Keeping On Gardening

     Well, I'm keeping on gardening here. I brought in a handful (about a pint or so) of blueberries last week. My root crops are coming up , all except my 'sang. My maters are putting out some small fruits and peppers are still in flower.

     Once again I seem to have waited too long to purchase some supplies as potting soil, garden soil, compost & manure and peat moss have all but been removed from the corral @ Wally World. I'm depending on grass clippings and such to make my 16 cubic yards of brown dirt better for gardening.
     I'll be getting my 6' x 6' of okra started soon as well as what I'm calling "my salsa garden". It'll be leftover tomato seeds, tomatillo and peppers (mild bells to habaneros).  Among my roots I have some green onions and garlic to add to my salsa.
     The herb garden is going swimmingly. I'm keeping an eye on the herb plants for sale @ work waiting for them to go on clearance sale so  I can fetch up a few more plants.

     On a different note, I fired up Black Beauty, my smoker the other day for some hog ribs. The license plate I used to patch the hole in her back worked just fine!

     I'll be back at work tonight to fetch home a few more filters full of coffee grounds to mix in with my dirt and keep adding to my raised bad gardens. Hey! I grabbed a few watermelon seeds from the produce prep area a few weeks ago, where they slice and chunk for pre-cut melons and such. I've now got a half dozen or of watermelon sprouts.

Gardens Updates

     Well, I got my 16 cubic yards of "brown dirt" delivered and I've been moving it from one great heap to the places needed most. One shovelful, one wheelbarrow full at a time.
     My ginseng patch is complete, just awaiting for green to appear there.  My salsify (oyster plant), beet, radish and carrot patch is complete and I'm seeing some sprouts breaching the surface there.  Watermelon plants are sprouting from free seeds I fetched out of the refuse bin in the produce department from their sliced and chunked melons. You know me, I love free seeds and such as that!
     The store had a load of succulent plants in pots that I saw as pricey but I did fetch home a few bits that had gotten broken off and stuck them into troughs of dirt. They'll either become free plants or free compost.
     I'll still need a few bags of compost/manure or at least better grade soil to mix in with my "brown dirt" to fill in my remaining raised bed gardens. As always, I mix in lawn trimmings and kitchen refuse in a tub to work into my beds.

     My domesticated grape vines budded and flowered amazingly well but seem to be promising little to no fruit. Oh, well. There's next year. My muscadine (wild grapes) are showing some promise, though. As for my apple trees, I have some ping pong to golf ball sized fruits on the trees. Two of the Anna variety and 4 of the Granny Smith which is our favorite.
      I brought in a handful of blueberries which were quite tasty, being all the better as I grew them myself.
     My maters and peppers in the container gardens are doing quite well and rain withstanding I hope to get my okra, greens and salsa patches finished directly.

     The catalpa worms on my trees are growing visibly daily. I really need to find a way to harvest and preserve the critters for feeding to my lizards if I don't get to go fishing with them.

     One last note. Bella, my killer dachshund, slew a field mouse adult somewhere in the house last night. That, I was happy about. However, her leaving the carcass on the sofa wasn't a thrilling discovery!

Y'all Miss Me?

       I admit it's been a while since I last sat down and blogged. My bad or just a lot has been going on that I figured nobody would give a damn about. Anyway. here's what's happened in no particular order other than that in which I remember it.....

     I got 16 cubic yards of "brown dirt" delivered the other day, $175.00 = $12.25 tax for a grand total of $187.25. I'm putting it where it needs to be one shovel full, one wheel barrow full at a time. God was with me on the delivery as He always is. The day after I got the dirt we had a rather ferocious rainstorm. Had I not gotten the dirt when I did, I am quite sure delivery would have been postponed for quite some time.

     I got my ginseng patch planted. It will be a few years (at least 3 - 5) before I can harvest a root if anything grows and it won't be the high dollar stuff you see on TV where folks are shooting each other over the stuff. This is merely farm raised American 'sang for my own use.

     Also I got my first root garden in the dirt. I'm trying to figure out the old school "planting by the signs" thing. All I can recall hearing is plant root crops in the waning and low moon. Plant above ground crops in the waxing or high moon.

     June 4 was my Dad's birthday. He would have turned 80 years of age.

     My smoker, "Black Beauty" has had a few overly active fires in her. A few weeks ago, I noticed she had a hole in her back side. Being the creative redneck that I am, I went to my shed. Now BB has a new patch on her back side. Should she ever come up missing all I need  do is call the Mississippi Department of Transportation. Her patch is my old license plate!

     God bless and I'll see y'all later.