Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Gotcha! More Watering and other Routine Chores - Tomatoes!

Weather continues the same...hot and dry! We have quit listening to the depressing weathermen. How they do love severe weather of any kind and can wax eloquent for way too long!

Good news this morning. Look what I found when I checked the live trap by the corn patch.



Maybe it has been him instead of a raccoon all along. DH reset the trap without new bait. So I don't expect to find anything in the trap this morning! A friend suggested a tin of salmon cat food as bait for raccoons. I have added that to my shopping list.

I did my last beetle trap emptying (maybe) yesterday morning. I got so that I dreaded that so much....the smell was horrific. I just took the second one down.
I stored the baits in a small jar and kept the rest of the trap apparatus too.

Now I will check all the plants each morning and see if they are landing on them instead of the baited traps. I had to do some spot spraying of okra and beans in the garden. Oh yes, they love the large okra leaves! A few were on the hibiscus too. This will be a test period to see how things go without the traps.

I set up the sprinkler to water the main tomato patch and saw four ripe tomatoes....well one almost ripe. I brought those to the house along with a few other harvest items.



After checking the squash daily, I still missed one that got past prime. See that warty one? Probably will become chicken feed.

The eggplant was supposed to be Slim Jim; obviously, it wasn't. That makes me so mad when that happens. The tomatoes are Heinz Classic, a canner and my favorite Granny Cantrell.

When I finished outside, I came in and had my favorite summer garden snack: sliced tomato with a dollop of Miracle Whip! It was delicious. The Heinz Classic must have a high acid content because it has some zing...very good flavor.



We had our very first summer veggies with lunch. I sliced onion, squash and bell pepper into the end of the electric skillet (I had hamburger steaks/patties cooking on one end). with some garlic flavored olive oil. Just before they were ready, I added the diced almost ripe Heinz tomato. We sprinkled grated parmesan cheese over the top at the table. Salad was a slicing cucumber tossed with some white dressing and salt and pepper. I must say we did enjoy it all.

I took a picture, but it really doesn't do it justice so I am not posting it.

Farming


Another tractor bit the dust; we are hoping it is just a wheel bearing costing a few hundred; not some other $4,000 thing that they mentioned. We may start looking at tractors.........not a good thing.

8 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness ~ Your fresh veggies and your lunch have my mouth watering and I've not even had my coffee yet. It just finished perking and I'm about to have that first sip. We're having a half a slice of banana bread with it. Breakfast will be later.

    Glad you caught that possum. I think they are so ugly.

    Hope all goes well in the tractor dept. If you have to buy a new one I hope you get a good deal.

    FlowerLady

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  2. I usually have a 'possum on the premises (at least I'm on it's nightly visitation tour). I've never seen it eat any vegs or vegetation, being such a carnivore. In fact, when I have deceased vermin (like chipmunks, mice, etc.) I leave them under a rhody and the next morning they are always gone. 'Coons, on the other hand, are will eat just about anything, especially corn, so I don't even bother to grow it anymore. It's just as easy for me to stop at a stand and get a couple ears now and then. Hope you get your 'coon!

    Ripe tomatoes?? I'm soooo jealous. My crooknecks are setting and a couple are up to 4" long now. And I, too, prefer MW to mayo. Lots more zing! :-D

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  3. This dry & hot weather is driving me nuts. Seems I can't even keep up watering the garden before the stuff starts wilting again.

    Glad you got your critter. Deal with him appropriately! (evil grin)

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  4. Oh, I love tomato sandwiches with real mayo and salt! YUM, YUM.

    Possums look spooky to me. I worked for awhile for a billboard company and we found a mama possum and some babies in the bottom of a trash can out where they paste the paper. I don't know if she came in to eat the paste or what.

    Glad you're getting some garden stuff. I get a tomato every now and then, things are not dead yet, but so close. That rain came and I saved up every little bit of water I could. Almost out now. No rain in sight.

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  5. Oh YUM! Your veggies look wonderful but that possum is ugly. I have a feeling that we have one getting into our garden and eating our corn too. It doesn't matter any more though as we pulled the corn out because of the beetles. This has been a really bad year for the garden what with the bugs and the high temperatures and NO RAIN. I'm glad you're getting something out of yours. Enjoy your tomatoes!
    Maura

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  6. The pictures of the vegetables make a beautiful still life. Possums can be such vicious creatures if cornered. It's definitely not liking being in that trap. I hope it was one lone possum instead of part of a family.

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  7. Well I sure stand corrected. While I've never seen any 'possum damage to my veg plants, the web is chock FULL of 'possums eating most anything. Live and learn... Hope your corn is safe now, Glenda.

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  8. Of all the things that freak me out, possums take the cake. I don't know what it is about them...ack!

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