I know I'm not the only one... what is UP with the rain? For once I am thankful that our soil here is sand, since it drains right away, but all the tidal waters here (it's ALL tidal here) are rising and I'm sure the people with waterfront property are probably not liking this at all.
The below photo was snagged off Facebook, but it was taken locally this afternoon...
The past 10 days that's what we've had, rain and overcast interrupted by beautiful sun for an hour or two here and there, very strange, it's been going on for so long.
Here's a photo from this morning in my yard, sun is shining, but it's raining!
I took the opportunity to get out and tie up my tomatoes, they are getting big with all this rain.
This is the main tomato garden this year, all the large ones were planted here in beds, boxes, and in ground. That pile in the middle was everything pruned off the tomatoes today.
Below is another shot after they were all tied up and the lower branches trimmed so they wouldn't touch the soil. These are Pink Brandywine, Hillbilly and Red Zebra.
In the center garden (the fenced in garden) I have one bed of Amish Paste that also needed trimming and tying. All the varieties now have little green tomatoes on them except the Yellow Pear in the big tomato garden, but they are blossoming finally.
Another rainstorm arrived just as I finished, so I spent the next few hours organizing my craft and sewing stuff and rearranging furniture LOL. I got all my thread organized with the labels facing the same direction... just sayin'.... :)
Kids got home from school and I had a Eureka! moment... I've finally found something healthy that they love - they immediately asked for pita chips and hummus as an afterschool snack. I am making big batches of hummus every week now, with hubby working nights he can always grab that and some pitas if there are no leftovers from dinner :)
Stopped raining for a bit so I headed back out and saw this... yikes - my potatoes are flowering already!
...went to go check on my peppers and found a blossom, but they are getting tall trying to search for sunlight in the shade of the peas... I might have taken my intensive planting a bit too far this time.
You can't see them, but they're in there!
I picked peas last NIGHT for goodness' sake! I was hoping for an "every other day" picking cycle, but apparently the peas have other ideas. I'm thankful they are so productive, but I'm getting pretty anxious for them to be done, so I can get the sun back on those peppers an plant something else there, too.
No time to pick tonight, thunder and lightning this time...
Sorry, lots of photos here today, but I plan to take the day off blogging tomorrow, it's supposed to rain and I promised Loch and Finn I would make them Hawaiian Shirts for, you guessed it - "Hawaiian Shirt Day" at school. I have until the evening of the 22nd to finish them, I'm pretty sure they will be horrible since sleeves scare the cr@p outta me.
One more thing, a Hops video for meems @ Gardening in the Boroughs of NYC, she had asked about how we grow our hops:
Well, as usual your garden looks magnificent. Whadda pea crop you're getting this year. Congrats on convincing the boys they love your super-good-for-them hummus! (I'd take some right along with them if I could.)
ReplyDeleteVery strange, weird weather you're having. Hope things stablilize soon.
P.S. Thanks for taking the time to send Matt some of your gardening expertise. I'm thrilled he's getting into it!
How about this weather??? I hope it clears up soon. I really need to take the greenhouse down, stake the early tomatoes and get some straw on the potatoes!!! Geez!! Anyway, I really hate it when the thread labels aren't in the same direction...just sayin.
ReplyDeleteHay, can you send me some of that hummus since "The Italian" is allergic to chic peas...please
Boy, your peas are doing great....I wish mine at home would start to flower. I think that the one variety is 4' tall already
Wow those look like some powerful rain storms. We actually had a sunny day today. A few more sunny days and our gardens will perk up. All that rain is full of nitrogen and it's great for the plants, better than watering them from the hose.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful garden pictures, and intense weather pictures. I put our tomatoes out the other day, but they are only a few inches tall and I'm hoping our rain and mud doesn't overwhelm them. We are nowhere near starting the garden. Dang it! Now I'm envious!
ReplyDeleteMama Pea, I'm glad I let Finn plant the peas this year - I cringed as I watched him space the seeds at about 1 inch apart, but the results couldn't be better! Sometimes we need a kid to show us how to think out of the box. Congrats on another family gardener - you know me, I'm always up for enabling :)
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Robin, ooooh- straw on the potatoes, glad you reminded me LOL! Finn was allergic to hummus when he was little but since the only symptom was a red ring like rash around his mouth about 5 mins later, I decided to try it again after a few years. He always says "I'm allergic to that" and won't try it, so the past month I have been using a lot of sun dried tomatoes in it to make it a deeper color and called it "Lebanese Muscle Dip" and he gladly tried it - no rash! I'm pretty excited about that.
