Working

Hello,

We had company and of course when seeing the house and yard with other eyes all sorts of weedy corners appear. The flower bed by the back door looked terrible so I spent a bit of time out there yesterday and today. I only work there in the early morning before the sun gets to it. It now looks good enough for company to come. The ground is about like cement in spite of all the rain we have had. So I needed to use a handle held cultivator and break the surface before I could get the roots some of which where over a foot long. As I recall, my dad called it knuckle grass since it would send out this long roots and then go off in a different direction thus making them particularly resistant to death and destruction.

Leroy worked yesterday to trim the apple tree and make it get more air to the fruit. I can tell the deer have been out there snacking. Because these apples were not the best I hope they stay there and not in the garden.

I think with the lettuce, onions, radishes that we have already harvested we have gotten our money investment returned. Today I had the first pepper. I plant sweet yellow banana peppers because they do much better in the mid-west climate. It was a nice addition to our lunch time salad. Soon the roma tomatoes will be ready and then we really move into the profit column. We could also be eating swill chard, but I have ignored it in favor of the lettuce that could bolt at any time in this hot spell. Our volunteer vines are growing daily and becoming less special as they are crowding the peppers and tomatoes. Leroy is into the idea of pruning them I am into fencing and diverting. So far neither has been done because of disagreement. Compromise is so hard to achieve when the directions are so divergent. It is so exciting to have a garden after not having one since 1999 which was when we started living a more bohemian live style. What a blessing to have this space already plowed and easy to deal with close to the back door.

Paula