Fathers Day Feast, and raspberry questions

  Here is a basket of Red Norland & Yukon Gold potatoes, Walla Walla onions, snow peas, yellow squash & carrots harvested Saturday, and the same cooked up Sunday by Rita for a great Father's Day meal with the family. Add Rita's pork roast and yeast rolls, Katie's strawberry jello salad and Wendy's corn/avocado/etc. dip plus a fantastic frozen dessert made from ice cream, oreos, fudge & caramel sauce and Butterfinger topping!  A wonderful Father's day for Steve, Dave and yours truly.

  In the Fall 0f 2011, I planted 10 Canby thornless raspberry 3 yr.old plants, purchased from Willis Orchards in Georgia. Last year they looked healthy enough but did not bloom or fruit. This year they are prolific in growth, look healthy, and appeared to be ready to bloom and set a big crop. But they have looked just like these pictures for at least 4-6 weeks!

  I thought these red bud-like things would open to blossoms, but they never have. If you peel back the red 'leaflets" there is a very small green berry inside. Now, do I just wait and things will progress?
  This morning I called Willis Orchards. The lady who answered cut me off in the middle of my oration with  "I'm sorry but there is nothing we can do about that." NOT A GOOD START, MAAM!" After I said a few more things, she connected me to Jay. He put me on hold twice before listening for a bit. Then his response was that I should contact my county agent because something was wrong with my soil. I told him the blackberries, boysenberries, yellow raspberries and blueberries had no problem with my soil when I realized I was talking to no one. Dead air. I called back and told the lady that Jay had hung up on me, she said "Just a minute". After a bit, Jay said hello and I said "Did you hang up on me?"  and I was greeted with a second time of dead air. I called back a third time and the lady said they were having phone problems. Do tell! At least this time, Jay was more civil and we had a decent dialogue. It was obvious then that he wasn't the one to talk to as far as technical issues. So I emailed some pictures and he is going to have his horticulturist take a look.
  Also, Canby raspberries are listed as "thornless", but these are covered with short, very sharp thorns. The lady told me "All raspberries have thorns!"
  We'll see what comes of all this. If any readers have experience that relates, I would love to hear from you.

New Harvest

  The hot weather is bringing many of the garden crops along quickly. And it's also hard to keep up with the weeding, although we have had frequent enough rains that irrigating has not been an issue yet.

  Here is today's basket: onions, potatoes, carrots, snow peas and cherry tomato

  I pulled a Walla Walla and 2 Candy onions while weeding, for thinning purposes. The Walla Walla onions look great...and near 100% survival of the 50 sets.

The Candy onions are nearly as good, with maybe 90%.

The Texas Sweets are a near bust; I'll be lucky to get a half dozen, and the Reds aren't much better, maybe a dozen.

The Yukon Gold potato vines have started dying back just the past 2-3 days, so I explored a little and came up with those you see in the basket. Some really big ones...very nice!

The Kandy Korn sweet corn is not far from tasseling. I had planted a earlier variety but it didn't germinate, so this is the earliest we will have, but I have 4 plantings of 3 other varieties coming on and will plant 2-3 more times.

You noticed the little red cherry tomato in the basket? I waited too long to cage my tomatoes and it was a chore and had to sacrifice a few branches, but all survived and the Sweet 100 cherry tomato is coming on!

I have an Early Girl with some nice sized green ones, so not long until tomato time. I planted way too many, so we'll have tomatoes to give away.

I have picked asparagus nearly every day for 2 months, but stopped yesterday, even though tender shoots were available. Time to let the plants rest and replenish for next year.

Grand Kids, Scarecrow & Garden

  We had all 4 Grand Kids here overnight last night. Katie is recuperating well from surgery but still needs a break every few days. Brittany and Katie returned from church camp yesterday and Wendy and Steve are in Destin, FL celebrating their 20th anniversary; be back tomorrow. Today, Rita with some help from Jackson and Katie (while Brit watched Caleb) made a scarecrow to stand watch over the ripening blackberries. Pretty menacing guy!

