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It was another wet week here in Central Missouri. Got 1.8” on top of the 5.5” that came the week before.

Mrs. Augie was able to get part of the yard mowed in between showers. I’m going to try to get some done this afternoon.

Garden is still a muddy mess, but I’ve got to say the weather pattern we’ve been in is making my new rhubarb plants very happy. Same for the new asparagus plants. Peppers are looking good. Eggplants look like hell. Tomatoes are holding their own but could stand some sunshine, and badly need to be mulched and caged.

Cukes and squash are just getting started. I’ve got a bunch of basil that I need to transplant into the new raised bed. It might be dried out enough to get that done today.

Howard is getting more comfortable here every day. He still wants to take off and roam when I let him go off leash. I think that’s just a hound thing, and puppies are gonna do puppy things, so I can’t hold it against him, but I’m holding out hope that he’ll decide staying close is good. If you’ve got any advice for me on that topic I’d love to hear it.

He’s starting to get the hang of riding on Mrs. Augie’s golf cart. Booger showed him that the pond is good for more than getting a drink. Now he wants to go for a swim when we take our evening romp around the property.

“If you’ve got any advice for me on that topic I’d love to hear it.”

Other than building him a secure and dig-proof, jump-over proof enclosure, he’s gonna want to roam.

Once our puppies are old enough to be sold, they go into a kennel in the Kennel Shed, or have their own doggy condo in the barn yard with a long chain.

Oh, there is WHINING and CRYING and WAILING and HOWLING - but they eventually settle down and get with the program and integrate into the Pack.

Dogs in the Kennel Shed get to go out into the exercise yard daily. If you jump the fence or dig under it, you go into an outside doggy condo. Each dog is different. And usually the ones that are ‘escape artists’ ARE the ones that end up being our best hunters. They’re smarter than the others and can easily figure things out.

You probably want to invest in a tracking/training collar for Howard if you want him to run around freely. Beau always did that with our Beagle, ‘Chief.’

We are miles away from any traffic, but that doesn’t mean our dogs won’t cross a road or two if they make a run for it. Haven’t lost ANY that way so far. Thank goodness!

Augie; I think you have been getting a lot more rain than we have over here on the KS/MO border, although we still have had a wet and reasonably cool spring. Glad it benefits your Rhubarb and Asparagus! Wet is not always good for tomatoes, so hope you get those caged and mulched soon. Here I had to water this past week. Sounds like your new Dog is having fun splashing in the pond!

I skipped the pole beans this year. More productive and are around longer, but in consequence are more likely to suffer insect damage. The Support trellis I need to use in my garden is a pain to put up and take down. I have a 12' x 12' patch of 45 Day Contender bush Beans. I used double rows about 6 inches apart, 5 inch spacing within those rows. I offset the seeds between the double row. I put the double rows about 18 inches apart. Here is a picture of patch. I sprayed 1 X with a pyrethrin based spray to control Bean Beetles just before they began to flower. Have had 4 pickings for a total of about 15 pounds of beans, 12 of which have been frozen. I expect 2 or 3 more pickings before they stop producing. I am starting to see the bean beetles again. (They look a lot like lady bugs...)

The tomatoes are growing and I have a lot of small green tomatoes at this point. I will try to post a picture at a later time!