I can't complain about the weather as it's been pretty good for me. Most people in Michigan have been getting steady rain this summer but somehow it's been missing me for the most part. It would be pouring down rain less than a quarter mile from my house and yet I'd barely even get a sprinkle. That is until the last few weeks and I'm thankful for these recent rains. Tomatoes and zucchini were coming in nicely. The tomatoes were mostly early determinates so they are pretty much done producing and would have done better if I could keep them fertilized properly. I planted them all in new garden beds that I made this year and I should have known better than to do that. Zucchini has powdery mildew and I'm ripping them out today. Green bush beans (Jade) didn't peform as expected but the wax beans (Pencil Pod) did well. Beets did well, peppers are producing, cabbage is heading up, lettuce was great earlier this year, shallots were okay, and garlic was hit or miss. Definitely the year of the wasp. Found two large nests recently. They've taken up residency in the mole tunnels (I've got moles, mice, and shrews but no voles that I'm aware of). I was stung a week and a half ago for the first time in around 17 or 18 years. It got me on the pinky finger and both my finger and a small part of my hand swelled up for three days. That was bothersome. Slugs are an issue in the garden I started this year at my grandma's. Never had a problem with them in my home gardens before so I was completely unprepared for them over there. I only get over there about once a week and it seems like whenever I do, it is forecast to rain so I'm hesitant to put slug bait out if it's just going to get washed away. I dehydrate excess sweet peppers and grind them into a powder. They are too sweet on their own but if you mix them with hot peppers you get a nice sweet and spicy powder that goes good on meat (especially pork), in beans, and in chili. Rodney This post was edited by theforgottenone1013 on Tue, Aug 19, 14 at 10:50

olpea: I really don't have that much experience with peaches. I've only got fruit on one peach variety this year. I think peaches are a different beast than nectarine. They probably don't lose as much water through the skin. That shouldn't completely mask the water effects but might mute it. Nectarine are always sweeter on the tip than around the stem. Are peaches that way? Water loss through the skin might concentrate the sugars near the tip of the fruit. I think this may be involved on nectarines. Also fruit that is overly water stressed can be very high in brix but not taste sweet. I've seen this for certain on sweet cherries, 35+ brix and not even sweet. Not sure this would occur with peaches. You don't want so much stress that photosynthesis shuts down completely. I think this happened on a few of my second leaf trees this year. They still weren't up to competing with older trees for limited water, not rooted deeply enough. A $40-50 refractometer would educate over time.

I've picked 2 BK (ripened inside) and 2CP, 2 Grandma Mary's (but 1 seems to be softening without really ripening), multiple Latah (but the plants aren't setting any more), and a 16 oz cup of cherries (off 10-11 plants - I forget now if I snuck an extra SS100 in). A few Chadwick's cherries that are too large for cherries (crossed, saved seed) but all have concentric cracking. Have Rutgers, BW, Rose de Berne on the vines (Rose de Berne looks esp. healthy and prolific), but haven't picked any and Grandma is loaded but not turning. Oh, picked a few Cosmonaut too just starting to blush, would have left them a little longer but I watered since we hadn't had any rain since those 5 inches 10 days ago, and I didn't want them to crack. Still nothing off the Burpee plants but those and the volunteer cherry are the healthiest looking though they get less sun. Rose and SS100 don't look bad, neither do the leftover BW, Rutgers, CP I put in the row with my beans, but the CV, some of the Grandmas, and everything in 1 long row (2nd year growing tomatoes there, maybe I should have rotated) looks pretty bad. I thought I saw stem lesions on 1 Monday, didn't get out there yesterday to pull it (back to school shopping) but will have to do more cleanup today - may pull the entire row (app 50 plants). I'm afraid it may be late blight since it's been reported in the state. I thought the bush beans were about over (and hadn't been very productive) but they were full on Monday, the pole beans are coming in too, so after watering (by hand) I spent a couple of hours picking green beans and edamame, no time to clean up the tomatoes. The yellow squash and cukes are doing well this year - zucchini not so much (SB and SVB). But I only sold 1 lb of green beans, 2 yellow squash, half my cukes and no edamame last week at market, so I'm not even going back until (unless) I have tomatoes. This may be the year that puts me out of business. Everybody wants tomatoes and corn, and I don't grow corn.

Can I join the club? I hope all of you have had success in removing your odor from your vehicles. When I bought my new car, the second month of ownership, I was running late to work and decided to take some milk in a spill-proof mug with me and have cereal at work. Well, as I got into the garage at work to park my car, the stupid mug got knocked over and the lid came undone, unleashing lots of fresh low-fat milk!!! all over the front passenger side. Can I tell you how tortured I was at knowing that I did this in my new car??? And have no one else to blame???? Anyway, after a week or so of trying pet-odor removers, carpet cleaners, and simply just soaking the area up with damp clothes, I learnt of applying baking soda on the area - just make sure the area is slightly damped before applying. I left the baking soda sit for about 1 week and then vacuumed feverishly. Odor gone! It was that easy. Now forward 3 years.....I was washing my car and I happened to clean my floor mats with some carpet upholstery cleaner. Well, I didn't notice that I left the passenger floor mat too damp. For the rest of the week, I didn't drive my car. But on the weekend, when I went to get groceries - I jumped in the car to only be greeted by the smell of dead animal!!! After making sure there was no dead animal in the trunk, engine compartment, below the car, underneath the seats, I came across a heavy dead animal odor beneath the passenger side floor mat! And noticed that it was still damp!!! Instantly, I knew this had to have been the return of the milk I spilled three years ago!!! This time around, I tried to treat it with carpet upholstery cleaner with no luck. I also tried using the baking soda. Despite having the baking soda in there overnight, the odor was still active the next morning. However, not as intense as dead animal, but more like a musty, dirty socks smell. I left the baking soda in a bit longer and went to Target and got a specific car upholstrey foam cleaner from Prestige for $4. I vacuumed the baking soda - really vacuumed it and the whole passenger front side. I simply sprayed the foam cleaner and left it in for 2 minutes to soak in. After that, you use the scrubber on the cap to scrub in the foam. And then lift the foam off with a damp clothe. I repeated it one more time. And then let it dry overnight. The next day what an improvement. By day 2, the odor was contained and I hope the milk residue from 3 years ago is gone. Plus, I have a good looking interior passenger carpet! I totally recommend this product.