Sun. Aug. 12, 2018 – got some stuff done, not enough

By on August 12th, 2018 in gardening

Currently 80F and 80% at 8am. Yuck.

Off and on spots of rain yesterday but I got the lawn at the rental cut. We have an application in, so hopefully that gets rented. If it does, I’ve got to empty the garage, hang an additional smoke detector, and change the locks.

Today is work here day.

Grapevine is going NUTS. This is another variety from the one that fruited in early summer, hope it might fruit soon. That would be a happy accident if I got a summer and fall variety…

Zukes are all done. Failed to flourish, rotted at the stem.

Fall acorn squash got eaten back to the stem, and never grew beyond the transplant size.

Herbs went nuts. Got some nice sweet banana peppers. Beans and peas turned white, then died. Started at one end of the bed, and spread until they were all dried straw. That was weird.

Nothing from the peach tree. One fruit on the established orange tree. Nothing on the established or potted grapefruit trees. Apple trees finally leafed in and are looking health, if not vigorous (I didn’t expect anything this year)

Bumper crop on the pecan tree, but I’ve never gotten more than a couple after the fungus and the squirrels got done. We’ll see about this year.

I better figure out what I want to plant for fall/spring and get too it. My fear is that I have to get rid of that horrible miracle gro raised bed “soil” entirely. What a horror show that stuff is. NOTHING grows in it, not even weeds, and water will not penetrate it past 1/2″. Def NOT RECOMMENDED.

Kids are stirring, so I better get started on breakfast…

n

32 Comments and discussion on "Sun. Aug. 12, 2018 – got some stuff done, not enough"

  1. ITguy1998 says:

    My son got up this morning around 0230 to watch the Parker solar probe launch live on nasa.gov. Me? I caught the replay on YouTube. He didn’t go out to see if he could see any meteors…said he was too tired. Yes, sleep is good.

  2. MarkD says:

    First year with a garden here in KY – in those Costco plastic raised beds. The tomatoes and cucumbers went wild, which is great because our grand son loves tomatoes. We got no eggplants out of 2 plants, 2 green peppers total from 8 plants, and 2 butternut squash that should probably be renamed peanut squash. The beans fed the Japanese beetles. If we depended on this garden to survive, we wouldn’t.

    I’ll try a couple different varieties next year and maybe some garlic.

  3. Nick Flandrey says:

    The learning curve is steep. Glad you started climbing it.

    n

  4. Nick Flandrey says:

    Dang, it’s 98F and 55% in my driveway. I just finished the lawn. It’s in shade this time of day, and that’s better than in sun, no matter what the temp. But dang, it is hot.

    I better sit inside and do office stuff while my brain cools off.

    n

  5. JimB says:

    A cool brain is good. Just wish we could store some of that heat for use in winter!

  6. paul says:

    A bit of rain here. Down to 75 from 88. Rain in August…. not normal. But good to have.

    When I lived in Austin and Austin had water rationing*, it was always raining in Burnet. After I moved here, it seems the rain quit and now it always rains in Bastrop.

    * as in “you can water your yard on odd or even days according to you address”. Also as in someone screwed up and didn’t build enough water treatment plants in time for all the yankees coming in to IBM.

    Yep. I remember the bumper stickers: “Beautify Texas, Buy a Yankee a bus ticket”. I also remember having empty beer bottles tossed at me as I’m pedaling my way home from work at 1am from cars with that bumper sticker.

  7. mediumwave says:

    For those of you who might be interested in the latest Omarosa outbreak [*], here’s her Wikipedia page.

    Excerpt:

    ‘In the 1990s, Omarosa worked in the office of Vice President Al Gore during the Clinton administration. She later stated the job had been “a very difficult environment, because they don’t believe in training. They just kind of throw you in the fire.”[15] Gore’s former office administrator, Mary Margaret Overbey, has said Omarosa “was the worst hire we ever made”.[16] She was later transferred to the Commerce Department via the White House personnel office.[15] Cheryl Shavers, who then served as the department’s under secretary for technology administration, has said that at the time, Omarosa was “unqualified and disruptive,” adding, “I had her removed.”[16]’

    The article goes on to confirm my (and probably your) worst suspicions.

