Soaked

Well, we have certainly had plenty of rain this summer.  I phrase it that way so that it doesn't appear to be a complaint.  And I really am not complaining but let's just say...the garden plants are probably the only ones happy at this point.  Everything is doing well; I have to pick every day, sometimes twice.  Except for the tomatoes.  Just not enough sunny days for them to ripen much and I am really, really looking forward to some good homegrown maters. 

Stupid me had accidentally planted cantaloupe where I thought I was planting a bunch of pickling cucumbers.  Turns out it was about half and half so I'm still going to get my pickles but also going to have a crap load of cantaloupes.  That's okay though.  I just hope they are good!  The cukes are what you see growing up the trellises there and the 'loupes are growing around the bottom.  Corn is up and making ears and even my onions are doing really well.  I should have a good crop this year.  Everything in the middle of the garden does well.  The edges not so much.  (I think that was most of the problem last year with the onions) I must add a good bit of chicken poo in those areas this winter.

This is one of the Golden Jubilee tomatoes.  I planted all my maters about 3 feet apart this year with a good dose of chicken poo and 4-5 egg shells.  So far they are all very healthy and loaded with fruit.  I was able to pick one of these yesterday but still want to let it ripen a tad more before I cut it.  I guess I picked it more out of extreme paranoia that something might happen to it more than anything.

The blueberries did well this year and are winding down now.  I got a little over 2 quarts in the freezer for the winter and we ate a bunch.  Oh, and I took a big bowl of them to Mama.  Two of the raspberries are winding down a good bit too but the third variety is just getting started and it is the one that makes really large berries and lasts until fall.  I didn't mean to get that many different kinds but it is a happy accident I suppose.

My rhubarb in pots and the one in the cold frame are doing great!  This one I can keep in the shade most all the time and move it around the deck for rain to water it.  The one I had actually planted in the garden died recently and it has not been very hot this year.  In fact, this week has been in the mid to high 70's.  Unheard of coolness for Alabama in July.   So anyway, this makes me wonder if maybe it is richness of soil more than heat that kills the rhubarb.  Because I bought varieties that are supposed to be doable in the south.  See, the soil here and in the coldframe is very richly amended black soil; the garden is more sandy and lean. 

And speaking of rain, ya'll know I told you in one of the last posts that I had missed the annual daylily sale they have one town over because we were in Mobile?  Well, there has been such an abundance of rain that the nursery just has an overwhelming supply of daylilies and they had another 1 day sale!!!  With even better sale prices!  Yay!  I was excited.  You got a free 1 gallon lily just for showing up and they had free ice cream and drinks.

I have wanted one of these near black varieties for a long time and they had this one (Night Wings) marked down to $5 each!  That is a very good price, so I got 3.  I got 2 of the yellow one below.  It's called Big Rex and the blooms are very large.  I planted these alongside the drive but further down, away from the house.  I believe I have filled up the driveway flower bed and am now making another one further down.  I'll show ya'll later.

I also bought a lace cap variety of hydrangea called Lady In Red.  The foliage is supposed to turn red in the fall.  I think I am going to have to start my design and plantings for the back of the house because these hydrangeas need to go there in order to keep the deer off them.  Maybe. 

The nursery also had more drawings for free plants.

I have started several times to post before now but have just felt awful with this bad weather.  Stormy weather for me often brings migraines and aches and I have also been going to my physical therapy, so I've been sore from that too.  I think those people are masochistic.  At any rate, I have felt like hammered hell a lot of the time but have managed to do a few things here and there.  I have quite a bit of pottery going but it's so humid and wet here that I'm having a lot of trouble with it not drying so I can fire it.  Got a dehumidifier running in my studio now.  I have also done a bit more on the mosaic.  I know that all may have looked pretty rough to some of ya'll but it's going to look good I think.  I can see it finished in my head and I forget that not everybody else can or even has any idea what it is supposed to look like.  I mean, I haven't even shown a sketch or anything.

So, here's hoping for some dry weather and high barometric pressure!!  and I'll be back with much more progress hopefully.