Mild Sunstroke and dehydration for being so stupid. Very tired, very nauseous and elevated blood pressure. Mouth dry as cotton. It is passing, people be careful out in the sun. It has been unusually hot this summer.
Bad news today. since stopping antibiotics my white cell count has gone back up. I guess this means the staph infection is still there. I guess it will be back on the antibiotic again. There was a time when this news would cause depression, now it is no bigger a deal than deciding whether to have tea or not. It is just inconvenient having to go to the Doctor for the prescription. Ten years off and on now. I feel good, I really thought I got it this time. Guess not. So on to happy thoughts.
You have no Idea how good it feels to have made it all the way around my garden weeding at least once. A quick weeding of the flower beds, some tractor work and possibly get the troybuilt running (the float has a hole in it) and it will be time to start over again. This I would say puts me pretty much on schedule. The lawn needs mowing pretty soon too but isn't desperate. See why I don't make lists. I just get up every day and do something.
Did I mention it is another nice but too hot day. It doesn't matter, I'm going to town. I'll water when I get home.
So all this means is that I will have time to sit on the deck for a while now. Out with the umbrella. There are virtually no mosquitoes.
The morning fog has left and the sky is clear except for a layer of cloud over the mountains. Big cumulous clouds looking like icing. Very pretty if one takes the time to look at them. It is going to be a nice day although probably hot. There is a breeze so one more cup of tea and it is back to weeding. I'm slowly catching up. Tomorrow will be a bit of waste as I have an appointment in town. Going to town always feels like a waste of time. I'd rather do something else. It is only because it is hard for me to get around.
The door is open and humming birds keep flying in and out. I'd best shut it. So, hi ho hi ho it's off to the garden I go to sit and contemplate and yank out weeds.
It's funny, that hanging CD's in a garden felt somehow inappropriate. I share the feeling of accomplishment, and mom is sure passionate about her garden, so it's great to see her enthusiasm. I'm not sure I understand it, but it's like that saying about finding a gem, and how precious that must be.
A wasp gave me a fright, when it entered the living room, and I lost sight of it. The good thing is that I forgot about it, showing that perhaps, my worry is losing it effect on me. Eventually it reappeared, I confidently snagged it with a jar with a cap on it. Setting it free outside to do it's thing made me feel good. As a child, I spent lots of time catching flies, bees, wasps, so all that practise came in handy
There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from getting something done, and that is what I get from gardening. Even one small area in a sea of turmoil can do that. One small weed free area around one small plant is this. It doesn't have to be the whole thing. Potatoes are hilled and I know that weeds will come up still. one more pass will leave the area clean enough that there won't be too many weed seeds next year. There has to be something I can till under for the soil to keep it loose.
I'm an organic gardener, always have been on this property and always will be.
Hugs there are organic treatments that work mostly by deterring the pests. Like Dill and Marigolds to confuse the flies. and for worms on beets wood ashes burn them. Ashes and water makes lye. Only milder than the concentrate. Beer or a yeast mixture in a shallow can buried at ground level drowns slugs. A board on the ground is a home to them. But the best over all cure for practically every pest is Rotenone. It is the ground up root of a plant and totally harmless to humans. It does though suffocate fish. It's only drawback is that it washes off. There are other things, but I have very few pests. Other than deer and bears.
I want to be outside still but my body will go no more. If I push it I will lose tomorrow so why bother. It was a good day, plants are watered, sun is shining, I'm making soup and I'm going to have a brownie or two and watch a movie. I have a couple of new potatoes also. Life is good.
Some pests are attacking our plants. I dealt with the basil, by placing onion mesh bags over the plants. If they're insects, I'll find out eventually.
For the romaine lettuce, someone suggested hanging old CD's over the plants to confuse and deter them. The problem with one of the CD's is that it has a picture of a bird on it, so hopefully that picture won't attract them. I've taped some paper over the picture of a bird on that CD, so unless they can read that the CD is a collection of birds, it should be ok
It stopped raining this morning so I'm hilling potatoes. I have half of them done. For those who don't know what this is, it is pulling dirt up around the stem of the plant. This does two things. Since you started with the potato in the ground it lowers the ground around the seed potato. Second potatoes don't like to be wet, scab grows on a wet potato. The potato grows level and above the seed potato so it needs soil to grow in. They will grow off the buried stem in what is dryer soil. The roots will go down for water. There is what is called a Dry Land Red potato that puts out more and longer roots and does better in dry areas. Still a potato has to have some water. Brown centres and hollow potatoes comes from erratic watering. It should be consistent even if it is too much. Long periods between heavy rains will do this.
If you have a long season you can grow a lot of potatoes in a very small space by growing them in a wire mesh cylinder.
This is probably on Utube as potatoes in tires but mesh works better and you can grow Scarlet runner or pole beans on the outside of it. 6X6" concrete reinforcing mesh works best. This way you can reach in and steal potatoes. One sheet of mesh should give you two cylinders. They are also a great place to throw weeds and grass clippings. You will probably have to buy a square bale of straw or hay to fill the cylinders.
Ohhhh, the sun is coming out, it is going to get hot now. It was so nice this morning. I will just slow down. There is no rush. I'm actually standing longer now. There is a connection between stress and physical well being that goes beyond just the willingness to do things. Reducing stress increases pain tolerance.
My reward today for having a stress free day is going to be a Brownie or two. Potatoes are flowering so there will soon be potatoes in the hill. New potatoes will be reward enough then.
I went to the store today and on the way it poured but when I got home I found it never reached my place. This happens in this valley. I would have liked the rain but if it doesn't rain tonight I will just use the pump. Such is life. We do what we can. Calling for rain and more tomorrow. We shall see. Grass is getting yellow.
3/4 inch of rain today really made a difference in the garden. I'm fighting the feeling that I could do more, since there are so many competing chores.
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