Strawberries

Well, it's been ages since I added something to the blog. The end of the summer was a whirlwind of activity. I think the last time I wrote I was on pins and needles because my son was gone for three weeks to college. I survived, he thrived, his phone got lost, he's decided he wants to go to Duke for college. When it came time to pick him up, I decided to fly up and get him and fly back, all in the same day. This is not something that I would recommend. Durham, NC was no fun to drive in - I had to call home to get my husband to get me unlost with an online map. Oy!

Duke's West Campus is absolutely gorgeous. The dorms are all gothic looking - very charming. My son likened his experience to the 1st year at Hogwarts - it was that cool. This kid has some kind of wonderful life - let me tell you. Of course, I was not terribly thrilled to hear that Duke TIP is his true home. Say what? What am I, chopped liver? Sigh, he's a teenager now - I knew something like this would happen.

He's started high school and really seems to like it. He's made some awesome new friends and joined the robotics club. This is very cool because he is learning to work in the machine shop for the club. He is looking forward to learning how to weld. Walking in his grandfather's footsteps (my father is a welder by trade).

The summer garden ended on a whimper - the Ichiban eggplant are really all that's left. I love these by the way, and will be planting them from now on. The boy's habaneros are doing great and our three strawberries have yielded about 50 baby plants. I removed the babies and worked on the bed they were in - it will be a dedicated strawberry and herb bed now. The chickens helped me to cultivate this bed and fertilize it. I got the strawbabies planted today, 48 of them in a 1 foot grid pattern.

My loving husband tilled the main bed under today and as soon as that combines a bit more, I will be planting collards, romaine lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli. Of that list, I've only ever planted collards. I would love to plant some root veggies - maybe in the barrels? After the fiasco of the onions and carrots in the flooded backyard, I don't think I can put them in the ground. I would absolutely love to have some beets.

The chickens are happy and sweet as anything. We've really gotten a kick out of having them as pets. We usually get an egg from each of them every day. I must say, if you are thinking of getting some - do it! They are SO much fun.

Enough for now... I am totally tired.

My Apron Strings

Okay, first and foremost - my wonderful son has left today for 3 weeks at college. I think I am handling it okay - I've called only 2 times so far today and once it was to give him the fabulous news that we have EGG! It's not a ruse to call the boy while he is in transit to college - it is a true statement that we have our first egg. It is white - therefore I attribute it to Lilla the Leghorn. Way to go , Lilla - you are a week early as the girls are only 17 weeks old today. I like a proactive chicken! The egg is probably 2/3 the size of a normal egg and has a crack in it (see the photo to the left, the egg on the right is a store bought egg - hopefully my last). It will be disposed of after being weighed, cracked, photographed endlessly and blogged about eternally. EGG DAYS ARE HERE!

Back to the boy, I wish he were here to see it. 1 day too late for him to enjoy the bounty he's helped rear. Okay, I am having a hard time with him being gone. He's been home for 2 weeks and the baby was very, very ill for the last week of it. Absolutely no fun whatsoever. We did get out to see the new Transformers movie with his friend. Other than that - it has been boring for him. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he will not get what we've got while he is away. My boy, sick, out of state, where I can't take care of him. Oy! Please let him dodge the bullet!

And I still am not smoking. This is really my quit! I am HAPPY to be a non-smoker. Yeah! 36 days and counting. I want a chit like AA for my keychain!

I've been hiding under a rock

So, where have we been? Hiding out. Why? A variety of reasons - the best of which is... we quit smoking cold turkey on 06/05/2009 6:30 PM. DH and I differ by 1 hour on the exact time. Well, yes - we are now exsmokers. Excuse me, it feels more like EXSMOKERS. Yes, I believe all caps is called for. How did we do it? I have no idea. The last 10 days has passed in a sweaty, sleep deprived, sometimes cranky, sometimes lethargic, usually brain damaged blur. My only advice to people who want to quit would be - keep painkillers nearby. I found that ibuprofin worked best on my aches and pains - which were numerous. But, golly gee - its been 10 whole days and I am still alive and so is my DH and so are both kids and all the animals and all the neighbors, inlaws, random jerks in traffic. I don't even think I've damaged any bugs in the garden in the last 10 days.

I have, however, been a HUGE hermit. So that might count for something and explain the lack of damage we haven't caused. We haven't wanted to tell anyone we were doing this - what if we failed - but I think that we're over the hump and can proudly say that we are RECOVERING NICOTINE ADDICTS! I think I am prouder of this than I was of graduating from college. I WANT TO LIVE! So, anyhow - we'll see if I can get back into the swing of writing again now that my hands aren't shaking so badly. Also, I've got a lot of family stuff to catch up on. I did NOTHING for anyone's birthday - and I missed quite a few.

