Amy, thanks for starting a new thread.

I have not even been outside yet today. I know that the garden needs watering, but there is really no point, this late in the year, with it being so hot and dry so long it will take forever to get a good level of moisture in the soil. I have okra, winter squash, peas, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes still trying to produce, but doing a poor job at it.

My onions, turnips and rutabagas are doing well. The armadillos have just about finished digging all the other fall plantings up. In other words, things are just progressing in the normal path.

Kim, that sounds great, I would have enjoyed something like that when I was younger.

I never felt the need but with my business so very slowly getting going i thought it would help. And talking to other gardeners is fun.

I just got back from the south garden. I picked the okra and a few peas, but it is time to pull the plug, it is 100 degrees and everything looks terrible, I just cant keep it watered with a hand held sprinkler, and the insects are eating everything anyway.

I pulled up an okra plant and noted root knot nematode damage. It is so hard to deal with them, I think I will just push the plants out with the tractor, and burn them after I collect seed for next year.

I had planned on cutting some turnip greens, but they are so wilted in this heat, I will water the greens tonight and maybe cut some tomorrow.

My sweet potatoes look bad also, but I will just let them go and harvest in a week or two, they should cure well in this hot weather.

I have not done well with anything this year, it really has been a hard gardening year for me.

It has been a very hard year. The heat and drought gone all the pests an advantage

And I'm still gnashing my teeth.

And my cure for grasshoppers...off with their heads.

Rick

I get a little satisfaction as I feed them to my chickens.

I still hate killing anything, but do it because it's necessary.

Do y'all remember Dawn "wondering" about flooding rains and lack of pests. I'm starting to get what she was talking about....or "wondering" about. It's been a couple of years since we've had flooding rains and the insects are out of control. Maybe in those very wet years, they drown.

Not that flooding rain is good on the garden either.

The fall garden looks okay. If we can make it through the next few days, it will make it. I think.

My plan is to dump the sweet potato buckets in a couple of weeks, put the potatoes in the hoop house on some cardboard and leave them there until it gets cold. It worked last year. This year, I'm hoping for larger potatoes, although there will be fewer of them. I don't need dozens of sweet potatoes. Maybe 24 decent sized ones would do.

I always keep in mind how we use food. How we cook.

My day off was today instead of tomorrow. Which was fine. Tom works from home on Mondays, so it's a little different. Not as relaxing and energizing for me. I spent a good amount of time watering. We had to grocery shop as soon as Tom logged off from work. We didn't have time to do it over the weekend with his sister being here....and my work event last night. Luckily we don't need to buy a lot.

In good news, our friend who has sheep was "forced" to harvest one yesterday. Long story. BUT, he and Tom have talked about processing a sheep together and sharing the meat. SO, that is going to happen. Have y'all looked at the price of lamb at the grocery store?! This is the friend who housed Tom's pig last year. We've almost used all of it, though. A few ham steaks left and maybe 2 or 3 sausages.

Anyway, I'll be having lamb at the solstice party this year! Before I could never bring myself to pay for a leg of lamb.

Is it weird for a nearly vegetarian to be excited about that? I was fully vegetarian until last year, I guess. I will eat a small amount of the chicken we buy from another of Tom's friends. I know that she cares for her birds....and struggles with killing them. I appreciate her. She knows that her family wants to eat meat, so she's doing it a healthier and more humane way.

And I'm trying to eat fish once or twice a week. So, no longer a vegetarian.

I'm rambling, I know. I wish I had one more day at home alone to recharge. But, I don't.

I think I'll start spinach seed tomorrow after work and keep it indoors until it cools off a bit.

That's all from me.

Jennifer I have been thinking about how I cook different from other people. I want to do classes and teach people
Use what you have. So many younger people cook by popular recipes. If anything happens they will be lost.
I have developed a way of cooking out of necessity. I haven’t had much money in these last few years so I just use what’s available. Makes for great food too

That's a great idea, Kim. At one time we didn't have much money when the kids were little and had to stay on a strict grocery budget. It wasn't always the heathiest foods, although I did my best. My daughter remembers that I always had a "well-rounded" meal for her.

We didn't have a garden.

Now, the grocery budget is tight again! What a change in the past year and a half. The cost of everything is so much more. I try to arrange meals around what we've canned/have in the freezer/or have an abundance of in other ways--and make substitutions with what is in the garden. I love your class idea.

