The rain and subsequent sunshine we had over the past couple of days and nights made my garden grow by leaps and bounds. The tomato plants are easily several inches taller than they were on Sunday. When I checked them yesterday afternoon, four more new little tomatoes had popped out of those yellow flowers that are covering the plants.
I don't know their exact height and none of them are the same height but they come about thigh to hip high on me now. The cages are as tall as me so there's plenty of room for them to grow.
The German Queen had a big, fat, green worm on it that was just eating it alive. Tricky the way it exactly matches the color of the leaves so as to deceive the blind gardener...I pulled it off and smashed it with a rock and guess what? A bunch of dark green slime oozed out of it... ha ha ha I don't know why that surprised me but it did. When I checked the plant over after the green thing episode, I thought I was going to lose the plant entirely. Most of the leaves were in decline and what was left of the stems were turning yellow. Yesterday it showed bright green, new growth all over and it still has the 3 tomatoes on it - all safe and sound now that there are no bugs to consume it.
I've got my eagle eyes on the plants now dadgummit.
It's a good thing I got those cages on them when I did because I would have a heck of a time doing it today what with all the growing going on. I caught Jimbo eyeing the garden with a ravenous look in his eyes but he can no longer get to it - thanks to the guys putting up the fence for me! Whew! That was good timing. The plants are very healthy; the leaves are the color of the "Forest Green" crayon and the plants are just overflowing with the little yellow flowers that show promise of the fruits to come.
To update you on the two plants Jimbo felt the need to chew the tops of off, they are doing just fine. They are about a foot and a half shorter than the rest of the plants but to make up for it, they are considerably more bushy than the others. Maybe it's not a bad idea to top them all off when they're young like that. I actually never thought of it before but it does kind of make sense. We cut back all manner of plants every year so why not tomatoes? I'll ponder that a while and get back with you. lol - gotta have something to ponder you know...
The cucumber plant leaves were covered with dirt from the rain splashing on them so I brushed them off and propped up the two cucumbers on rocks, which, as you already know, are abundant in a Tennessee garden :) I love these plants with their spiky vines and curling tendrils always reaching out for new ground. The leaves are as big as my hand with my fingers spread out. They are dark green and very strong as they shade the delicate, little, orange flowers hiding beneath them. They smell like the earth and all day they reach for the sun. Even if no cucumbers ever grew on them, they would surely still be considered beautiful plants in my eyes. Yours too?
The squashes are sitting pretty on their hills! They stand so tall and proud you would think they were the kings and queens of the garden even though no squash has actually come of them yet... lol Their leaves are smaller and lighter in color than the cucumbers but the flowers are big and bright orange just like a regular flower in the garden. They drop the flowers every day which I collect and add to my lunch salad. The flowers don't have a huge squash flavor, rather more of a leafy flavor. It's so light that unless I eat it alone, I can't really tell it's even in the bite.But that doesn't make me stop eating them :) With so many flowers coming and going, surely the squashes themselves will come about in the next week or so. It's okay if they wait though - the promise of squash to come is like waiting for Christmas morning for me. The way I see it, we get so few gifts in life, the good ones are worth waiting for. Have I learned patience or what?
The dill appears to be suffering so I'm taking it from the planter and moving it into the ground. I don't know if that's what it needs or not but it definitely needs something. Dill being my favorite of all herbs, I have to take measures in order to save it. I'm going to need lots of it if I'm going to be making more pickles :) All the other herbs are producing enough to keep our meats and vegetables seasoned without having to use the dried, store bought, herbs stored in the cupboard.
When you think about it, who would have thought I could fill so much space just rambling about my garden? Better still, who would have thought that you would enjoy reading it? LOL y'all fascinate me with that.
I did find something healthy in the grocery store the other day. It's Quaker Instant Oatmeal but get this, it provides 40% of the daily value of fiber and it comes in Maple and Brown Sugar flavor. Sounding pretty good, isn't it? One packet has 10 grams of Dietary Fiber and 8 grams of Soluble Fiber. If you have done your homework on fiber and its importance in your diet, you know that this is incredibly high for one serving. I haven't found anything that compares - even in the whole grains arena. The total carbs are high but even carbs are good for you in the right form and in limited quantities. Indeed your body needs both to maintain a healthy heart. Just lookin out for ya!
On to the hummingbirds. I don't know if I have 1 or 10 but I do know that however many of them there are, they are quite adept at emptying the one little feeder in less than a day! lol They drink from the other two big feeders but this seems to be the favorite. Teri emailed me to say that if a feeder is in a tree, it will typically be females and the babies who drink from it. The feeders hanging from the porch will typically attract the males. Honestly, they fly too fast to tell... ha ha ha While I was filling the little feeder that hangs in the tree, one of the birds flew up and was just hovering there over the branch waiting for me to finish. I swear if it had been another 6 inches closer, it could have landed on my hand. I could teach them a lesson in patience, right? lol
I don't know if you remember or not but we moved the horses to the other end of the property so they could mow up there for a while. Well, when I got home the other night, they had decided they had enough of that. They were on the outside of the gate, grazing on the grass along the driveway like they had come up from the holler. I didn't want to venture any further and risk spooking them into taking off down the road so I just parked my car and called Wally. As we met just outside the gate, the horses moved off into the woods to the right of us. He had me go on up to the cabin and he called the horses out to him. They came out and took off for the cabin behind me. Oh my goodness what a sight that was to see. I know I say it every time but when those two take off running and swinging their manes and tails, it is just a beautiful sight to behold.
They made a beeline for Jimbo like they had forgotten he was there but he ignored them completely. He just kept on eating like he couldn't care less. Rebel made his way over to the air conditioner and wouldn't budge. He holds his ground against Smokey on this. I probably make it sound as if Smokey is more the boss of the two but in reality, it's Rebel. Smokey does act up at times but for the most part, he's a follower. Wherever Rebel goes, Smokey goes too eventually. When we ride them, Rebel always wants to be up front. It must be in his nature because you can count on it every time and Smokey really doesn't seem to mind at all. It's okay with me because Wally rides Rebel and he knows where he's going unlike me - I'm still learning my way around.
Well as I learn I'll keep you posted on the woods, the roads, the flowers and trees and whatever wildlife I happen to come upon. I hope it doesn't bore you to read about it because it doesn't bore me to write about it and it especially doesn't bore me to live it!
Come see for yourself :)
"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment