can't get it wet compression bandage I had on my nose. Sally did come out that Friday to water and pick and sweat. She said there was a big rat sitting in the rafters of the garage watching her the whole day. She only got 8 peaches off the Alberta, squirrels or coons had gotten the rest. She picked a few off the huge volunteer down the hill, but they were still very green.Hot applied to this weekend as well. Sally saw the thermometer hit 99. I even came in for a break Saturday afternoon. And no rain at all in the gauge.
Watering
Boy was it dry. I brought a sprinkler out and bungied it to the garden fence. I planted the rain gauge in the dirt and then let it run a couple of hours, which amounted to almost 2 inches. The next day I tied it to the opposite fence and let it run about an hour. I also ran a little sprinkler I have on the Gold Rush apple and 3-in-1 pear, and let a hose drip on the baby Pixie Delight apple, the other apple which is probably gone (tiny apples hanging on but all the leaves were dead and dried), the baby buckeye, the 3 dogwoods, the new baby maple, and the barely surviving Japanese maple. I filled the drip bucket twice on the baby oak in the back, but I am afraid it may be a goner since it has lost most all of its leaves. And then there was hand watering of peonies, disobedience, rose, northern red oak, and the six year old maple. I really don't like summer in the Ozarks.
Peaches
The big volunteer had been cleaned out during the week. The little volunteer still had some nice size peaches that were still green, so I picked about a dozen. Many on this tree were just drying up and dying. Not sure if these will be edible or not.
Blackberries
I didn't see any, though Sally did find a couple. The bushes are stressed from the heat and lack of water, and the raspberries are really burned up (they may be goners). Sunday I pulled grass around more plants and laid out newspapers, holding it in place with cedar sticks from the fire pile. Sally says I am wasting my time and the blackberries in the wild don't get that kind of attention. But this is my yard, and that bermuda will just take over.
Apples
The apples on the Gold Rush are looking good. But apparently that is also the opinion of the wild life, as there were about 8 on the ground, some partially chewed on. Of course they are still real green, but I can eat them. I picked up the ones off the ground and picked a few more to make a pie. We'll see if there are any left the next weekend. I'm thinking I should get a trap next year – and start using it in the spring to thin out the competition for my fruit.
Garden
We picked buckets of cherry tomatoes, and quite a few regular ones. But, the bottom of many of the stripies were rotting. Many of the bell peppers are burning on the side facing the sun and are left with a thin brown skin on that side. Only one has actually turned orange this summer. No more green beans, they were all too large and tough (though we did cook some up for Tender), 1 more onion, a few hot peppers, and some black eyed peas – though many were just a few days from being ready. Unfortunately the basil was struggling with the dry weather, but liked the watering. We had some summer spinach with our eggs, but its not looking very good either. I also weeded the garden Sunday morning.
High Wheel
I took this beast down the road and then around the barn. I kept pulling the spark plug wire off when getting under the fence. It can sure take down the weeds, but it is really tough to wrestle on un-even ground – and that's mostly what I have. I almost tipped it over several times. I'm wondering if I should have just gotten another big brush whacker.
Mow and Weedeat
Before mowing, I sharpened the extra set of mower blades and put them on. That's a slow process with my 6" bench grinder, and I probably could have done more, but I was anxious to get started. I mowed everything except the very back behind the house, the spring, and the section across the road from the house above the spring. It was so dusty I wore mask. As dry as it was, I still had to use the highest setting on the low section of the road down by the creeks where the big sycamore is. Sunday I went ahead and sharpened the blades I had taken off the day before – since the grinder was already out.
I finished weed eating the back hill, which had only partially been gotten two weeks before.
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