We got 2” of rain overnight - some thunder, but little wind, so another good soaker. After two days of dry, that worked out well for a change for the garden.
Things really aren’t looking that shabby out there, now that we’ve had a little ‘dry,’ other than for the tomatoes. :(
I’m really getting sick of cucumbers though, LOL!
We’re going to have the first BLT of the season for supper, tonight. I had to BUY a tomato at a farm stand we went to yesterday - which goes against everything I hold holy, LOL! I don’t think I’ve bought a tomato in 25 years!
Heat Warnings for the next few days with temps hitting 105 degrees at times. Ugh! You know, I LIVE HERE for a REASON! I don’t like HOT!
I think we’re making a ‘Menard’s Run’ before Beau heads back up to the cabin. I talked him into a gutter guard for the ONE strip of gutter we have that funnels rainwater into the rain barrel. It gets full of sticks and debris and those stupid whirly-gigs from the Maple tree. He’s stealing my truck to head back North because neither of his are fixed yet and the skid steer is still in Madison for repairs. I have my 2001 VW Golf to drive.
Fascinating video. It’s about garlic processing and history.
How The US’ Biggest Garlic Producer Survived The Fall Of American Garlic | Big Business
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9YfnLGoJL8
Happy Birthday!!
ZUCCHINI CAKES / Makes 30 cakes.
Makes a lot, so good you need a lot.
ING 4 lg. eggs 1 tsp lemon juice 1/4 c mayo 1/3 c Parm 1/2 c flour 1 sm fine-diced onion
4 c shredded zucchini S/p 1-3 tbsp. each butter and salad oil Sour cream and chives for topping
Method: beat eggs well, then beat in l/juice, mayo, Parm, flour, onion. Stir in zucchini well. S/p to taste. Heat tbl each butter/oil over med-high. Drop in heaping tbl zucchini; spread into 3" cakes. Cook golden 3-4 min total. Offer sour cream/chives and chives. Can add minced jalapenos for heat.
I'm eating my third good tomato right now which has been in the house for week. I can see why they were popular. Good fruity tomato taste.
The habaneros, even though there's only two on each of the two plants look good with nice size and shape. Most of my other attempts with hot peppers has had one small deformed pepper. Need a soil fix but evidently, a bunch of goat manure helped this year.
Tried taking soil samples to get it tested but I'm going to have to come up with a new method or wait for rain. When it dried out here, it dried out. Six inches down outside the tunnel was dry as a bone. I have a piece of pipe filled with 6 inches of soil but can't get it out.
I could make a custom pipe with a wide slot up one side where I can dig the soil out but I think it would fold up when pounding it in. I'll just wait for rain. By October still gives me time to amend for Spring.
Guess I spent about $75 on the garden/tunnel last month. That will be increasing over the next few months and I'll get the tunnel closed in by mid Oct with sides that open by motor. Gable vents will be last and might be early next Spring. Motorized doors somewhere in between once I figure that out. Might be just more roll ups.
Looking at my ebay history, I started buying gadgets for the tunnel in Sept 2023. Looking back at phone pics, I started planting pipe trusses in the ground in Nov 2023. Looking at email, it looks like I got some cross bracing and plastic installed by July 2024. Then I quit my job in Sept 2024. Zero regrets on that but it did postpone tunnel work for a year. I haven't added up the receipts yet but I'm sure I'll come in at half the price of a $8000.00 bootstrapfarmer or Rimol kit about the same size.
Hopefully I'll grow some nice veggies in there one day. Only need 1,000 lbs at $4/lb to break even LOL. No wonder tomatoes are the preferred tunnel veggie. Lot of weight for the size and you can get a good price for them.