Garden update: I found 3 enormous zucchini (3 pounds each) hiding in the garden when I emerged from my dark little nest for a couple of minutes one day last week. I am not convinced they aren't aliens from outer space, because there are no other zucchini out there - just these 3 mysterious freaks. What's up with that? A raccoon has found me and my tomatoes and the battle is on to see who can eat more tomatoes - he's HUGE and he's kicking my butt. He pulled a Grauman's Chinese Theatre forecourt on me in the swampiest garden plot and left a PERFECT set of front and back paws for me to see. Heavens forbid I give the credit for the tomato banditry to any other varmit.

Ichiban eggplant - I love them. And love the little "hands" of eggplant that I am getting - they are SO prolific. I moved the cherry tomato planter to the patio to get them away from the raccoon OR to lure the raccoon up near the dog's territory (seriously, I am going to fire him if he doesn't get his canine butt in gear). Strawberries are sending out baby plants like crazy! We are ALL going to get strawbabies next year, not just Baby Girl. The cucumbers are finally showing me what they've got (delish!) and that's really about it. The rain killed everything else. The sprinklers have been off this whole time and the sump pump is still making regular appearances in the back yard. The yellow squash is just pathetic and is next on the chopping block - borers got the vines. The beans never got it right and also going to get pulled. I suppose I will try some okra - but I am not enthused. I don't go out there much right now due to the Jessner's - I've had a very bad flareup and had to start the 'roids again since I was starting to get the "I-wonder-if-I-should-give-her-the-battered-woman's-shelter-phone-number" look from people. When it gets bad enough that I look like someone's been slapping me with 2x4's - I hit the prednisone.

I am still a month away from getting eggs from the chickens.

Baby girl started school 3 days a week for 3 hours a day - yeah! And she's back in swimming class. She'd stopped floating - so back she went. She is SO stubborn - her teacher thinks she'll have to stay longer than just a week refresher.

Big Boy just got back from camping in the Keys - he had the time of his life and is getting ready for Virginia next. He's decided that he's definitely a High Adventure kind of scout and is going for something called the triple crown - which includes 2 more extreme trips along with the one he just finished at Sea Base.

And to battle the bulge of I-don't-smoke-anymore-so-I-think-I'll-eat-everything-in-sight along with the weight gain of I-occassionally-take-steriods-for-my-stupid-skin-problems, I have "started a diet" using a FREE site called Calorie Count. So far I've just gained weight, but I have hope. The interface is good and simple. I can cut and paste recipes from Recipezaar (which I use religiously) into the site for adding to my food log. One of the things that I like about it is that it asked about my wrist size when calculating my BMI. For those of us who are big-boned, it is NOT funny when the doc, etc. looks at our weight and height and says "You need to lose 40 lbs" - yeah, right - from where? Which leg are you planning on amputating? Okay, that was like, 20 pounds ago. My doc says I need to weigh 120 lbs (BWAH, hahahahahaha - I haven't weighed that since BEFORE puberty) and the site says my goal weight is 153. I think the 153 is far more reasonable. That was about the weight I was when I met my husband and he thought I was SKINNY - therefore, it must be my PERFECT weight. Anyhow, Calorie Count gives me all the benefits that I had with WeightWatchers online without the price tag - I do miss WeightWatchers menu suggestions - I love to cook but I hate trying to think of menus.

And for anyone who shops at Publix, you have to check this out... Hot Coupon World. They do a great job of matching up the sales ads with coupons. I have never managed to get efficient with my coupon clipping - but now, whoo hooo! I am cashing in at the grocery store. I keep my coupons in manila files UNCLIPPED with the dates on the tabs and just clip as I need to when I make my shopping list. I love Hot Coupon World's Publix forum.

I am going back to hide in my hole now. Well, maybe I'll go do 10 more minutes of that Denise Austin DVD (I hate her, no I don't, yes I do) - I just wanted to let everyone know that I still am alive. And maybe in better shape than I have been for almost 30 years. Did I mention that I am an EXSMOKER now?

Will it grow in a swamp?

Just a quickie update before the week gets rolling (hopefully not over the top of me). Yes, its still raining - not nonstop but the sump pump looks like it will be a fixture in my yard for a while yet. Galoshes are necessary in the garden unless you really want to soak your tootsies in the brackish mess. Okay, so what's the breakdown so far?

1. Carrots do not grow well in our swamp. I pulled 3 lbs of carrots yesterday - because a test pull found the larger carrots are rotting. They were so beautifully big! But now they are mush (and stink very badly). So, 3 lbs pulled, cleaned, and bagged in the fridge. Some are tee-ninecy - how big do they have to be before you can eat them? Husband and son were Tarzan-yellin'-chest-puffing-proud of the carrots they pulled. Good on 'em - mom got to clean 'em. 1 patch of carrots left in the highest driest bed - we'll see how they go.