I don't want to whine, but if I keep typing, I'll probably whine about the heat and lack of rain and the time spent watering.

I need a milk cow. Butter has almost tripled

I don't want a cow, if I were younger, maybe.

When I first started really working on growing a garden, I read several books to try to learn about food. One of the things I read was that it takes 8 times as much land to feed a person meat as it takes to feed them plant based food. That was a long time ago, but I expect there still may be some truth in that remark. I would think to economize a person would go heavy on plants and light on animal based food. Of course it is easy for me to say that because I don't eat butter, and try not to eat much meat. I do like milk, but try to use less of that also. I am trying to cut back on sugar and bread. I have never had the habit of smoking, but I am having a heard time giving up my sugar fix.

Back to the cow, I still remember when it was pouring down rain, and me bring that ole wet cow into the barn with a dirt floor, placing my head in her flank in hopes of keeping her from kicking me, or stepping in the bucket, and then doing that 6 more times before getting cleaned up to walk a half mile to catch the school bus. We lived at the end of the bus route, so we got to get on first and ride that dusty road forever to get to school. No, I don't want a cow. At least with a garden, you can stay inside when it is raining, and you are not tied to 2 times a day 7 days a week.

About milking. My Dad is the One and Only. He worked a dairy barn for 34 some years, milked about 60-70 head of Holstein cows. All year round, 4 am every morning , 4 pm every evening. hot , cold, wet , dry, Xmas ,Thanksgiving, New Year Grinding feed and hay in between milkings. Shoveled manure after milkings. ( Some of that was my job growing up). And then hauled us all off to church every Sunday morning , Sunday night AND Wed nite. ( Got my butt beat with a rubber hose hanging up in the dairy barn fer not believin in hell....same hose he used on the cows)

Rick

Rick, I am sorry your childhood was like that. I milked 7 cows each morning and evening by hand because my dad died, and I was the oldest child. Dad became unable to milk when I was about 12 years old. I had a good childhood, we were just poor.

just lost a long post. I'm here, thinking of you.

I'm finally feeling well enough to get some garden work done. I go for about 30 minutes and that's enough. This pneumonia is hard to get over. I get winded really easy. Have to stop and go sit down. I would really appreciate just normal Sept weather. Tired of the heat.

But I'm getting the garden ready to till for planting the winter cover. I'm three weeks behind. Today I finally got all the basil plants out of the garden , haha , I probably had 20 or so. But ya know I've become an old softie cuz I left them there for the honey bees. And I felt sorry for the bees today when I pulled out the last ones. They start flying around and get stirred up and don't know what's goin on.

Its been a terrible gardening year for me, but I've learned one thing. If ya want bees in your garden, plant some basil and let it grow tall till it blooms. My best theory, is its so aromatic it draws in the bees and evidently the bees really like the nectar. I grew it right along side tomato plants.

My garden soil is very very dry. IDK how its gonna till. I might need to water it a day before.

As for pests, I have a field behind the house, its the Jr High school yard. Its all weeds but the school does a fair job of keeping it mowed. And this year, for some reason the mice and rats have moved from the field into my backyard. I've got three kinds of rat traps out. They found a bag of cottonseed hulls in my shed and moved it all around building nests. Amazing what they did. I've been here almost 30 years and this is the first time I've had this problem. I think because its been so dry. And my garden has provided a lot of good mouse/rat habitat.

I've had pack rats carry off my stored onions and potatoes.

I started putting out a mix of baking soda and honey sweet corn meal.

Rats can't burp or fart so they bloat up and die I hear.

So far so good.

Rick

Taking a quick lunch break (and lucky to get one today). It's been a wild day already.

Kim, I want a miniature milk cow too. Not a herd of cows--there's a difference. The miniature ones are about as big as a large dog. I've researched it, but can't manage one while working too. If I get to place where I could get one, sharing it with a like-minded neighbor would be the way to go. I have one of those too. Share the milking duty. Share the milk. I realize if someone was forced to milk many cows as a child, it might not be something that they would ever in their life want to do again.

We do eat butter. It's our main fat other than olive oil. And I do buy the expensive "grass fed, organic, yadda-yadda".

