Out early this morning harvesting green beans, blueberries, radishes,
and lettuce. The kumquat tree, only about four feet tall and two feet
wide is totally covered with blooms. Looks like we may get a small crop
of fruit this fall. In addition the very young fig tree has dozens of
figs on it.

The blueberry bushes are ripening fruit at the rate of about one cup of
fruit a day. Just enough to eat fresh or put on your breakfast cereal. I
am amazed at how well our new plantings are doing. We don't have soil,
we have builders fill, gumbo clay mixed with sand. For each bush or tree
we plant we have to dig a big hole and amend the soil with compost, etc.
Our vegetable gardens are raised bed with the Square Foot Mel's Mix so
they are doing well also.

We're looking at pick-your-own farms nearby in order to garner some
blackberries. The local wild ones didn't do well this spring/summer due
to lack of rain. The farms we've found with berries want $4.00 a pound
for their berries and that's really close to what buying them at the
supermarket cost. I'm torn between the picking and the buying.

Sometime in the near future I am putting in a back gate for this place
so we can access the green belt behind our house. Primarily so we can
mow and weed eat behind our wooden fence to keep the weeds down. Once
the gate is done I am erecting an arbor to arch over the gate and will
then purchase a Doyle blackberry to grow on the arbor. The Doyle has
been around for over forty years and is a prolific thornless berry. It
is known to grow well in our area. That should simplify our berry yearnings.

We're enjoying cool early mornings and temps in the high eighties
afternoon's. I reckon summer is coming early to us.

We hope all had a nice Memorial Day and remembered those who sacrificed
so that we can remain a free nation.

George