2. The collards are gone. I managed to remove 1 row which yielded about 10 lbs of collards. The other row was dead, dead, dead a couple of days later. Note to self: since the only thing big enough to hold 10 lbs + collards is the tub upstairs, prep the bathroom BEFORE resorting to desperately blundering my way into this room laden with that many muddy collards, smearing muck along the walls and doors. Also, my tub does NOT have a mangler - or In-Sink-Erator food waste disposer. So, an initial wash in the back yard is a good idea. Maybe use the kiddie pool?

3. The hot peppers look like they need intensive care. They are drooping badly, rotting most likely. Hopefully, the Habaneros will make it. My son has 2 Habanero fruits and badly wants them to survive. The larger plants, cayenne (loaded with fruit) and Habanero are the healthiest looking. The thai peppers and jalapenoes - well, I am bracing myself for the worst. Bright spot - their neighbors, the Ichiban eggplant are okay. I know eggplant love water, so I was hoping for the best in this corner (harvested one yesterday). The plants are loaded with blooms.

4. The baby okra - gone. Will have to replant. Thank goodness they love the heat. Note to self: buy more seeds.

5. The tomatoes, with the curious exception of my lone Roma, look so sick. Fruit still there, no splitting yet. Yellow, drooping as though they'd not been watered in a couple of weeks (ironic, huh?). I have harvested 1 of the steak variety and another is ripening. But the plants - again bracing myself for the worst.

6. Zucchini seems to have given up the concept of fruit and the crookneck squash is aborting just about everything ( did pick 2 uuuuuuuuuuuuugly squash yesterday).

The corner bed (hot peppers and eggplant), in standing water still, stinks badly. Many little centipede-y looking critters in there - notably all over my collard roots as I pulled them. I am contemplated Sevin but am not sure whether I need these guys to help with the mush.

Ironically, as we were walking en family to Yiayia's house last night after dinner for cafe we ran into a resident of the neighborhood who gave us high praise for our garden. Kind of her, but it still had a touch of twisting the knife. And you know, of course, part of me wonders whether God decided to solve my problem of "I've planted my summer garden in all my available space, where will I start my winter garden" for me. Looks like most of my summer garden will be hitting the compost bins. Good news, right? I'll have plenty of room to start my winter crops.

My garden is half full? Of water, at least.

Good news from the garden

Lest anyone believe that I am stuck in a rut, complaining about garden issues... My yard has very little standing water in it right now. The reason why is my wonderful hubby. He brought home a sump pump Wednesday and stuck it in the low spot in our yard. After pumping continuously for 24+ hours, the yard looks like the after picture.

Before
After
I am hopeful that this will cut down on some of the rot that will ensue in the garden. I went out yesterday to pick collards and felt like I was in a rice patty in water up over my ankles. Notice that the chicken tractor is missing from the "after" photo. This is because the Ark had to be moved to higher ground. It is still quite squishy out there and yes, there is standing water. BUT, this is much better than Wednesday. It's good to know that my plants are not sitting in this in addition to the 30,000+ gallons that got pumped out to the street. We'd had similar flooding (not as bad) in the past due to a stalled hurricane off the coast and we had standing water for weeks. So, while it may not sound all rosy - to me, it's wonderful. Yay, sump pump!

In another vein, an update to the rodent problem is needed. 4 dead mice around my shed (plus the 1 found last week in yard). These helpful little vermin poisoned themselves. They actually broke into the poison in the shed on the shelf and gorged themselves. The burrow under the shed was likely flooded, so some may have drowned. The king of rats is still on the loose and may be a rat from Nimh. He's quite adept at avoiding the poison, traps and snares that are laid out. This worries me. He scampers about bold as brass, as though he is waiting for an audience. He's been in me squash. I have to put on me galoshes and slosh out there and see what scandalous behavior he's been indulging in. Lots of stuff falling over in the garden, so I'll be trekking over to the neighbor's bamboo this weekend to grab some stakes. Yes, I already called them and asked.

I pulled some carrots this morning - Danvers Half Long, just in case they all rot in the ground (And they are shading my bell peppers too much). These are my very first carrots ever! Yay! Next year, I believe I will tear down the bed in the far right corner (swamp land) and simply do the raised barrel thingy all over. The water got within 2 inches of the bottom of the potato barrels as they were on cinder blocks, but the potatoes did not have to put up with standing water. This is brilliant. And definitely not my idea. I got the idea from a south Florida garden where the soil was so poor and ridden with nematodes that the entire garden was in containers and up off the ground. I initially thought "how expensive" since the containers were filled with commercial potting soil - but I have seen the error of my ways. I am thinking of all manner of root veggies, carrots, onions, etc. Or would this be a good idea for the curcubits? My cantaloupe were floating last year and I didn't get a single one. If they were up in containers, couldn't I also make a platform for the vines out of plywood and blocks? After seeing enormous pumpkins grown on plywood, perhaps this would be a good way to avoid the rot and bugs that I faced last year.

