Bad Garden Blogger, Very Very Bad

So a couple of weeks ago I promised some of you who commented seeds. Then I got all excited and decided to make you a hand made present. Then I thought it would be nice if you had one more set of seeds that was not quite ready yet. Anyway, I finished the craft and organized all the seeds. They will all be in the mail tomorrow. Sorry for the delay my lovely garden blogger buddies. I hope the wait will be worth it.

To those of you who volunteered to be interviewed and help me learn to put together a newsletter; I am going to Mexico next week and will be blowing you off until I get back get back to you when I return.

You are all excellent.

Sorry I suck.

Three Sisters

If you want a child to eat squash, have them plant some. Here is Baby Monkey planting the three sisters bed tonight. He planted squash, beans, and corn. Do you see the problem in picture #2? I wonder how much corn actually got planted. Apparently seed corn is a snack for my youngest.

The three sisters planting style is beans, corn, and squash or pumpkins planted in hills together. I planted in this way for the first time last year. I usually have problems with squash bugs. Last year, I saw a couple, but they seemed confused and didn't cause any damage.

The garden is officially "in" now. I won't be planting anything else until the fall when I will replace any dead tomato plants.

We are growing cucumbers, peppers, herbs, black eyed peas, yard long beans, red noodle beans, mixed summer squash, twelve types of tomatoes, okra, and sweet potatoes.

What are you growing?

Yet Another Snake

I found the cardoon flower in my side yard this evening. I found the fake snake on my desk a few minutes later. It is going to be an interesting summer my friends. Somebody help me. Please help me.

Worn Out Vampires and Zucchini

Meetings all morning. Picked early this afternoon to begin working out. Work at the library until seven. I am worn out. The garden is watered and I am going to start a new book.

Anybody read the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris? Vampires are my favorite monsters.

Since this is such a lame post, I will leave you with a recipe.

Zucchini with Tomato Sauce and Onions

Saute 1 medium onion in a little butter. Slice two zucchini and add to the onion. Cover in tomato sauce add 2 tablespoons brown sugar and one tablespoon Worcestershire sauce. Cook over low heat until the zucchini are soft and the tomato sauce is thick.

Enjoy.

I can't wait to see what my site meter does with that title.

home safe -

I finished the novel home safe by Elizabeth Berg in approximately 24 hours. It was that good. I need to go think about it. More later.

Okay, I'm back. The reason this book was easy for me to read so quickly was the flow. The plot moved along very well and there just never seemed to be a good place to say, "Okay, I can put that down for a day or two." Second, my Mom could read it. Mom does not like to be scared and she wants a happy ending. I love to be scared and could care less about a happy ending. This is a happy compromise. There is sadness, grief, a little mystery and, if not a happy ending, a reasonable ending for the main character. Not at all like a romance novel, thankyouverymuch can't read those. I made several guesses as to were the plot would lead and got them all wrong, which is a good thing.

I suggest it. I will also seek out other books by this author to place on my reading list.

Where I Exploit My Blog

My easy breezy library lady job just got a little more complicated. Because I shared this blog with my coworkers, somebody thought I could handle publishing the news letter. Moral of story, be careful who you share your blog with. Right now the newsletter is a little blurb about our schedule and the kids events. They want it to be a little more. Ideas that were tossed around included interviewing patrons and volunteers. That's where you come in. I need to practice interviewing. So, if you are open to being examined under a microscope interviewed on this here blog, leave me a comment.

Some of you are getting direct emails, as I feel you owe me or I am just needy and you seem receptive.

Watering - It's That Time of Year Again

The temperatures are going over 80 everyday and the rains are long gone. It is that time of year again. I've got to water everyday. There is only about 1/2 a barrel of rainwater left. That needs to be saved for the fish and the pitcher plants. I have to use city water now, which I hate to use on plants. Necessary evil though. To use the least amount of water I have to pay for possible, I do the following.

1. Water deep.

2. Water in the late afternoon

3. Use watering pots

4. Mulch Mulch Mulch

Water deep is pretty self explanatory. An inch at least. Deep roots in cooler soil better for plants.

The "experts" will tell you to water in the morning to avoid fungal problems. Here in Texas during the summer that is pretty much retarded advice. The plants will dry out during the day stay dry all night and pretty much quit growing. Water in the late afternoon, just keep the water off of the foliage. Water the soil not the leaves. Using the watering pot helps with this.

Watering pots are 6" plant containers buried about two inches in the soil. You can see one in the picture of the yellow pear tomato. There is about 2 inches of compost in the bottom of the pot. Fill the pots with water, which then slowly seeps into the ground without running off. I also put liquid fertilizer in them once a week while foliar feeding. Works great.

Mulch, again, is self explanatory. I use half composted hay. Cheap and effective.

Do you have any watering tips?

No, OFB, dragging milk cartoons full of water all over the place is not a tip:)