We eat cheese and use a small amount of milk and/or cream each week. I eat plain, unsweetened, organic yogurt nearly every day.

It would be worth it for us to have one. Just don't have the time.

Meat animals that wouldn't take a lot of space could be meat birds and rabbits.

I'm fine without meat. But, most people do want to eat it including my family. And by meat, I'm talking beef, pork, chicken, fish, lunchmeat, meat on pizzas, etc.

Depending on a garden for all the food is risky, as this year has shown us. I'm grateful for every crop we get and every bit we put up, either in jars or the freezer.

Amy, sorry about your post.

Lynn, glad you're feeling better. This year in the garden has been hard.

Back to work.

Lynn, I often water my soil before I till, it does help my soil till better, plus it helps keep the dust down. I also have a lot of problems with all kinds of critters, but I have pastures and woods all around me, and I don't expect my critter problem to improve.

I noticed some rabbit runs through my sweet potato plants yesterday about the time a rabbit ran out of the vines and stopped out in the lawn, earlier in the year I may have tried to shoot that rabbit, but I dont have any small plants now, and the sweet potato vines are now large enough to reed an army of rabbits.

It sounds like basil would be a good plant to put in my wildlife garden. I do plant zinnias and sunflowers, they work very well for me, and basil may be as hardy as they are. I have planted basil for the past two years, but placed it in pots and given it away, it seems very easy to grow.

I am healing slower than I would like, but seem to be doing well. It is almost 4 weeks after Pacemaker/defib and DR. has said I can drive tractor and mower again. While I was in hosp for pacemaker operation I got test back from another clinic, and that Dr. said that I have gallstones with obstructions and need surgery. Yet, another Dr. from 2 years ago said that because of my age and health conditions that I should not be put under any more. This getting old stinks, seems as tho parts are falling off faster than they can be glued back on.

Jennifer and Kim, instead of a miniature cow try a milk goat. 35 years ago we raised milk goats and sold milk. Most we had was 23 does at a time. We had a regular milk room with a concrete floor and a freezer to cool the milk down fast after straining. I hand milked all of them. A good doe, esp especially a Nubian will give a gallon of milk a day. Goats are much smaller, therefore requiring a smaller home and a fraction of the feed a cow does. When we quit milking I was selling every drop I had for $8 a gallon That was over 30 years ago. Yes, I have also had a milk cow plus milked as a youngster. Goats don’t kick near as hard or swat you in the head with a tail full of manure.

My lost post mentioed Elbon rye for root knot nematodes. I had one bed I thought was infected. Grew rye over winter and sorghum the next season.

Pneumonia sucks. However long you're down with it, seems to take twice that long to get back to where you were. The older we get, the harder it is.

Larry, are you having gall bladder attacks? They're painful. Weren't you put under for the pacemaker?

Houzz and my keyboard are fighting .

Amy, I still have at least 15 pounds of Elbon rye seeds, I will use some, or maybe all for cover crop. I have never grown sorghum, I have tried to buy sorghum seeds by the pound at the Co-op, but they did not sell it that way. Now that I don't have cattle on the place I may plant a small patch of sorghum. A lot of what I plant will depend on the price of diesel, seed, and fertilizer.

Yes, I was put under for pacemaker, I have been put under two time since I was told it was not a good idea, and something seems to be effecting my memory and concentration. ( maybe old age) I am still waiting to see what dr. wants to do about gallstones, meantime I was told to go straight to ER if pain gets bad. I have known that I have had kidney stones and gallstone for over 12 years. I dont think I have ever had a gallstone or kidney stone attack like the ones I hear about. I have pain pills if I need them. I have back, hip and foot pain all the time, but I doubt I doubt it has anything to do with gallstones.

Larry I eliminated some foods and seeds and nuts and I have not had a bit of trouble with my gall bladder. 2 Tablespoons of organic apple cider vinegar in a glass of water helps kidney stones and kidney health

Kim, thanks. I really don't take very good care of my self. I should have started some good health projects a long time ago. I am sorta like the saying you hear, " If I had know I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself".

All joking aside, I have found that diet does make a big difference.

Larry I agree 100%. What we eat greatly affects our health and wellness. It’s not hard to eat healthy. Somewhat more expensive but if we factor in drs tests pills procedure and loss of quality of life really is cheaper to eat healthy. If I could get to a place to grow most of my own food including beef and chicken I would be so very happy.
My sister in law said I could have some land where they just bought property in Marietta ok.