Gawd, I am such a redneck. My backyard is going to be covered in plastic barrels on cinder blocks like abandoned vehicles and sheets of plywood sprinkled about. Oh, plus the stealth chickens. Am I going too far? Hi, my name is Carol and I am a garden junkie. It's been 1 day hour since my last inspection. Need a fix! See you later... where are those galoshes.

The rain rain rain came down down down

The rain (sorely needed) started Monday and has... not... stopped... since. My yard is a lake. The pool is close to overflowing (but never seems to make it since there is likely some sort of leak occurring at that water height). The water is a foot deep in many places. Sigh. And I am trapped in the house with a toddler. HELP!

The chickens are planning a mutiny. As though I have any control over the weather. They tried to rush the door this morning when I opened the chicken tractor to feed them. At least they are not in standing water yet and can get up out of the wet.

So far, my potatoes (which you can see behind the Pindo palm in the white barrel planters) are up on cinder blocks and so far, are keeping from being swamped. Everything else is SWAMPED. I managed to get out there for 15 minutes this morning when the rain slowed slightly and got a couple of tomato cages on a couple of eggplant.

Is rain a plague? What number plague am I up to? Or is it the frogs that come after the rain that will be the plague. Oh, its like the playboy mansion out there for frogs right now. You should hear them - sounds like the Amazon.

Remember the song from the Winnie the Pooh movie?

The rain rain rain came down down down
In rushing, rising riv'lets,
'Til the river crept out of it's bed
And crept right into Piglet's Carol's!
Poor Piglet Carol, she was frightened,
With quite a rightful fright.
And so, in desperation
A message she did write.
SHe placed it in a bottle blog
And it floated out of sight.

First Slugs and Now Rats!

Does anyone know where I can get seeds for this -> variety of tomatoes? I need tomatoes that can FIGHT BACK! Some tomato variety with TEETH! Something with a taste for RODENT! In a sequel to last summer's blockbuster "RATS! Is any tomato safe?", we've got "RATS II! Now it's war!"

They're back. Last summer I was thwarted in my efforts to harvest tomatoes - growing was not a problem - it was the harvesting that was well nigh impossible. The rats and mice munched, munched, munched on any tomato that was pinking up or even getting a decent size to them. After baiting our shed (but no sign of rodents there) and setting out spring traps under the tomatoes and the subsequent demise of 1 rat and 1 mouse, the problem seemed solved. We got a precious few tomatoes.

Well, it didn't last. I have been watching like a hawk and have seen that my fence is a rat highway. Note, that there is nothing planted along it. It is bare. That is good.

I have also seen that there is an offramp on the rat highway at my neighbors shed which is 1 foot off of my back fence and in close proximity to my garden. I have suspected since last year that they were nesting under the concrete pad of the shed, and this year (after we cut down the viburnum which blocked said shed from view) I have seen two distinct burrow openings in the ground around the shed. That is bad.

With the neighbors permission, we have dropped 3 rat baits back there and 2 have subsequently disappeared. That is good.

My tomatoes are still getting munched. This year they have developed a taste for my Roma tomatoes and are not waiting for anything. They have decimated around 10 so far from 1 plant in the past 4 days. Even quarter sized tomatoes are not safe. That is bad.

They have also helped themselves to my Yellow Crookneck squash. That is also bad.

This morning I went out with a bottle containing a solution of cayenne pepper, water and a little dishwashing soap (to help it stick to the tomatoes) and BASTED every single tomato I could find. That means the Steak tomatoes, the Cherry tomatoes and the much beloved but yet to be tasted Roma tomatoes. The squash and zucchini also got BASTED. I hope that helps. I'll be traveling to the ole hardware store soon to pick up a variety of rat baits.

I will also be sprinkling mas cayenne pepper in the bird feeder, or should I say, squirrel feeder. I am certain that the rodentia are feeding there as well. Well, maybe they are... those squirrels are the fattest, sassiest squirrels I have ever seen. Maybe the cayenne will work on them as well.

I also (sadly) cut back some of the cosmos which is threatening to take over the vegetable bed and which would provide lovely deep cover for the tomato bandits. The bees were very unhappy with me as I was removing those plants. Sigh. I do love my pollinators.

Good news is that Plague #1 - The Slugs has been curtailed. I will be retreating with Sluggo often but I do not think my collards are suffering nearly as badly as they did earlier. This is good since I have just planted Clemson Spineless Okra seeds between the rows. I don't need those slimy little creeps munching on those - I do love my bamya!

How many plagues were there in the bible? I think it was 10! So, I am only up to my own personal Plague #2 - Rats. Uh oh. Could be 8 more coming. Do you think it would help if I posted a sign that said "Down with Pharoah?"