  Looks like we'll have a bumper crop if we keep the birds away.

  Also looks like we will have a few blueberries....finally!

I kiped a few Red Norland spuds from under the vines. We microwaved these......kiped some more and Rita made a delicious potato salad.

We'll have summer squash in a few days from the first planting. the second planting is blooming and I planted a third time yesterday.

Of the 12 chicks we got in February, 3 turned out to be roosters. They are handsome fellas. Wendy is taking Big Red, and a friend is taking the 2 Black Australorps. The 9 pullets should start laying in 3-4 weeks.

Jackson graduated third grade at Cedar Hall School. A very nice ceremony for all 40 some kids, from 3rd to 8th grade.  http://cedarhallschool.org/  Look at this handsome guy!  All the kids memorized and recited a poem or scripture of their own choice. Jackson's was "A Little Brother Follows Me". A tear jerker!

Speaking of handsome guys, here is a little one that likes his bath time! The sun coming through the blinds gave him a halo effect! How appropriate ;-)

Here's a good picture of Caleb with Papa.

Gotta love it !!

Maple Tree Down

  Bummer! We had a rainstorm pass through about 5 AM. It didn't sound like much wind, just a quick rain that dumped  .7". But this is what we found in the front yard this morning:

  This 20 ft. tall red maple did have some canker damage on the trunk; apparently weakened it enough that a gust of wind took it down. There was no evidence anywhere else of wind and we didn't hear any.

  Here are a couple shots of the same tree the last 2 years in the Fall.

  Really hate to lose it. I just hope we don't lose any others.

Baby Toes

  Is there anything sweeter than an infants digits? Fingers and toes are such a statement of God's wonder. These little ones come into this world with such itty bitty but perfectly formed little features.

  Caleb is a healthy growing little guy. Well, not so little....2 months old yesterday and he's gone from a start of 9.5 lbs to a current 15 lbs! Do you suppose those feet will ever approach his grandpa's (me) size 14? Will those hands ever reach the size of his great-grandpa or even great-great-grandpa?

  We have all 4 grandkids here today. Katie has surgery this afternoon to remove "the bag" and reattach her colon. We pray all goes well.

Finally......A Good Hay Source

  After buying hay last year from 6 different farmers, and being disappointed to varying degrees with all of them, I finally found the right one! And Bill lives just a mile away! I bought 40 bales for next winter at $35 per bale. This is nice fescue and orchardgrass hay, cut May 15 and baled right. Bill fertilizes and controls weeds, which is rare around here. He has a customer base that takes most of his 100 acre production, but he sold me 40 bales!

This is one field

Wow...hay that is actually leafy, green and weed free !!

Next winter's hay, all lined up on pallets

I covered about 2/3 of it before a wind storm and shower stopped me. I'll finish in a couple days when it dries out well. Here I just got started.

This pink rose anchors the corner of the garden. It came with a large batch of red Knockout roses we planted 3 years ago. I moved it here and replaced it with a red one. I don't know what it is, but it is as hardy and carefree as the Knockouts, and really pretty.

The Knockouts are at their prime and the Day Lilies are ready to burst out in blooms.

We are still picking a lot of asparagus, spinach, leaf lettuce and strawberries daily.

Chicken salad with fresh homegrown greens again tonight. Supper time...gotta go!

Picture Friday - Rain & Blossoms

  Rain today....2 inches predicted through the weekend. I went outside between showers this morning to snap some pictures. It is always most beautiful after the rain.

Bogart enjoying a late breakfast while Baxter and Pandy check out the cameraman.

Remember this rose bed after pruning...

Same view today....

Knock Out roses on the berm are blooming well; day lilies are budding.

Potatoes and onions are thriving.

Can't wait for these luscious blackberries to ripen....

As well as the raspberries and blueberries...

