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No gardening today, as it's been pouring rain most of the day, followed by periods of drizzle. Construction crew poured concrete for the new foundation and sidewalk, and scrambled to get it covered it before it got washed out. The best laid plans are never good enough in FL! I have more eggplant to harvest but again, not today. Tomorrow I'm going to make a big batch of red sauce to can, and it would be perfect timing to make some eggplant parm.
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Did you survive all the foundation pouring, rain and construction crews ok?
5 days with no posting make me wonder.
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We did get the new JRH Enterprises site up and running, which was a major accomplishment! It ate up a big chunk of my time this past week but it looks like we're ready to go. This is always a lot of fun for me and I get to keep some skills polished up.Originally posted by prc-104 View Post
It's been a stressful week, as we watched the crew try (in vain) to get the wet concrete covered before the pouring rain made divots all over it, watched as the contractor's personal landfill (in our backyard) doubled in size, watched as the framers threw nails in the yard.....I was numb from all of it. The highlight of the week was when the contractor stopped by and got hit with a double barrel earful from my husband and me - no words were parsed. The guest bathroom is finally almost finished - finished enough so we can use it after 3 weeks. It's a 5x9 room - how long should it have taken? I estimate 3 days.
The concrete walkway and lower pad have to be recoated, and while they're at it they can pick up all the chunks of concrete they left all over the place. I picked up the big chunks while my husband was mowing for the first time in almost a month after we insisted that any of the 20 unnecessary utility flags in our yard be removed. I found a hacksaw blade, a shingle, and some big chunks of concrete that I had to pick up to prevent a catastrophe to the mower blades. Then it was 97o and I spent an hour raking up piles of mowed grass (I think we could have bailed it and made some $$) and containerizing it. Whatever energy I had earlier is gone😂
Framing for the new bathroom is done minus hurricane clips, and it's ready for roofing. I took a look inside and have one major concern, but we'll discuss that next week. Just for today, I'm enjoying the silence: no hammers, drills, saws - only the occasional lawnmower from some neighbor's yard.
Garden: Tomatoes are shot; grueling heat and afternoon downpours have stretched their poor skins beyond the max. Tomorrow I'll tear them all out and get ready to restart more next month. The beans are still growing but very angry that I haven't managed to get all the weeds pulled! I harvested 7 eggplants, a half-dozen Bell peppers, and another half-dozen jalapenos. There are lots more peppers growing, and lots more eggplant too. I need to tear out the summer squash plants and get those containers ready to start winter squash next month.
...And I did get 8 quarts of red sauce canned and put away. To be realistic, to have enough sauce for a year, I need about 30 more quarts canned since we use a quart every week.Comment
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Noww that there is flat out enough to fall into the catagory of FRUSTRATIING.
Likely more than that. ha!
Wondered how you were doing and now I know.
Here at 7700 feet, we're finally getting some rain and my pond actually has water in it (and lots of frogs)
Pond was dry for most of 7 years. Hope it broke the drought. I want my 500,000 gallons of water back in my pond.
Been cool here until the 2nd week of July and now we're getting 93 degree days. Nothing like you're getting for sure.
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Oh, I hope you get enough rain to fill that pond! We are getting rain almost every afternoon now (normal summer pattern), and our pool is too full. I need to go out and backwash the filter to get rid of some water!Originally posted by prc-104 View Post
Started cutting down the tomato plants, after I picked a few almost-ripe tomatoes that hadn't burst yet. Of course, I couldn't finish because it started raining. I don't mind rain but it's the thunder and lightning that send me inside😂 I have 4 or 5 more plants to cut back and then I'll pull the roots and get ready to plant something else. I stocked up on potting soil for the grow bags and have a few bags of soil waiting to get some seeds.
Plumbers came today; that was the end of the silence, and they just left. They also left the attic pull-down steps down and the light on🙄 Story of our lives😂Comment
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I got the tomato plants into a trash bag, along with the past-their-peak summer squash plants. I tried to get the sun shade untied, but the 101o temperature forced me back into the house. Tomorrow morning when it's cooler I'll go out and try again. I still have a couple tomato plants that are producing and I'll leave them for now. At least I'm finally able to get to all sides of the pepper container, and I'm watching them carefully. The sugar snaps are also spent due to the extreme heat. I'm going to try to replant them in September and see if I can get a second crop. There's no rain in the forecast until Sunday, so I'll be watering the garden after dinner for the next few days.Comment
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Remember the government produced radio ad from WW2?
