Post-vacation De-brief

So, I had a short post ready on my phone to upload - and that's when I became pretty sure that there was no signal (bandwidth) available on the island. I'm glad for the local residents up there: the sheer volume of visitors was unusual - it had been quiet the past 10 - 15 years I'd been up to the island - so this was, in a sense, "back to normal" and businesses were doing well, from what I could see. That also meant, however, that my normal ability to get a line out on my cel phone and check email, etc., was... yeah. no bandwidth available! or, if you're old enough to remember, "All circuits are busy right now, please hang up and try your call again later."

So here we are at "later" and I'm back in the office, and still haven't downloaded my photos from my camera.

I'll get to that soon enough, and I'll post a proper update then - because saying "wow, there were such a variety of cool-looking mushrooms all around our campsite" just isn't the same as being able to show you.

Also, I bought a few books from a bookstore that I found on the drive south and home; including a book with gorgeous photos and clear directions on how to preserve various fruit & vegetable jellies, chutnies, pickles, etc. You can see where this is heading, can't you?

I'll get back to you on this when I've got photos to document the various adventures, misadventures, and mistakes.
Until then, ...

Tomatoes!

So, after all the threats of heavy rain this week, instead we have powdery earth. I dropped by yesterday (in the company of dad, who nicely grabbed a pair of snippers and got after some of those pesky invasives while I watered, harvested veggies, and yanked weeds. Yay! I have a few veggies and I'm really pleased. Now I was able to share with dad, gave a few to friends Susan& Bob, and still have plenty for bringing up to Maine while I camp for the week.



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Also, the mystery bulbs my neighbor kindly gifted me have started to bloom and they have a faint, but lovely scent.




I'll try to post a few photos fromour planned visit to local farmers markets up north, but it's an island, so coverage may be spotty. Who knows!
Posted from my iPhone..

Rain, oh when will it rain?

Don't get me wrong. I'm a New England native, so I know just how strange and contrary and unpredictable the weather in these parts can be. It's just that I keep getting fooled by the little gadget that claims to predict the weather on the interwebs. See, for the past 10 days, each day when I look to see what the next couple of days are allegedly going to provide (considering that most days are always going to be "partly sunny" or "parly cloudy") - I'm looking for a basic "is the sun going to shine and I should water extra," or an "is it going to rain, so I don't need to worry about the soil." And each day for the past 10 to 14 days, my little program has been telling me that the next few days will have [cue dramatic music] THUNDERSTORMS and heavy rain! [cue sound of thunder and lightning flashes] and each day passes with a few clouds after a hot, often sunny day, and we get at best, a few drops of rain - a scattered hint of a shower. rain? not so much. Thunderstorms? definitely not. I don't mind - my plants need more sun, and I can water. It's just this whole will-it-or-won't-it thing that's slightly annoying me.

Plus, tantalizingly enough, I'm reading that other folks to the west in the northern central states are getting crrrrazy T-storms, lightning and funnel clouds and microbursts. I could do without that particular drama, I confess. Still. I wonder. Where's the rain?

Purple beans!

Yum, beans, tomatoes and peas, oh my!



- Posted from my iPhone...

A zuke, a cuke, and a pepper

And a few tiny tomatoes, some peas and some raspberries. :) and herbs. And my geraniums and rue and beans are all thriving. I couldn't quite summon the strength to weed as well as water, but that can be tomorrows adventure. Now, I must go home and cook!



- Posted from my iPhone...

First cuke and pepper!

All kinds of things on the verge of harvest now. Yay!!











- Posted from my iPhone...

Mad dogs and Englishmen

And me. All out in the noonday sun. In my case, to do a little garden work, but I plead temporary insanity. Gardening at that hour on a 90+F day? Yeah. At least I had the sense to stick my head under the water spigot each time I filled the 5-gallon bucket for watering. Still, got a fair amount done, and glad to see a few tomatoes and peppers showing through. Also, looks as though I'll get a nicely staggered crop, so I hopefully won't get overwhelmed. Tied up and staked up sone of the mint, since it's blooming. I was going to trim it back, but there were so many bees having a field day on the little blossoms that I relented and just tied them back so they'd grow up instead of out.





Honestly it does still resemble a jungle but since the bees are happily pollinating and hopping from the tomato and pepper blossoms to the mint and back, how can I complain?

Other areas of the garden are looking better, or at least more orderly.






Peppers, tomatoes, purple cabbage, and a couple random volunteer potatoes from last year? Hmm. Well they are all blooming with health so...



That last photo doesn't seem to show how much I've tied that monstrosity back, but I have. Really.

Also, I am inordinately fond of borage's pink and blue flowers. I seem to choose an awful lot if plants that like to sprawl, so after this photo I gave it a bamboo stake to lean on.



Then, on the way home for a shower, I stopped in to browse at my local farm/store/greenhouse. I'd never seen inside their greenhouse, but it's small and cute - but also it has fish!! I will have to stop by another day to visit them. They're lovely fat healthy Koi.



So, more work to do in the garden, but enough for one day. In spite of heat&sun induced headaches, it was a good day off.

Posted from my iPhone...

Ahhh, much better

Tucked in the wormwood and some more creeping thyme; planted some more beans, and gave everyone a good soak.





The bats swooped by to say hello as they munched on more bugs. :)


- Posted from my iPhone...

Bats!

There are bats at the garden eating bugs!!!

*does a happy dance*

Also blackberries, raspberries, and at last my tomatoes are showing fruit.

Whew!

Now to come back tomorrow and finish clearing out all the overgrowth from around the edges of the garden.


- Posted from my iPhone...

I'm sorry, the temperature is what?

Well, my poor garden (and everyone else's, here in New England) is struggling with the heat. At least my peppers might like it, but apparently it's not my imagination - we've broken the 100 degree mark, but mostly it's stubbornly sticking around between 94 and 98 degrees Fahrenheit. Good times.

Pardon me, but now I have to go water my garden, while it won't *immediately* evaporate away and might actually benefit the little green babies.