Gardening in between showers

Here in "the sticks" as well as most of the US it doesn't seem to stop raining. The farmers here barely got the crops in because of how wet it was. In a weeks time our weather forecast is "isolated or scattered thunder showers" five out of seven days. I am lucky to get the lawn mowed.

So now I go out between showers to work on a flower bed, weed part of a corn row, or plant a shrub or perennial that I have purchased. At the local produce auction, which is mainly wholesale produce (which means large quantities), people occasionally bring a small shrub or tree. I have purchased several for between $3 and $6 each, which is about one fourth of what I would pay at a nursery. Of course the challenge then is to find the appropriate spot for each thing. When I am at the auction, I see something I like but do not have time there to think of where it will be planted.

A friend, who is a Master Gardener, was over on Wednesday. After lunch when we were walking around the yard, she noticed some plants just sitting the the pots they came in. She asked for gloves and we found spots for them, dug the holes and planted. This has encouraged me to keep going. She and other gardeners always say to just plant it and if you don't like where it is, it can be moved. I tend to think I need the perfect plan first. But I am changing my thinking and I have something to show for it.

Today I worked on the area out at the end of the drive way. Here is one before and two after pictures and about five hours of work. These beautiful rocks were here when we came. What a gift.

Biker Report

One week ago, G went on a three day street ride to West Virginia with about 10 other riders. They ride the curves in the mountains and spend the night at a hunting cabin one of the riders owns. This particular weekend was not as event free as others. On Friday, one of our friends went down. G was following him and saw him go over the edge and out of sight. It was fortunate that he saw him, or the riders would have just kept going as they were spread out some on the road. Friend missed hitting trees, and ended up in a cemetery. He had several cracked vertebra and was taken (in an ambulance, strapped to the board) to Morgantown where he had surgery to put a rod or pins in to hold it all in place. He returned home on Tuesday and is slowly mending.

Other events were two bikes that broke down. One could not be driven so the rider was G's passenger for the rest of the trip. G's alternator went out. Being the "McGuiver" that he is, he bought the largest car battery that he could find and hot wired it to the bike, charging it each night.

If this were G's blog, he may have a different take on all of this, but I am just reporting. He just said it was "quite an experience".

Strawberries

Here, in the sticks, we have a wholesale produce auction three evenings a week. I enjoy going there, but the problem is that they sell in rather large quantities. The fresh produce they sell is grown by the local Amish farmers. Now is strawberry season. I usually go to a pick it yourself place, but decided to just buy some at the auction. Well, the smallest quantity I could get was three flats (24 quarts). So I came home with that. In the last few days, I have made four pies (gave away three), froze some without sugar, some with, and made two batches of frozen jam. Freezing without sugar is new for me. I read several sites on line which said you can put them on a cookie sheet in one layer, freeze them, then package in a plastic bag. I think these will make terrific margaritas.

Besides the regular job of keeping the lawn mowed, I have been tilling for a perennial garden, weeding, and mulching. We also have a rather large area planted in sweet corn. It is four rows 150 feet long. The man who rents our other fields plants it for us each year. But we get to weed it. Tonight G tilled between the rows, but I still need to weed the rest. The weather has cooperated in that it has been comfortable working outdoors. But at the end of the day, I am quite tired.

Going to garage sales- can't help myself

If you have read SWRM's blog you know a bit about the garage sale culture in Ohio. In addition to individuals having garage sales, whole towns do it on the same weekend. A small town about 10 miles from here has a city wide garage sale every Friday and Saturday the weekend of Father's Day. The organization I volunteer with decided to join this year. A volunteer lives in the town and offered his garage and driveway. Being the person who owns trailers of various sizes and who always offers them, I was involved. On Thursday I loaded five tables on which to display the items as well as a dresser and many boxes.

But lest you are feeling sorry for me, after I helped set up on Thursday, I only volunteered to help on Saturday afternoon. Today, which was the first day of the sale, I walked around in the very hot sun and found bargains for me: Seven 7 nice water glasses for $1.50 to use for the wedding reception in MD, a carpet shampoo machine for $20 ( it was 1 year old), an eight foot table (also for upcoming events at our house), videos of Pride and Prejudice, and two children's books. You can ask me in a few months if I have watched the videos or shampooed my carpet. I do have good intentions.

All in all the 10 days were great. I spent time with family and friends. I would have liked to see more of G's family, but chose not to drive to Minneapolis or Wisconsin. Since we will be together in a month at the reunion, it seemed to be the best choice.









The pictures are from my brother's retirement party and are of my brothers and sisters and a nephew who attended.





































The picnic was at my brother's home. Hopefully I can get my landscaping to look that great some day.

Greetings from Minnesota

My vacation is going great. The first day I drove 500 miles, before stopping for the night near Madison, WI. The second leg was only 350 miles. It is a great time of the year to be seeing the countryside. I really notice the black soil in Minnesota. Ours is orangish clay. The leaves are now completely out so are a beautiful bright green.



While driving I listened to one book on tape, the one about the five people you meet in heaven. I did not think it was particularily inspiring or thought provoking. G lent me his XM, which gave lots of choices. But I do enjoy just driving in silence.



My brother's party was a great success. There were 50-75 guests which included all of my brothers and sisters so there was a lot of catching up to do. I also observed how my sister in law pulled it off, since I am having the two big events at my house this summer. There are no photos this time since I am posting from the public library.