August 18, 2013 - Hell Froze Over Today

My neighbors cut down their 6-foot high weeds along the fence!  I hope they keep it that way now, but at least I don't have to worry about all the crabgrass and milkweed seeds dropping over into my garden.  They mowed their lawn, too.  It hadn't been mowed in over two weeks.  In fact, the entire family came  and worked on the yard over the weekend, the sister (local) and the parents (Idaho).  I don't think I mentioned before that the woman who bought the place a couple of years ago lost her job, moved back to Idaho, and her recently divorced son has been living there since before Christmas.  With all the work going on this weekend, I wouldn't be surprised to see a "for sale" sign going up soon.

On My Side of the Fence

The baby shower for my granddaughter was very nice.  The food was good, and I ate too much, so I skipped dinner last night.  One thing I couldn't stay away from was the big bowl of red and green seedless grapes, with a sauce made of sour cream, cream cheese and brown sugar.  Oh, my, it was good!  I think someone there may have eaten four or five helpings, but I'm not saying who it was  ;-)

I did get home in time to get out to the garden for a bit.  I harvested.....

I didn't mean to pick the butternut squash.  I was pulling the grass along the fence, and I lifted the squash up to get it out of my way, and the stem broke.  I'll let it sit outside for a few days to cure, then it should be good eating.  I spied the big zucchini from outside the garden.  I'd missed it when I looked for them earlier.  

Today I made the zucchini into two loaves of bread, froze the strawberries for smoothies, snapped, blanched and froze a gallon of green beans, and made a pot of cream of broccoli soup from the leeks and broccoli I'd picked earlier this week.  Oh, my, it is good!  

 Three containers of broccoli soup for the freezer.

Two loaves of zucchini bread (minus a goodly sized sample) for youngest son.  He likes his with raisins, no nuts.  I was out of raisins, so I hope he likes dates.

 I picked my biggest harvest basket full of sweet peppers.

Then I worked on what used to be the potted plant garden.  The Black Cherry tomato recently wilted and died.  I thought it might have been root bound, but the roots looked just fine.  The potting soil was just slightly damp, not waterlogged or dry, so I have no idea what killed it.  I decided to remove the rosemary from its pot and plant it at the corner.  It was getting root bound, so it should do much better now.  The basil and chives got tossed, as I have so much of both growing elsewhere.  I still have some more cleanup to do in this area.  I want to remove the strawberries from their planters and put them out in the garden, then try to kill out the oxalis that has taken over this entire bed.  I still have all the pots to wash and disinfect before they are stored for the winter.

Next I removed another dead/dying tomato from the main garden.  I think I'm down to about five plants that aren't showing any disease yet, with two more that need to be removed soon and another that is "iffy".  

I'm pooped out.  I think I'll make Mr. Granny take me out to dinner tonight.