Almost summer!
But some days it feels like summer is already here. Remember how I said that with the long, cool spring, that I thought summer would come in with full force. Yep, pretty much! We have had many days in the high 80*-90*F and the WIND has been pretty strong. You know the saying... "there are only about 5 windless days in South Dakota"??? pretty true....
On the plus side:
The grandkids and I are settling into a routine and we have more good days than bad. We do a lot of baking or something fun in the kitchen... Muffins, smoothies... I try to keep it healthy and with as little sugar as possible. We add oatmeal or whole grain to the muffins as well as dried fruits or bananas. We have built up a repertoire of crafts: stamping, folding paper airplanes, coloring and now with the hot weather, we have added water color painting out on the deck. I just have to keep the 2-year-old from decorating his face! Baby girl is sleeping more regularly and longer, so I have time with the boys without having to hold her constantly!
Things have been moving along with the garden. I have everything planted that was planned to date. We have suffered casualties. All those lovely peas that I planted as early as possible are stunted and yellow, not producing anything. I can't find any disease or insect damage, so I think I got the soil mix wrong. Other beds are doing better. The potatoes are growing fairly well and I noticed that they are about to bloom. Green beans are coming up in the several places that I have stuck them in (anywhere something else did not do well), and the brassica bed looks decent now that I have it covered with mesh. And the biggest surprise is the CORN! I had no intention of trying to grow corn, but a space was opened up in the lawn when DS the Elder tried to dig into a supposed water drain line. We didn't find the line, but a nice 8' x 9' area of exposed dirt was left as a result, so I stuck in some Corn seeds from my seed box (left over from the Community Garden) as well as a few Sunflower and Cleome. the corn is up and so are a few of the sunflowers. In all the commotion this spring, I did not get my squash, cucumber or summer squash seeds planted indoors.... So the cucumber I started out on the deck and some of the squash I just stuck in the ground after the warm weather settled in. Most of them are growing strong!
Among other garden issues, we have really made a dent in managing AND USING the water from the sump drain. DS the Elder has helped me to find all kinds of connections and hoses to manage AND USE all that water! We created an irrigation line with a collapsible hose with holes punched in it. He thinks we can improve on it so I don't have to move it from bed to bed, but for now I am thrilled to be able to use the water FOR FREE! This line is used during the daytime (the drain goes through a pipe inside the house and it is noisy) and during the night I switch it to a line that goes out the front (and it is not noisy). We have the wonderful underground pipe outside the front now, but with less rain, I now need to get an irrigation line that I can use for the grass in the front lawn.
And finally, the issue of RABBITS. They have decided that my garden is smorgasbord and have eaten off all the lettuces and Pepper plants (not to mention the poor peas)! Not acceptable! I tried using chicken wire to fence off some of the beds, but I hate the look of it, and I hate using it.... it dips and sags and just looks sad. So I pulled out the old CC and bought an electric fence system which surrounds the whole garden and since I had to buy two lengths anyway, the extra length allows me to fence off most of the corn garden, too. AND it should keep the little Archie from fence fighting with the neighbor dog in back, but not Elvis. He just jumps over it......
Coming up next week is our Family Vacation, which thanks to the CoronaVirus we will be having at home this year. Well, home for some of us. DH and DS The Younger will be coming out here where The Action Is (and the biggest houses, including the attraction of being on a Lake). We plan to swim, kayak, cook out and in violation of the Summer Vacation policy, I may request a little help with one or two small projects.... More on what actually happens will be in my next post.
But for now, I need to get back to house cleaning. Too many distractions and energy zappers to keep up with The Flylady system daily just now, so I'm trying to get everything caught up on one day. With this smaller house and most things kept up, I should be able to manage it....
Here's hoping that this Virus dies out soon!!!
On the plus side:
The grandkids and I are settling into a routine and we have more good days than bad. We do a lot of baking or something fun in the kitchen... Muffins, smoothies... I try to keep it healthy and with as little sugar as possible. We add oatmeal or whole grain to the muffins as well as dried fruits or bananas. We have built up a repertoire of crafts: stamping, folding paper airplanes, coloring and now with the hot weather, we have added water color painting out on the deck. I just have to keep the 2-year-old from decorating his face! Baby girl is sleeping more regularly and longer, so I have time with the boys without having to hold her constantly!
Things have been moving along with the garden. I have everything planted that was planned to date. We have suffered casualties. All those lovely peas that I planted as early as possible are stunted and yellow, not producing anything. I can't find any disease or insect damage, so I think I got the soil mix wrong. Other beds are doing better. The potatoes are growing fairly well and I noticed that they are about to bloom. Green beans are coming up in the several places that I have stuck them in (anywhere something else did not do well), and the brassica bed looks decent now that I have it covered with mesh. And the biggest surprise is the CORN! I had no intention of trying to grow corn, but a space was opened up in the lawn when DS the Elder tried to dig into a supposed water drain line. We didn't find the line, but a nice 8' x 9' area of exposed dirt was left as a result, so I stuck in some Corn seeds from my seed box (left over from the Community Garden) as well as a few Sunflower and Cleome. the corn is up and so are a few of the sunflowers. In all the commotion this spring, I did not get my squash, cucumber or summer squash seeds planted indoors.... So the cucumber I started out on the deck and some of the squash I just stuck in the ground after the warm weather settled in. Most of them are growing strong!
Among other garden issues, we have really made a dent in managing AND USING the water from the sump drain. DS the Elder has helped me to find all kinds of connections and hoses to manage AND USE all that water! We created an irrigation line with a collapsible hose with holes punched in it. He thinks we can improve on it so I don't have to move it from bed to bed, but for now I am thrilled to be able to use the water FOR FREE! This line is used during the daytime (the drain goes through a pipe inside the house and it is noisy) and during the night I switch it to a line that goes out the front (and it is not noisy). We have the wonderful underground pipe outside the front now, but with less rain, I now need to get an irrigation line that I can use for the grass in the front lawn.
And finally, the issue of RABBITS. They have decided that my garden is smorgasbord and have eaten off all the lettuces and Pepper plants (not to mention the poor peas)! Not acceptable! I tried using chicken wire to fence off some of the beds, but I hate the look of it, and I hate using it.... it dips and sags and just looks sad. So I pulled out the old CC and bought an electric fence system which surrounds the whole garden and since I had to buy two lengths anyway, the extra length allows me to fence off most of the corn garden, too. AND it should keep the little Archie from fence fighting with the neighbor dog in back, but not Elvis. He just jumps over it......
Coming up next week is our Family Vacation, which thanks to the CoronaVirus we will be having at home this year. Well, home for some of us. DH and DS The Younger will be coming out here where The Action Is (and the biggest houses, including the attraction of being on a Lake). We plan to swim, kayak, cook out and in violation of the Summer Vacation policy, I may request a little help with one or two small projects.... More on what actually happens will be in my next post.
But for now, I need to get back to house cleaning. Too many distractions and energy zappers to keep up with The Flylady system daily just now, so I'm trying to get everything caught up on one day. With this smaller house and most things kept up, I should be able to manage it....
Here's hoping that this Virus dies out soon!!!
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