much rain, and you can see how the branches are dying, from what I believe is fusarium wilt.
These melons were hidden last week by a beautiful canopy of leaves, which was why we needed flags to find them.
Heading in for the kill.
The pumpkin is rotted. As we rolled it out, we were concerned it might split before we could measure it, but it came out OK.
It's 53 inches. But I noticed that the tape was not at the widest spot. It might have been 55 inches if it were.
Splitting melons are everywhere.
Rotted melons are everywhere. You can see how wet the ground is. That, combined with hot temps, was what did them in. I was doing more reading and found that melons do not need as much water as most people think. They are from arid regions and send down roots 6 feet deep. Something to think about...
There are a few plant that have not died completely. I am holding a little hope they could ripen fruits, but not counting on it, especially since the rain is falling steadily now, on already sopping ground.
The temps are cooler this week as well. Down in the lower 80's.
OK. Time to do some study in the book of Zechariah, do some housework, and then I think we'll freeze the berries.
Swimming in jam,
~Faith
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faith,
ReplyDeletei have been readin your last few post...catching up. i am sorry you have lost so many things because of the rain. we have had tons too but it hasn't affected our watermelons or cantaloupe. our corn was nearly gone witht the first rains of summer. we planted more but still more rain. my tomatoes look somewhat similar but some are still producing.
i really want to learn to can but can't seem to find the time. i am sure that is just an excuse but it is a bit overwhelming to me to think about learning about it in the middle of so much gardening.
also we tilled for pumpkins but i never planted them...it is probably too late isn't it>? did you do something special to get such a large pumpkin?
we have so many blackberries at the back of our property and have been picking randomly.
hope your august is great.
p.s.
ReplyDeleteoh loved the fact you took a class on herbs...i planted so many new ones to me this year but haven't learned enough to utilize them all. still they are beautiful. but that i something i really want to do...learn how to use them for health/wholeness.
Marmee,
ReplyDeleteWe had a really hard time with corn as well. Three plantings, and still we hardly got any.
It was a really funny year!
I am diving in, learning to can this year as well. I have done it in the past, but not very much. This year was to be an attempt to provide food for us all year long.
I am having a very difficult time getting it all in as well. Seems just when I need to spend time at one thing, something else goes kaput because I could not stay on top of it.
Needing to try and do it all at once, makes it a little more difficult. I hope next year we'll be more on top of things.
We bought giant pumpkin seeds at WalMart. Just Giant Pumpkin seeds. I didn't expect much. We made two different plantings. The one in the field did not survive. This one in the garden, we planted up on top of a 15 inch high pile of dirt with a moat around it to hold water. I sprinkled some fertilizer into the moat after they sprouted.
You and I are in the same place with herbs, it sounds like. :) They are out there, but I have not even approached doing anything with them, except for drying a harvest of basil this spring. Wish I had the time to work on it.
Seems I have about 10 full time jobs around here. LOL
~Faith
I am so sorry about your garden. Sigh! So very very sorry!
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
Faith,
ReplyDeleteOh my, you are having a time of it this year.What a shame...the stupid rain! I am so sick of it. The rain is why it took us from April to June to get the greenhouse up!
Speaking of corn. We didn't plant any but had a bunch come up out of the Guinnea food. There are 2 stalks left and one has an ear of corn on it. It looks quite funny in the middle of our backyard! :0)
Linda,
ReplyDeleteThank you. :)
Can you imagine, total crop failure when you have hundreds of acres? I've heard plenty of stories about those situations on here.
Farming - always a challenge!
~Faith
SBF,
ReplyDeleteFunny, it's usually either too much or too little, rarely just right. You'd think Murphy's Law was in full force when it comes to rainy seasons.
I'm so glad your greenhouse is up now! It's so lovely, and big. Now you can control the weather to an extent. I hope to be doing the same next year. :)
~Faith