Tuesday's Twists and Turns

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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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Vineyard - Before and After - Garden Death

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Getting slowly caught up on the mowing. Still more rain today though, so at a standstill again.

We got the crop area down to a level 3. We also pulled all the weeds and still need to have enough dry time to spray.

Before:









During (I was working too, but stopped to take photos.):













And After:













SINK HOLES

This hole is about 5 feet across. We let the weeds grow on the edges and down as far as they can to try to hold the earth. I have no idea how deep these holes go. There are several of them.





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I believe the garden is dying. Just as we were about to begin to harvest all our hard-won produce.

All over this area gardens are succumbing to Fusarium Wilt. That's a fungus that thrives in hot, damp summers. The garden was struggling for the last few weeks, but still going OK. However, last week we got 3.5 inches of rain and then went into the 90's during the day.

It was at that time that the whole thing just died. About 100 melons, all gone. They are rotting on the vines before even getting ripe. Same with most of the rest of the produce. We pretty much realized this about 2 or4 3 days ago, but didn't know what was going on.

It was a lot of work. We are fighting disappointment, but know that each year is another learning experience.

Here are some pictures that I took this morning...












Even our giant pumpkin is rotting. We need to go down there just as soon as the rain stops in a little bit, and pull it out to give it a measurement.

There is no cure. There are things we can do to lessen the chances of total crop loss in the future. None are guaranteed, but we will try to implement as many as we can.

*Raised beds - to lower moisture if heavy rains occur again.
*Drip irrigation - to support those raised beds.
*Rip out and burn all vegetation in garden - to cut down on fungal spores.
*Solarize soil with black tarp - 3 months in hot sun, reduces spores somewhat.
*Do not use fertilizers with urea - urea promotes fungal growth.
*Choose "wilt resistant" varieties - sadly most heirlooms are not.
*Use mulch - keeps soil slightly cooler.
*Use Trichoderma harzianum strain T-22 (AKA RootShield) - a beneficial fungus that binds to plant roots and protects them from aggressive fungi; a best hedge.

Signs of Fusarium wilt in your garden:

Are your plant's leaves wilting during the heat of the day, then recovering when cool? Are the leaves beginning to turn yellow? Do they look like they lack water, but you know you've been watering?

http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/fletcher/programs/tomato/diseases/fusarium_wilt_race_3_Polk_1.jpg


http://ipmnet.org/plant-disease/plant_images/TomatoFusariumWilt.jpg



You may be battling Fusarium Wilt. The fungi sets up housekeeping in the water channels of your plant, eventually blocking them so that the plant actually is not receiving the water the roots are attempting to send. The plant dies, a portion at a time, but it happens rather rapidly.

Cut open a branch and look for tell-tale signs of dark brown streaks going up the channels of your plant. You can sometimes see them on the outside of the branches. If you cut them open, you will see brown spots around the perimeter of the branch.

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/IPM/images/cucurbit/diseases/fusarium-wilt/confused_fusarium-droughtstress_zoom.jpg

http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4dmg/images/wilt2.jpg

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On a happier note, here are soon-to-be additions to our herb garden!

A catnip plant. I was afraid the cat would attack it, but she did not. I like the fragrance.





A salvia, three lavenders, a sorrel, a hyssop, and a feverfew.





As I was mowing yesterday, I began noticing several herbs I'd not paid attention to before, just growing wild. Red Clover, which is actually pink. Comfrey, seems to be everywhere. :)

~Faith

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Changing an Oil Filter

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A special thanks to Norm, who motivated me with encouragement and got my brain in gear.

Find a level place and make sure your engine is warm so the oil flows out well.





Remove dipstick, so there is free movement of the oil as it flows out of the bottom of the engine and you don't hold it up.





Get the right oil, according to manufacturers instructions.





We did not have enough SAE30, but SAE10w30 was OK for winter usage. We will just have to monitor it to make sure it does not burn off and run low before we expect it to. So we had 1.25 quarts of the 2 quarts needed for our particular engine.





We added in the other .75 quarts with the multi-grade oil.





Get your oil catcher ready. This is nice, you let the oil flow into the holes, cap it up, then haul it off to be recycled.





Here is the location of the drain on our engine.





Flip open the cap.





Insert a drain hose to run from the engine...





neatly down into the oil catch container.









Here is how you then open the drain.





Hard to see Michael do this part...





And you can see the old, dirty oil begin to flow down. It's very dark and filled with dirt particles.









We let it drain about 5 minutes.





Now reverse the process. Close the drain, remove the hose, and close the little cap.









Now it's time to change the oil filter. The new one is ready for replacing, up on top of the engine.





It should be just hand tight. Unscrew, counterclockwise.





It was a little tight for Michael, so we got out the oil filter wrench. These come in different sizes for various filters on many vehicles and equipment. Luckily, we had the correct one we needed.





Push it on and gently rotate the filter until it comes loose.





Now it's loose and Michael can just unscrew it easily.





Here is where we discovered the levelest spot we had was still not level enough. It would have been better to have the drain spout on the lower side. Some oil is going to remain in your filter no matter what, but additional oil had pooled up and flowed out as we removed the filter.





We also had a surprise.





A dead mouse. They are everywhere in our cars. The mice have thrived this year and we are finding them in all the vehicles, even the mini van, which drive daily.





Make sure you don't get dirt or debris in the oil filter or the filter opening. You want that to remain nice and clean.





Take the protective cap off.





Gently lubricate the gasket with a bit of oil on your finger.





Then screw the new filter on, clockwise, until it's nice and snug.





Michael felt more comfortable using the filter wrench again.





You are NOT DONE!

Don't drive off until you've refilled!!! We didn't use the funnel, as it had dirt in it. So we poured very carefully. Won't hurt much to get oil on the exterior of an engine, but it can smell if it burns off when your engine gets hot.
The new oil is light colored and clear.





Here is the indicator. I am guessing that since my husband left us the same year we bought this, that it never had the oil changed until today. Bad. I should have been more on the ball than this. So many things to think about.





I hope this little tutorial is helpful. Be sure to check your owners manual to get specifics for your mower. And these basic instructions work on a car as well, just a little variation.

A little known fact about me - I produced and starred in a car repair video way back in the 1980's. I used to be able to tell you every make, model and year of every vehicle on the road, and could tell you how to repair them. It's been a long while and I've forgotten much.

Cars were much easier to work on then.

~Faith

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Sharing a Little Romance..

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This is just beautiful.

What Man Can Do to Woman

~Faith

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