Monday, June 19, 2023

As Spring Shifts Into Summer


Hello, friends.  This year, J is trying something new with the tomatoes.  All the large plants have had soiled mounded up around the stem, before mulching them, and placing a cage around them.  Many of them seem to have curled leaf ends, which is concerning.  Not as bad as plants we've seen with RoundUp effects, but something.  We've only used organic fertilizer and organic straw on them, so should be safe, but these days, one can never be too sure unless it all comes from your homestead.  I harvested lettuce, chard, thyme, oregano, rosemary, lambs quarter and peas.  A new recipe for GF pizza dough was tried.  I also tried a new vegan mozzarella, which wasn't bad, but I'm not sure it added enough to justify the cost.  It's been a while since I did any baking with yeast, and both jars expired in '22.  The oldest jar was pretty wimpy, when I tested it, so I added it to the compost bin.  The other did fine, but I added yeast to my grocery list, so I'll have newer on hand.



I read one of the free books on my Kindle, and went by the library to pick up three more, one of which is a children's book.  Water from rinsing vegetables was used to water plants and fill bird baths.  Shower warm up water was used to flush the toilet.  Plastic bags were washed and reused, and laundry was dried on the line.  I finished the last of setting up my sewing room, and mended a pile of items.  Joseph harvested our garlic, and it's drying under the carport.  He planted melon seeds, lima beans, and another round of tromboncino.  The squash bugs have hurt some of the squash, though we're both trying to monitor and squish any we see.  One thing that does seem to be better this year are Japanese beetles.  I hope I'm not jinxing myself, and instead they're just running late, but they have been far fewer in number so far.  I went through the last of the '22 garlic, kept five heads aside, dehydrated the remainder, and ground it into garlic powder.



One of the things that has been on our to do list for months is moving the fall leaves to the pond garden.  J had raked them up into piles, but we hadn't gotten to mulching them yet.  His son came to work on them, and after several attempts to get the mulcher running, J gave up, and had him pile them onto a tarp, and pull them with the lawnmower.  It's nice to have that crossed off the list.  It's gotten very dry here, so I've held off planting all the little seedlings.  This coming week, there looks to be a good chance of rain several days, so I hope to plant lots of them between showers.  There are zinnias, calendula, tomatoes, dill, a marigold, basil and wood betony.  I hope you enjoy this week, as spring shifts into summer!


10 comments:

Andrea said...

Hmmm...I have some curled leaves on my tomato plants also! I don't have any tomatoes, just lots of leaf growth. I suppose not enough sun. (I don't have full sun). I've only seen a couple Japanese beetles here in Delaware...so far. Like you, I don't want to jinx myself..lol. Our crepe myrtle trees are not blooming yet, so it might be too early for us to have the beetles. They love the blossoms on the trees when they bloom. (Sometimes I feel like cutting down the trees!) But it might be because our spring has been quite cool, about 10 degrees below normal. Andrea

Laurie said...

That's very interesting you also have curled leaves on your tomatoes. I wonder what can be causing it. We're also having a cooler than usual spring, but I'm hoping the polar vortex took care of many of the Japanese beetles. I guess we'll both find out soon enough.

Staci @Life At Cobble Hill Farm said...

Boy, isn't that the truth about the soil. I learned that lesson the hard way. It will take a bit to rebuild my soil but I'm hopeful this years plants will do better then last years!

Have you tried oregano pesto? I'm going to try it either this week or next week. I thought oregano would be too strong for pesto but it has good reviews so I will give it a try. I don't buy many dairy alternatives (I just omit it completely) but I do keep a couple of the Miyoko's vegan cheeses in the freezer. Two last me all year. I can grate them (from frozen) on my pizza or whatever I am wanting a slight cheesy taste on. The sharp cheddar and smoked mozzarella are delicious!

Funny that you mentioned Japanese beetles. I told my husband last year that it was odd we didn't get inundated with them as we usually do. It would be nice if that happened again this year too!

We were blessed with quite a bit of rain this past week. I hope you receive some as well!
Wishing you a wonderful week ahead!

Laurie said...

I haven't tried oregano pesto, and hope you'll share when you try it. We had pesto tonight from last year, purslane pistachio, which also has basil. The vegan mozzarellas I got were both Miyoko's, one liquid, which is the one I tried, and there's also a solid one I hoped to try in a caprese salad. Their butter is the one I use as well. I'll have to look for those cheeses you mentioned. We did get a nice rain earlier, and should get some more. I hope you see very few beetles!

Staci @Life At Cobble Hill Farm said...

I will definitely share about the pesto. I tried their liquid mozzarella as well and wasn't as impressed as I am with the solid ones. From what I've read of others experiences, you have to use quite a bit of the liquid one and it needs to be under high heat (500+) in order to properly brown. I use their butter too - it works so well in baked goods when needed! Yes, very few beetles would be great....😁

daisy g said...

I wouldn't worry too much about the curled leaves. As long as the plants look vibrant and are producing flowers and fruit, it's doing what it's supposed to. I've seen leaves curl on the healthiest plants.

What a great place to cure your garlic. We use the garage and the smell is potent that first week!

I guess I am the only one who looks forward to Japanese beetle season. The chooks love 'em, and I am happy to go on the hunt for them every evening to provide them a snack. So far, like you, there haven't been as many as usual.

Enjoy this beautiful rain spell we're having! Rain barrels are overflowing!

Laurie said...

Staci, good to know your experience with the liquid. Maybe I'll try more with the next one, as I followed instructions to use 1/4c. Thanks!

That's so good to know about the tomato leaves, Daisy! It's been concerning. They do look healthy otherwise. They've got blooms and are growing well. Ha, it was quite potent in the house the other day and night, when I dehydrated garlic! Our chooks love those beetles too, but I'd rather be doing something else, LOL.

Jeannie said...

What a creative way to dry the garlic! I'm looking for a way to dry my potatoes before putting them in the basement. It is too hot and bright on the front porch. The back deck doesn't have a cover and there is a visiting opossum sniffing around at night. I don't want opossum tracks on my 'taters. Right now they are drying in my living room - not a good solution.

Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

Laurie said...

Jeannie, one year, we dried our potatoes between pieces of metal... sheet metal, roofing metal, I don't remember exactly, placed across saw horses, with bricks holding up the top piece. Of course, we generally have random pieces of metal lying around, which everyone may not have, lol.

Jeannie said...

We have plenty of junk laying around. Looks like I need to get creative and come up with something before the rest of the potatoes are dug. Thanks
Jeannie