[gardeners] Sunday in the garden
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 03 Sep 2000 11:22:26 -0500
Woke up this morning to a nice cool breeze and temps in the high seventies.
Perfect opportunity to get some things done in the garden.
Went out and set the low sprinkler on the fruit trees and then proceeded to pick
about two quarts of chiles, both sweet and hot. A few pods of okra topped that
bucket off and then it was off to the herb garden, every bit of 10 feet away.
Harvested the majority of the basil, it's trying to go to seed in this heat so
cut it close and, maybe, just maybe, it will come back again when it gets cool.
Has done it before so I'll keep my fingers crossed. If it doesn't come back I
just happened upon a 5 cent seed packet sale at Wally World and bought a dollars
worth of mostly basil and lettuce seed. Anyway, got about a gallon of basil
leaves after I washed and stripped the stalks. The leaves are air drying
preparatory to going into the dehydrator. Also cut about a dozen rosemary limbs,
most of them 24 to 30 inches long. These were off the big, BIG, rosemary, three
feet tall and four feet in diameter. Those have been washed and are now air
drying also. I will wear my surgical gloves to strip the limbs as the sap gets
sorta sticky. The limbs will be cut into six inch pieces and bundled for later
use in the grill. Soak them in water for a couple of hours and toss a few in to
make a smoke that gives pork and chicken a delicious flavor. I also save the
fruit tree prunings for that use too.
Really need to get out there and pick the crowder peas but it has already gotten
hot so will do them this afternoon late.
I've laid out soaker hoses around the drip line of the big oaks in our yard and
have them dripping continuously since about noon yesterday. It may be my
imagination but the trees seem to be perking up somewhat. Will leave them
dripping for a few days or until we get rain, whichever comes first.
Miz Anne has gone off to 11:00 mass and Sleepy Dawg is sleeping the sleep of the
just watch dog under my desk. I think I'll go to Walmart and swap some
undersized hose connections for some 5/8 - 3/4 that I really need. I've been
whacking hoses up left and right around here for a couple of days. It's nice to
have hose connections that don't spray you in the face again. Might check out
that 5 cent seed bin again too, can't ever have too many seeds can you?
Life is good.
George