June 11-12, '10

Lisa, CJ, and Savannah came out and staid Friday night and Saturday. Temperatures weren't bad, in the upper 80s, and we had gotten a half inch of rain.

Short Cut
Since we had gotten rain Friday morning, I figured the dirt road wouldn't be dusty so we took the short cut. Instead of dusty, it was muddy. It was also very rough (much worse shape than just a few months ago) and felt much rougher in the 4Runner than the Tacoma. It also was not any shorter time wise because I had to slow down to keep from shaking our teeth out.

Garden
Sally picked another couple of gallons of green beans, a half dozen onions, a few beats, a bag of summer spinach, and the last radish.

Mowed/Weedeat/Thistle/Berries
After filling the feeders, I mowed the back and the road down to and around the pond. I noticed lots of black raspberries on the plants under the two giant sycamores at the confluence of the creeks. On the way back up I noticed a giant thistle at the unfinished dam Ben had started on Plume Creek.

The grass was really high on the upper road and around the cattle guard, so I filled the tank on the brush whacker and took off. I worked my way up the hill on the right side of the road, got around the cattle guard, and came back down the other side. Ran out of gas about two thirds of the way down.

With thistle (and raspberries) on my mind, I grabbed a feed bag, shovel, and small bucket and drove down the hill. I dug up the thistle and then walked over and picked about a quart of black raspberries in 15 minutes. When I started driving off, I looked over and noticed another group of 4-5 thistles on the other side of the creek. I went after them and then started seeing more clumps of 4 or 5. Then I started noticing baby ones coming up that hadn't yet started to bloom. I just whacked them off at the ground with the shovel. Some must have gone to seed in this area, so I'll have to keep a close watch in the area.

Fishing
Lisa and family arrived just before dark. CJ was anxious to fish, so headed straight to the pond. He caught several bass and said they looked healthier than the year before -- heads weren't out of proportion with their body. He also reported seeing a beaver -- troubling news and something I have never been able to do.

As you can see, Savannah enjoyed the raspberries. (And so did I.)

Kings River
Saturday morning we went down to the river at Rock House. Everyone got in but Lisa, although only CJ and Savannah spent much time in the water -- it was cold. The air was also cool until the clouds burned off. There were lots of canoes putting in -- and I had thought the river would be too low to float. Lots of dogs (and even a baby) were also going, and they had doggie life jackets. We decided we'd get one for Tender.


Sharpen/Spray/Cull/Mow/Weedeat
Saturday afternoon CJ headed back to the pond for more fishing. I wanted to mow, but Savannah was napping and Tender would bark. So I sharpened the Stihl and McCullock and got them ready for another outing. I then sprayed the apples and culled 150 nectarines -- some of the branches were bending down to the ground. Once Savannah woke I began to mow the upper areas. CJ got back then and took over the mowing while I took the Poulan weedeater to the front hill.

Cookout
We cooked hamburgers and a new curried turkey burger recipe. While the fire was going picked about a pint of blackberries over by the swing, plus a few more raspberries. Its a really good year for berries (due to the wet summer we had last year?).

June 4-5, '10

Hot and dry, hitting 90 on Friday and 92 on Saturday with only one quarter of an inch in the rain gauge.

Garden
After getting only a hand full of green beans the weekend before, this week Sally picked about two gallons. Wow! She also got the last of the radishes (too big and hot for me), a couple of smallish onions, and a few beets. A bell pepper had fallen off prematurely. She pulled up all but one collard, but the worms are going to get it too I am sure. She forgot (or didn't want any more) of the summer spinach. (That black walnut growing in the garden, I'll leave until winter and then move it.)

Mow/Weed Eat
I only mowed the upper level -- I hope I can get through the lower road next week. I took this picture thinking I would show a before and after, but forgot the after. I also tackled the back hill with the Poulan weed eater and fixed line head. (Smaller line worked better.) That's some real work. I didn't get to the upper road and cattle guard, that will really need it next week. (I got a tick from the high grass just getting out to put the chain up at the cattle guard.)

Berries
I continued weeding around the berries, and spreading more newspaper. There were a few red raspberries, but they seem to be drying up on the vine. The blackberries are looking good. I wondered the fields looking for wild raspberries, but didn't get enough to collect. Saw the cactus blooming on top (yellow) and ran across 4 young armadillos though.

Sprayed
I sprayed the apples for fungus, but didn't get any herbicide on any of our villainous plants: knapweed, thistle, sumac, or buck brush.

White Oak
Saturday I took my McCulloch and Stihl into the back pasture where the huge white oak still lays. It was toppled two years ago this fall (Ike or one of those hurricanes that made this far). I had gotten just a little off of it and then our ice storm hit. I wanted to get some more short (18 inch) pieces for Amanda, thinking we would be driving up this summer. The whole tree was buried under brush and grape vines.

I didn't get quite a truck load from the tank of gas in each saw. Boy, was I whopped -- I'm not yet acclimated to this heat and humidity. Sally unloaded the whole truck as I split the larger pieces. That white oak sure splits nice -- even right through a limb joint.

Wild Flower
I'd like to know what this wild flower is. Its pretty thick on the hill just above the house, and in a few other places on the south facing slopes. Sort of soft and delicate.

May 28-29, '10

No pictures this trip! Hot for late May -- mid 80s again.

Garden
We had a half inch in the rain gauge, but the garden was dry. Sally did the watering and picking. Got our first green beans, only a handful but they sure were good. Got the last of the broccoli and pulled up the collards. Both were being attacked by some little green worms. Sally soaked the broccoli in salt water to get the beggers off. Lots of volunteer tomatoes, and some of the onions are developing nicely (others not so). Of course we harvested lots more spinach.

Mow/Weedeat
So boring, but it has to be done. The clover is so thick around the barn and down by the creeks it is hard to get through it even on the highest setting. I think I will have to weed eat the upper road again next weekend.

Weeding
I did some more weeding around the berries and spread more newspaper. I got one red raspberry that was so luscious. It looks like there will be a large crop of blackberries, domestic and wild.

Peaches
They were about the size of golf balls and had already broken a branch from the weight. I decided to thin them out by removing every second or third one. Picking them was tough and sometimes pulled bark from the limb, so I used some garden snips. I culled 250 from the Alberta! I'll be happy if I end up with 20 after the critters take what they can get. Still need to look into an electric fence.

Sprayed
I forgot to spray the apples, so hope the fungus want set in.

Sally asked what the purple flowers were below the spring. A viney form of thistle. I started spraying it and found tons and tons of through that area west of the road, and noticed more below the road and back to the east below the barn. Of course Sally got on to me for spraying chemicals. I even found a large patch of sumac in there, and bunches of knapweed (which is about to bloom). I wonder if I will ever be able to get the upper hand out there.

Cookout
We cooked curried turkey burgers out and noticed several flies -- something we rarely see out there. Sally said others have talked about how the flies are bad this year. Great.