On 6/29/2017 4:49 PM, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Thu 29 Jun 2017 06:17:43a, George Shirley told us...
>
>> On 6/29/2017 12:04 AM, Wayne Boatwright wrote:
>>> On Wed 28 Jun 2017 12:14:34p, George Shirley told us...
>>>
>>>> We're making spaghetti sauce from out bucket of mixed tomatoes.
>>>> Already have it getting ready for the pressure canner. Only made
>>>> four pints but that will be four different meals for us this
>>>> winter or sooner.
>>>>
>>>> Didn't get enough green beans to can this year, some sort of
>>>> blight got the beans. Pretty much the same with the cukes. But
>>>> with the cukes it may have been a blessing. We had a deluge of
>>>> cukes last year so put up lots of relish and pickles.
>>>>
>>>> I suspect the problem with the garden this year is the extreme
>>>> heat we've been having followed by the January back to back
>>>> freezes. Hitting 90+ most days and not a lot of rain. Plus we
>>>> need to amend the whole raised beds again. Most likely will do
>>>> that this fall and then let it lay fallow until spring.
>>>>
>>>> We have a new composter, bought on line, and is working well at
>>>> this time. With just the two of us there's not much garden waste
>>>> or otherwise to fill a composter. Mowing every two weeks helps
>>>> though. I see neighbors putting their mowed grass in a bag and
>>>> send it off to the dump. If I knew what they put on their lawns
>>>> I would high jack the bags. <G>
>>>>
>>>> George
>>>>
>>>
>>> As you know, we can't have a garden, but we do buy farm grown
>>> tomatoes at a local stand. I make spaghetti sauce with ground
>>> beef, sausage, and mushrooms. I freeze our sauce in 2-portion
>>> containers, as it's usually just the two of us when we have
>>> spaghetti.
>>>
>>> We have a good source for kirby cucumbers and periodically I make
>>> a few pints of bread and butter pickles, and also a few ints of
>>> garlic dills.
>>>
>>> We don't really like either frozen or canned green beans, so I
>>> buy fresh whenever we want them.
>>>
>>> That really too bad aboaut the blight you've had this year.
>>>
>> If you're a gardener you will attempt to grow something even if
>> it's on a window ledge. You and I have probably been gardening
>> since we could walk. Keep it up Wayne.
>>
>> We live in Harris Cty, TX and the weather for the last year has
>> been horrible. I think all the bug and blight problems are due to
>> the way the HOA takes care of the drainage pond and, I suspect,
>> they are using some sort of bug killer that is not good for
>> gardeners. There's only about four of us, mostly older people,
>> that garden. The rest are folks that are gone all day to work and
>> then come home and sit in front of the TV.
>>
>
> For the first two years we lived here we tried gardening in large
> pots on the patio. We have no soil or grass areas. Things would get
> a good start in late April or early May, but by the end of July
> everything had died. We did our best to keep everything properly
> irrigated and misted as each type of plant required, as well as using
> the best soil and fertilizer, and we just got tired of failure.
>
> The only plants that have grown successfully on our patio are cactii
> and palms.
>
> When we lived in Queen Creek, about 28 miles SW of Phoenix, we had a
> very large bck yard where we had mature orange, lemon, and lime
> trees, as well as various palms and cactii. The perimeter wall was
> planted with ever-blooming bougainvillea. We had the landscapers
> installed a 21 x 20 raised bed, and everything had automated drip
> irrigation and misters. We were able to grow tomatoes, cucumbers,
> pumpkin, summer squash, green onions, and radishes. I know there
> were a few other things, but can't remember. We never tried corn.
> The overall atmosphere seemed to be perfect for growing almost
> anything. We even had sever red and black currant bushes scattered
> around the yard. When we left that house, nothing ever grew for us
> again. :-(
>
I can understand that, we lived on ten acres for the first sixteen years
of a now fifty-seven year marriage. Then we moved and had about a
quarter acre in a subdivision that was covered with large trees. When we
moved to Corpus Christi we had a large backyard but we were to busy to
put in a garden. Now we live on 6500 square feet with a 1960 square foot
home. The backyard is crammed with "stuff." 32 feet of four foot wide
raised beds, a two foot wide garden around the fence for flowers, fruit,
etc. Since I can't bend over anymore I can't do a lot but do the
canning, cooking, etc. as needed. Doctors say there's nothing they can
do about the severe arthritis that loads me down. I guess I inherited
from my mother, she had severe arthritis for years but lived with it
until she passed at 89. I also inherited Dad's heart disease, he left us
at age 71 and I'm running up on 78 already. You just have to do whatever
is needed. At our age I don't think we could handle 10 acres plus
critters, big tractors, etc. We had young kids back then who loved the
farm too. Now they're successful fifty plus working folk. Daughter is an
assistant principal in a large grade school, son is assistant director
of Texas Children's Hospital and his wife is a realtor. Everyone is busy
at something but we try to make a holiday occasionally.

I'm just happy to be alive and close to our kids, grands, and great grands.

George