Gardening - Harvesting

Our company has come and gone! They left right after our BLT lunch. I am sorry to report the Arkansas tomatoes were not vine-ripened.....they drove through severe storms in the Jonesboro area and all the Farmer's Markets had packed up and gone home. They bought these at a local restaurant where they ate .

I guess I will be waiting for our local stands to have an honest-to-god, vine ripened tomato! Mine are going to be so late surely others will have them earlier.

Plans for today are:

Laying out mulch in the east end of the garden.
Straightening up the corn if need be.
Checking for JB's – spraying if necessary
Picking blackberries
Cutting more weeds from patch
Try experimental planting of sunflowers – I am very late with these.
Plant rose cuttings of Aloha rose????Where I am out of shade. I may do them under the lights instead.

I cooked a huge pot of pinto beans yesterday. I had a package of ham chunks to toss in. After sending a quart home with the kids, we still have lots left. I won't have to worry about lunch today:

Beans
Coleslaw (cabbages are ready)
leftover apple pie (forgot to send it with them)
leftover deviled eggs (they forgot to take home eggs and I forgot to remind them)

Well, I am in for the day, lunch and cleanup is finished. I processed and froze 3 very full quart bags of blackberries. I am delighted that I beat the JB's to them! I did see the first few on the berry patch early this morning............so after checking the label, I sprayed with Sevin. I will have to wait 7 days but that
is doable (I hope).

That is one thing off the
list. Let's see did I do the rest?

Laid out the mulch on the east end. Check
Didn't need to raise up the corn. Check
I sprayed the fruit trees in the Kitchen Garden, the berry patch, the roses and hibiscus for JB's. Check
Harvested blackberries (see above). Check
Didn't do the last three!

That is a pretty good average for me.

I added one, I harvested the row of garlic. I am sure glad I did. Between the rain and my heavy watering (they are on the east end next to the corn patch). They were beginning to either start regrowth or the hard stalks were beginning to rot at the bulb. There are some iffy one I will chop and freeze.
It was a very good harvest and I am pleased with it. I am new to growing garlic and now see they should receive no water two weeks before pulling/digging. But the were next to the corn and the leaves on it were beginning to curl slightly. I will plan better next year. Also they bruise easily and I sort of tossed mine into the garden cart over the fence. I will be watching them closely.

I pulled a few onions where the tops were shrinking at the bulb.

I laid all out in the open shed for curing.

Other added chore was edging and weeding the foundation and front porch beds. Then I mowed that path between the new shrub/tree/daylily border and the foundation bed. This included cutting the end off the garden hose with the mower! Not planned, but an easy fix. I take this in stride....I have done it before.



Joan Senior daylily in in bloom and seems larger to me this year. She needs to be moved away from the Aloha rose (yet another To Do thing).

I see I captured one of my gardening companions, the Japanese Beetle, on the rose leaf! Hard to miss them these days.