  Yesterday I replanted the pole beans and sweet corn that didn't germinate earlier. Put in a few sweet potato slips and planted okra. The cantaloupe, cucumbers, beets and yellow squash are up and loving this rain. Tomatoes and peppers starting to get their feet under them. They should take off now that 85-92 highs and 55-65 lows are forecast following this rain. 

Garden Update...and Lessons Learned

  A gorgeous 70 degree day with all sunshine today. Supposed to be that way all week, then quite rainy the rest of the month.
  I think I get in a hurry! The early tomatoes and peppers I set out under cloches are no farther along than those I set out last week. Most of the early corn and pole beans are going to have to be re-seeded. Didn't even germinate. Next year I think I will check soil temperatures and be more patient.
  Some things are doing great. I hope the potatoes beneath the ground are doing as well as the tops above the ground. They are tall and beautiful. The asparagus is still producing daily, and the leaf lettuce and spinach are also doing very well. The strawberries are so-so....it's a battle keeping the birds away, and of the 4 varieties, only one is living up to expectations. I will re-plant most of them for next year. Any variety suggestions?

  Here is today's harvest with help from grandson Jackson and Obie. Jackson suggested we combine all these things with some walnuts and bleu cheese for a fine salad!

I have high hopes for a big blackberry harvest. Last night was 39 degrees, but there should be no more frost danger.

  Here's hoping the crazy weather is past us and not many of you were hurt by frost, wind or whatever else has been ravaging the country.

Duck Dynasty Connection

  This is a post I have been intending to make for some time now. Many of you are aware of the Duck Dynasty hit show on A&E Cable. I'm sure many of you are fans of the show.
  Our connection is this: our son, Dave, is Merchandising Manager for the Lifeway store chain, headquartered in Nashville. They are working with the Robertsons to handle a number of their books and such in the Lifeway stores. Dave and some co-workers recently made a trip to Louisiana to meet with the family. Here is Dave with Phil and Miss Kay in the kitchen of their home, and with Uncle Si.

Happy, happy, happy !

  These folks are the real deal. Although many of the situations on the show are staged, the people are exactly who they are; good, decent, Bible believing, straight forward folks.
  I have read Willie and Korrie's book "Duck Commander Family" and I am currently reading Phil's book "Happy,Happy,Happy".

  Here is a link to a U Tube video that Lifeway made of Phil speaking from the porch steps of their modest home. It has over 1/2 million hits.

Duck Dynasty - Phil Robertson speaks

 All in all, it's an amazing story. Their season finale show recently was the highest rated show on cable or broadcast TV for that evening. It's good to see success for a clean, family and God centered show.

10 Acres Is Enough

  I imagine this little book is familiar to many readers, but it is new to me. I haven't finished reading the entire book yet, but I am enjoying it so much.
  Edmund Morris published this book in 1867. He recounts his family's life as they sold their Philadelphia business in 1855 and became debt free, settling on 11 acres outside of Philadelphia. They proceeded to make a fine living off 10 acres of fruit tress and berries.
  In addition to the very interesting details of establishing this little farm, Morris imparts a treasure trove of philosophy and wisdom. I am sure I will incorporate bits and pieces into many future blog posts.
For starters, here is a good one:

  "I knew that I was not rich, but it was certain that I was not poor. In contrasting my condition with that of others, both higher and lower upon fortune's ladder, I found a thousand causes for congratulation, but none with regret.
  With all his wealth, Rothschild is compelled to be satisfied with the same sky that was spread over me. He cannot order a private sunrise to enjoy with a select circle of friends, nor can he add a single glory to the gorgeous spectacle of the setting sun. The millionaire cannot have more than his share of the pure atmosphere that I was breathing, while the poorest of all men can have as much. 
  God only can give all these, and to many of the poor he has thus given. All that is most valuable can be had for nothing. They come as presents from the hand of the Creator, and neither air nor sky, nor beauty, genius, health or strength can be bought or sold.
  Whatever one's condition in life, the great art is to learn to be content and happy - indulging in no feverish longings for what we do not have, but to be satisfied and thankful for what we have."
  - Edmund Morris in Ten Acres Is Enough