    She and Stormy Daniels have a lot in common, except that Omarosa doesn’t have to take her clothes off to get attention.

    [*] I personally am not, but became curious about the reason for her continuing notoriety.

  8. nick flandrey says:

    My dad died this afternoon. He was at home. Went to the bathroom, sat down on the couch, and died. He was 85. He was my hero.

    Don’t know what my schedule will be or how much diversion I’ll need or want. I’m gonna play it by ear for the next couple of days.

    My sisters are there with my mom, and I’ll probably join them sooner rather than later.

    I’m so glad we visited on Wed and Thursday.

    Take the time. MAKE the time.

    nick

  9. pcb_duffer says:

    Nick, you have my sympathies. My dad died 27 years ago (he would be 85); it hurts every day.

  10. mediumwave says:

    My condolences, Nick.

  11. DadCooks says:

    @Nick, my sincerest condolences to you and your family.

    Peace

  12. ITguy1998 says:

    @Nick, sorry for your loss.

  13. Nick Flandrey says:

    Thanks guys

  14. IT_Pro says:

    Nick, you have my deepest sympathies. I lost my Dad some years back and still miss him. Do whatever you need to, we will understand.

  15. SteveF says:

    Sympathies, Nick.

    How about you tell your daughters some funny or inspirational stories about your dad?

  16. lynn says:

    @nick, so glad you spent some time with your dad in the last few days. Quantity time is so much more imporant than “quality” time.

    I try to drive down to Victoria once a quarter to see a movie with dad and go out to supper with mom and dad in Port Lavaca. And then I go down for a weekend every once in a while so the rents can say they still have kids.

  17. lynn says:

    Sitting with my BIL in Carrollton in his nursing home room watching NCIS.

  18. Jenny says:

    @Nuck
    Awe dammit. I’m very sorry for your loss. I’m glad you had a good relationship with him. I’m glad you recently visited. I’m terribly sorry he is gone.

    Death and loss does not get easier as we age but we do develop better mechanisms to keep the grief from stopping us in our tracks.

    I hope your no doubt many good memories of him will bring you some comfort.

    Let us know what we can do to help, if you would prefer one of us to tackle the admin stuff for a bit.

  19. Rick H says:

    @Nick – Sorry for you loss. Losing any loved one is difficult. Remember the good times.

    If you need me to post here to get the ‘day’ started, let me know.

  20. Nick Flandrey says:

    Until I have travel plans, I’ll start as normal. I will try scheduling the week’s opens in case I’m busy or forget. If they don’t start on time, give ’em a poke….

    n

  21. JimB says:

    Nick, sorry for your loss. It is always difficult.

  22. nightraker says:

    Nick, so sorry to hear that. Best wishes to you and yours during a sad time.

  23. Spook says:

    Nick:
    Celebrate that good life of his.
    Honor him with good works for the rest of your life.

    Spook

  24. lynn says:

    Found out that my BIL now has 18 titanium screws and umpteen straps in his upper neck. Three vertebra collapsed, strangling his spinal cord. His scar is awesome, six inches long starting at the bottom of the hairline on down to that big knot at the top of your back. Another week or two and he would have been a quadraplegic. A 100 years ago, we would burying him now.

  25. gavin says:

    @Nick… Nick, my condolences on your loss. My father passed two years ago, on Father’s Day oddly enough, and I still miss him. But it gets a bit easier to deal with, with time.

  26. Mr.K says:

    Nick… So sorry for your loss.
    My thoughts are with you and your family…

  27. Nick Flandrey says:

    Thanks guys, it helps.

    n

  28. MarkD says:

    Nick, I am truly sorry for your loss. I miss my parents, despite wanting to get out of the house in the worst way when I was young. I should have been a better son. (I wasn’t terrible, but dad was not exactly a kid oriented man) and that’s a regret I live with. We mortals just have to muddle through life, somehow.

  29. Vince says:

    @Nick so sorry for your loss.

  30. CowboySlim says:

    Nick, I echo all the above.

  31. JimL says:

    @Nick – so sorry for your loss. Words cannot change things, but we hope that words can help get through it.

  32. ech says:

    So sorry to hear, Nick.

Comments are closed.