aquak9's WunderBlog

Jericho Blue 6-18-11

Posted by: aquak9, 12:17 AM GMT on June 19, 2011

Hi everyone, hope ya'll are still alive from the heat. I don't think anyone across the southeast has escaped any of this springtime(?) foolishness.

The heat and dry weather has pretty much brought an end to the gardening. Simply not cost-effective to water, and have to water again in two days. Tango guards over what made it inside.

A few things are still handling the heat and dry weather fairly well. The cantaloupes are bearing nicely, I believe there might be maybe 8-10 lopes on the vines, total.

The FairyTale eggplant is producing well, too. Looking forward to sharing these.

Another problem facing what's left- mostly a few scraggly tomatoes- are these not-so-little buggers. EEEK and DOUBLE-EEEK!

But on to something that is sure to bring a smile to everyone's face- WOW! We went to a Blueberry game preserve, hahaha, really a local you-pick'm farm about 20 miles north of here. Got there around 8am, and plenty of people were already in the parking area. Older people, families, lots of talking and laughing. To listen to the younger children was such fun, as many had obviously never seen anything like this before. If they were old enough to walk and carry a little bucket, they were old enough to pick. And pick they did! we heard so much laughter and absolute squeals of delight form all the children, that made the day even better than the blueberries.

In the front, many of the bushes had been picked pretty good. Rain asked me, "Do you only want the bigger berries, or are the smaller ones ok, too?" I answered in a syrupy sweet voice, "Oh honey, you know size doesn't matter." Got a lotta folks laughing all around us, Rain and I laughed, too.

The owners gave everyone free reign of the place, you could pick anywhere. So Rain and I walked further in, bushes literally over our heads, laden.

I have NEVER seen so many blueberries in all my life! The bushes were loaded, bending over and begging. It was so beautiful, with some morning dew, the sparkle and bright colors as you looked in deeper to each bush.

Just look at this. They were juicy, so sweet, so easy to pick. (uploading this one to WU, hoping for an AC, but I doubt it)

So anyway, we ended up with seventeen pounds of blueberries. Rain picked three pounds, I picked the fourteen. I am obviously a berry-pickin' MONSTER. Even the folks at the farm were impressed.

So that's about it for this time. Enjoyed the last blog a lot, even if it was filled with smoke. The fires up in Georgia to the northwest of us near the state line, continue to burn. Winds are expected to bring more smoke to us this week, but hopefully nothing like we had last week. That was by far the worst I have ever experienced.

Thank you for all the comments; hope everyone has a safe, cool week.
Wherever you are, whatever you're growing, harvest with a smile and share with love.

BasementCat added to help drum up rain.

Updated: 12:19 AM GMT on June 19, 2011

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Jericho Station 6-7-11

Posted by: aquak9, 11:58 PM GMT on June 08, 2011

Hi Everyone. Thinking this might be the last new blog for a while, so have fun. Fill it with pics, stories, anything you want. Make me smile, ya'll always do.

The ERV has left. What a bunch of work, what a good feeling to see it leave! The last day was spent with Roger and Rain replacing the old running lights with new LEDS.

This is the view from the back door; everything looks good. We were pleased, and I hope the new owners will be pleased, too.

Back to the back yard! A ruckus of duckus continues to visit daily. Too bad they can't chase racoons.

Tomatoes are starting to fade away, although there's still plenty of chocolate cherries to ripen. These are some hybrids that I actually like- if I remember correctly, they are bright yellow and sweet as sugar.

These are those crazy romas. Very pulpy, almost no acid, just delicious.

Oregano- I have trimmed and trimmed it. And still, two weeks later, it's like I haven't trimmed it at all.

One of Rain's beautiful dahlias. Took a few to work, and they made everyone smile.

The giftaloupe is growing and vining everywhere, but not setting fruit very well. They set, get as big as a marble, then fall off. I think maybeI am watering too much. Going to lay off on the watering, and see if that helps.

There are only two cantaloupes- this is the first one, older. Cute as can be. \

This is the second one- it's a lot bigger than the first one, even though it's about two weeks younger than the first one.

CORN!!!

Aqua loves CORN!!

Tango loves CORN, too!!

But there's something that no one loves. Coon Carnage!! AUURGGH!! yes Wab, you were RIGHT, everyone was RIGHT, they are evil little demons in cute little masks. I bought a BIG jug of ammonia today. The battle is not over.

And finally, the last two lemon cucumbers. Next year, I am trying a different cucumber seed. Had only maybe one normal-looking green cucumber. All the lemon cucumbers were great, though, especially chopped up with tomatoes, oregano, basil, and oil and vinager.

For now, here across Florida, we all hope and wait for rain. An actual rain dance might be in the works very soon. No, there will be no pictures. But I'm willing to do just about anything to get some rain here. The pond is about two feet too low, with dirt and muck showing around the edges.

Wherever you are, whatever you're growing, harvest with a smile and share with love.

BasementCat added to help drum up rain.

Updated: 4:07 PM GMT on June 10, 2011

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About aquak9

Aqua is a good dog who loves to play in the rain, splash in puddles, and dig in the garden dirt. Jacksonville, Florida is home.

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