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>>>LOL, the things we dream up<<<

That’s what I love to do more than anything else...

Oh, remember that cart with the seat I posted the picture of - Well, Tractor Supply had those little wagons on sale - prices when I suggested it were about $129 - then $99, got one yesterday for $64.99 - had to try that dreamed up idea - has nice big inflated tires - rolls well over soft ground - plan to put bungee cord on handle and use my weight to steer. If it doesn’t work, it will be great for a resting seat (which I have to take advantage of frequently) Even for a ice water jug for the real hot days - Hmmm, maybe I should put an umbrella I have on it too for shade. or for hauling those baskets of tomatoes up to the house, or watermelons and cantaloupes too.

I have parked the rear tine tiller and gone back to my high wheel cultivator. First it uses only manpower to use, Secondly you don’t have that gas engine running and prompting me to overdo the working before taking a short break. and third, I can get closer and even between some plants much better with it. I planted my rows across the strips this year which gives me more opportunities to rest. When I planted them longways, I would often have to stop before completing one round. After all this rain, I will get plenty of exercise with both of them as the weeds will be really trying to get going.

Since I spent the ‘stimulus’ money on durable gardening goods and preparedness items, I also got a 1,500 watt power inverter, and have been using it on my jeep. I have tested it with running a chain saw, It will also run the half horse electric water pump, and I can use it to power the
pellet stove if the power is off. I can keep a pair of batteries charged for that, and only run the jeep an hour or so to recharge them when needed. It will also run my blender, Kitchen-Aide mixer and the electronics for the stove all at the same time. Northern Tool had this one on sale for $169 and most of the others are more than twice that. Seeing how well those solar yard spotlights are working, maybe putting up enough solar panels to recharge batteries for it would be doable. I kept 2 almost new big batteries that I had gotten for the 5 bottom plow Allis Chalmers diesel tractor I sold, so they should give me about 450 amp-hour with deep cycle batteries which would convert to 5,412 watts and it supposedly is 85% efficient, so would be able to run the water pump for about 4 hours on a charge or the pellet stove for 24 or more hours before having to charge them.

Oh, and Tractor Supply has now started carrying canning supplies - had 4 full pallets of jars right up front near the register - first time I have ever seen them carrying them. (prices were about a dollar above some of the other stores, but it looked like they had sold about half of them, and they were lining up two more pallets for display.

Seems people are getting the drift!

Well, everything is planted for now - except for the sweet potatoes - and the potatoes I couldn’t get, for the next three weeks, it will be cultivate - cultivate. Then the wheat should be ready to harvest, then the late corn, turnips, fall kale, late cabbage will all go in. By the time that is done, I should be up to my ears in canning and drying.

using the 2,500 sq. ft. ground cover is sure helping to ease the cultivating - I have enough to put down 3,000 more sq. ft. of it, and will probably do that for next year. I have been very pleased with it’s longevity. The original one has been down for 5 years - going on 6 and looks great still. Maybe a couple more years out of it. That figures out to about 2.41¢ per square foot per year. It is well worth it for the wear and tear it saves on my knees. But it also gets me an earlier start as the black cover heats the soil earlier and reduces the evaporation of ground water too. It seems to get hot enough in July and August to kill many of the diseases and insects as well as the weeds under it. I have peppers, broccoli, 3 kinds of tomatoes, cantaloupe and watermelon all planted on it this year.

Well, it looks like tomorrow my neighbor will start picking peas - I just heard his 4 viners (pickers) going down the road past the house to where he has a couple of fields of peas. They usually try to move them late at night when there isn’t as much traffic on the road, as they are huge monsters!