Kim, Marietta sounds nice, my folks came from Ada and Pauls Valley areas. My great grand mother's family were Chickasaw Indians, my grand mother mover to Arkansas after she married. Marietta is in the Chickasaw Nation. I have a grand daughter that lives in Ada, she works at the Indian Hospital.

Kim, you would be in Dawn country in Marrietta. The question is is it sandy soil or clay. Seems like Dawn talked about sandy soil in Love county.

Larry, I've had my gall bladder removed with a laparoscopic surgery. It should be quickly done on an outpatient basis.

TTFN

Amy, I am not worried about the removal. I am worried more about what kind of shape I will be in after being put out. I have been unstable on my feet for a long time, but I have been worse after pacemaker surgery, I have started using a cane part time now. I have fallen once, and fallen into something several time. I still have dr. appointment ahead of me to discuss the issues.

I remember Dawn talking about having clay, as well as some sandy spots, I have the same kind of soil here. The old house sits on the sandy side (east side), I have mostly clay here on the west side. My soil here is very shallow and needs a lot of amending.

One of the reasons I wanted the cattle off the land is to work on the pastures. If I can afford fuel, seed, and fertilizer, and I am able to stay on a tractor, I have a lot of work ahead of me.

If I remember correctly, Dawn had both clay and sand. I remember her talking about how they broke many gardening tools dealing with the clay. But, I also remember her talking about one of her gardens--maybe she called it the "back garden" that was sandy. I think she was maybe letting that garden go--I can't remember for sure. The ladies who visited her garden after the memorial service, might could explain how her property was laid out. I do know her plans were to decrease the amounts of veggies she grew AND landscape her backyard.

Speaking of Dawn, I had a FB memory pop up today. Dawn had made a lengthy comment on the post.

I have no social obligations today or tomorrow and I'm SO happy about it. I'm about to head out to water. Again. Can we just get some rain already?!

Normally, I don't mind watering, but I'm getting tired of it. It takes so long when there's other things I would like to do. Maybe work on another gardening project? Nope. Gotta water.

I did get more spinach started in a tray. It is staying indoors until it cools off. The spinach that sprouted last week outdoors, shriveled up and died. I water every day, but it was just too hot. Rick has some in the SG that is shaded and so far it hasn't died. Still very tiny.

Someone gave me a seed packet of chamomile (Kim?). I scattered it a couple of weeks ago into the herb bed. It quickly sprouted, but the hot days took out a lot of it too.

Yesterday was so nice here. It was chilly this morning. I wore a sweater on the playground. It's not chilly now, though.

I'm not cooking dinner tonight, so time to head out to water.

I believe Dawn had clay and an area of sand also. I am not sure if I will be going there. I love my family but it hasn’t always been good with my Brother. I would have to own the land to even consider it. I need title deed to settle and plant my trees. Dawns place is on west side of county and this place is on the east side of Marietta. None of my fall plantings came up so I tried again today. Bok choy and spinach

Very little of my fall planting is left, other than turnips, rutabaga,and egyptian onions. The armadillos took out all the fall stuff that I lost by digging up the soil. It looks like I will be fighting insects and critters.

Ugh Larry. Critters and your grasshoppers still crazy. I figured out why my peas aren’t producing. Grasshoppers munch on the baby sprouts soon as they form. I covered them with row cover and will have to check every few days. Heard there may be hard times coming so I would like to have as much coming in as I can.

Kim, this is the third year I have planted a lot of winter food. I expect a lot of changes in the world as we know it. I go heavy on turnips every year, and tell the neighbors to help themselves. Know one has really taken advantage of the excess crop yet, I have had a few people stop by and get turnips, but it was people that just like turnips, as far as I know, know one has really been needing the food, but that could change before spring.

I plan on planting more greens than I need. I will have to wait till I get the okra, cow peas, and sweet potatoes out of the way before I can plant more. I can grow all I need here at the house, the extra stuff will have to go in the wildlife garden, but It is so dry nothing can grow there now.

I am having the same problem with the grasshoppers and cucumber beetles attacking my okra and peas. This is the worse year I have ever had with cucumber beetles.