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Sparkless, I am SO glad to not be dragging around 150 feet of hose, love the rain for that!
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Ruth, this year is shaping up to be a strange weather year - maybe we will all still be doing tomatoes in November at this rate?!
You are so far ahead of me. Your tomatoes look amazing. With all the rain and cooler weather we've been having, I am now regretting getting some peas in. Just so busy with the landscaping in the front yard, the veggie garden has been a bit neglected. The strawberries are screaming for some sun!
ReplyDeleteOK, I have to ask.....I have seen the snakes on the edge of bed in a couple of pics now......is
ReplyDeletethere a reason or just cuz??? And now I see you have added a lizard.....
Your garden is amazing, I can barely see that some of my seeds have sprouted.
Love that sitting area.....I've been wanting a few Adirondack chairs-just too cheap right now.
ReplyDeleteYour ornamental grasses are gorgeous. Woof!!
As for the weather........I'm afraid I've screwed us all. I got those water lines put in, thus guaranteeing too much rain this year. Sorry. But, I was sick of hauling water......
I CAN SEE HOW YOU MIGHT CRINGE FINN HELPING--HE DID A GOOD JOB. AS YOU SHOW US AROUND YOUR YARD I CAN'T HELP BUT NOTICE HOW WELL YOU UTILIZE EVEY SPACE. IT LOOKS VERY ORGANIZED TOO---GR-THOSE CLOUDS LOOK OMINOUS.
ReplyDeleteLorie, this has been the best year ever for peas here, I think the fact that it is only in the low 70's every day and damp and coolish at night is doing it, normally we are HOT already and it's a race to get any before the heat sets in!
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Vintage Green, LOL, the rubber snakes and lizards and bugs are there to scare away birds from diving down and getting my newly emerging seeds. It worked fantastic the first year, but the mockingbird that has lived in our yard for the past few years laughs at it all now, I think they are his friends. I move them around for more effect, but the kids think it's cool to have them :) One time I found one hanging on the fence - we have a lot of hawks here and I'm thinking they thought it was food and then changed their mind LOL
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Sue, those chairs were only $15 a piece at a local "fell off the truck" kind of home improvement store here. I put them together pretty easily, now I'm afraid if they got moved much they might fall apart, but for having them for 5 years I think we already got our money's worth! Hubby says (in all his spare time) he is going to try and add fasteners and tighten them all up this summer :)
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Judy, thank you! I call it organized chaos!
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If I saw that cloud above my house I think I would have passed out. We got so much rain yesterday there is water coming in places water never came in. This has to slow down!
ReplyDeleteI got so absorbed in that awesome video last night that I forgot to comment. The hops are super cool!!
ReplyDeleteThose were some massive clouds rumbling over you. When my Dad lived in Colorado it was like that. They'd roll off the mountains and then an hour later, sunshine. It doesn't appear to have hurt your gardening efforts though. So that is good. Sand or not, things are growing!!!
The weather is really weird here, too. The last couple of days it was only in the 50's during the day - way to cold for this time of year. Of course today we're supposed to be in the 80's, seems there is no in-between...
ReplyDeleteI love how you grow your hops! We have some growing up on our fence (with wire support) but yours looks so much nicer. I'll have to show it to the hubby and see if he can't build something like your support for ours next year.
I'm so jealous of all that you have growing! It looks great!
ReplyDeleteSleeves are pretty easy. I put them on before I sew the side seam of the shirt and before it sew the seem to make it a round sleeve, leave it open. You match the notches for the sleeves to the shirt and pin on. Sew the sleeve to the shirt, then sew the seam for the sleeve and the side seam at the same time in one long seam. Easier than trying to sew on a sleeve that has already had the seem sewn before attaching. My friend showed me this trick and I do it this way every time.
ReplyDeleteWow, my potatoes just made it in the dirt. Blooms seem like a lifetime away in my garden.
ReplyDeleteMy kids love hummus as well. If you are using dried peas to start I found cooking them in bulk, and then freezing them in bagged portions for hummus makes whipping a batch together much easier. Or one can just open a can, we do that sometimes too. :)
Jane, we had a rain free day today wouldn't you know, now that I scheduled indoor stuff LOL!
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APG, no worries!
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Anke, we originally built that to grow five leaf akebia up, to provide shade for our outdoor dining table, it sure has served it's purpose!
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the author, your stuff will be up and going in no time!
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Peggi, THANK YOU!!!! I'm starting the sleeves right now and will take your advice!
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Kelly, I do cook them from dried, nice to know that they freeze well, that will make a quick emergency batch possible!
I thought it was something like that, but still had to ask. :)
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