You can do your part to win the war......START YOUR OWN VICTORY GARDEN.
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I wasn't alive in WWII, but I've heard the ad. Those of us who garden will be victorious!Originally posted by prc-104 View PostComment
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It was 100o at 11:15 am and now is 105o. The heat index is 115o🥵 There is no way I'm going to work in the garden today! I'll water after dinner and that's it.
I sliced and blanched 7 eggplants, and they're in the freezer waiting for me to vacuum pack them. There are more still growing but I won't be harvesting any more eggplant or peppers today. Tomorrow I'll go out and try to get the sun shade over the garden and spray some weeds that grew up through the landscape fabric (how could this be?), but right now it's too hot to breathe out there. I'll need to be up and out early to beat the heat.Comment
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FYI, I decided to brave the heat to get my sun shade over the garden. It's there....sort of draped over the top of garden stakes and trellises because I had to cut the super strong string/tape that connected the sun shade to the shade structure. It's all propped up for now, and in the morning I'll go out with some new super strong string/tape and connect the sun shade to the structure properly. I was out there for about 15 minutes and was roasting🥵 I finished trimming my husband's hair and headed for the big fan in my office!Comment
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Daily Rant: The renovations that are supposed to improve my husband's safety and quality of life are also creating a lot of damage. This morning I raked up a trash can full of dead grass that the plumbers left in the yard where they dug up for the new plumbing connection. In the process, I decided to grab a shovel and found one of our sprinkler heads they had BURIED under a 5" pile of dirt, chunks of concrete, pieces of heavy wiring, roots, and dead grass. Now I need to dig up along the irrigation line to find out where a probable break is. Too many trucks driving across our lawn.....I need to hire someone to just come and fix our irrigation system. Two of the three zones in the front yard are working, but the buried section isn't. Two of five zones in the backyard are working; the manifold with the valves is disconnected awaiting reconnection by the construction supervisor.
So much for working in the garden as it's already 96o. My sun shade temporary fix failed 😂 If we're lucky enough to get some cloud cover later (or if I cool off enough to brave the heat), I'll go out and restring the sun shade to structure connections. In the meantime, I mopped floors, doing some laundry, and am cooling off in front of the fan.Comment
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Half of the sun shade is tied off; heading out in a few to finish attaching the other half.
2:58 pm 105 degrees: The sun shade is all tied off. It's amazing how much cooler it is under the shade👍 I'm sure my plants will appreciate my efforts. Caught a break: husband wants KFC for dinner and I can get it delivered.Last edited by surviort_wwdnet; 07-22-2023, 03:02 PM.Comment
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Thank heaven for the occasional break
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It's been raining on and off, so no digging today - another break! I did get roped into the impossible task of getting a sprocket and the chain on Bruce's 7-speed bike, which failed again😂 With the sun beating down at times and the temps into the mid-90's, enough was enough and we both moved back inside the house.
The sun shade is doing its job and didn't fall down overnight. I'm loving the shade on the garden - moving the garden to the new location had to be done, but it's in full sun the whole day and everything suffered (including me trying to work out there!). The sun shade lowers the temp underneath about 10o and it's an appreciable difference.Comment
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I ran the trimmer around the edge of the garden and sprayed some weeds that grew up through the landscape fabric. It was 93o before 10 AM, and I still have more work to do in the garden. I'm just waiting for some clouds to come by😁 I'm going to pick the rest of the jalapenos, dump the dirt out of the grow bags into the trash can because tomorrow is yard waste day, and maybe dig up some more baby potatoes for tomorrow's dinner. I've got cream cheese on the counter softening to make bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers (I'll freeze the rest of the jalapenos whole). I'll freeze the rest of the tomatoes too - they didn't do well with all the heat and downpours. Next month I can start a new batch.Comment
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