too hot to blog, and not in a fun way

Hosting an ice cream social tonight. It may be 105 by then.

Been working tons, and playing little,

plus if it's not 7 am or 7 pm,

it's too hot to be out,

so not a lot of photography is going down.

Kinda like so many other species in summer,

slowing down, laying low, standing in cool water,

waiting for it to pass.

Me and the hens.

Here's a TINY, tiny creature that is way tougher than I.

A caterpillar on an indigo plant in the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

Hope y'all are staying cool (or at least comfy)

wherever you are. =)

xoxobb

tomato stitches, you know you're a hick when, and harvest shots

  
1. Here are pictures of one of the self-suturing tomatoes. Still amazes me. And, btw, how RED is that? =)

Perfect, tiny stitches. Honestly, biology NEVER ceases to amaze me.

2. You know you're a hayseed when...

... you are cleaning out the chicken coop, and to prop the door open, you use a corn cob.

All I need now is to knock out a front tooth to complete the picture. =)

3. Outdoor-oven-baked veggies

It will be well over 100 degrees today. Happy fall (-down-dead-from-the-heat)! Chicken pool day, for sure.

Poor garden is getting cooked:

3 days ago I DEEP watered it and yesterday dying leaves appeared on the tomato plants.

Yay.

Watered again yesterday (some) and will water again today (the rest and maybe start again). 100 dF yesterday plus single digit humidity = water magically disappears.

Here's the 3 sisters plot (corn, squash, beans) this a.m. with (sun-beaten) tomatoes in the foreground:

Clearly the squash is making a break for it, crawling up the fence. Once it gets out of the fence, though, thirsty deer snarf it right up, so it's never gonna happen.

SOME day the corn will be ready... the (few) beans are already drying.

Here's the watermelons with my (not so) dainty sneaker for scale.

Still not ready (tap tap tap go my toes), but a good number of the little guys. And they're so cute!

4. Aphidphreakout

Yesterday I had a kind of uncool moment in the corn plot.

I saw an ear that had all this black on it, so looked closer, expecting a pigment or soot issue, and it was aphids. LOTS of black aphids. EEK! Gross.

Well, see, there WAS a ladybug there, so I should have just left and let him/her stuff his/her face, but was sufficiently freaked that I grabbed the ear, the ladybug flew away, and I hosed it down to get them all off NOW.

Should have waited. oop.

5. Today's harvest:

my favorite shot

mmm... leaves....(snarf, snarf)

I also could have harvested a bunch of jalapeno peppers and some basil, but don't know what to do with them, yet (including the pile of peppers in the fridge), so I'll wait.

6. Fall/winter garden happenings


So far have only planted broccoli--tiny cotyledons have poked their heads up, lately being brutally beaten by the crazy hot sun. Poor things.

I just hope they survive today (the hottest predicted day) and make it through to this weekend, when it should be less oven-like.

I really need to Today I pledge to go through my seeds and select 1-3 things to plant in the very near future. I have one very small plot prepped and ready to go, and I may yank a few squash soon to stuff that plot with root-plants.

The rotation order I follow is PLMR. P is potatoes (which I don't grow, but also is for tomatoes, peppers, any nightshades), L is legumes/brassica, M is miscellaneous (which includes squash and melons), and R is roots.


In the mean time, I just want to keep my chickens and plants alive through this last BLAST of summer.

How's your summer/fall transition going?

=) xobiobabbler

You'll NEVER believe this...

I certainly didn't.

Tuesday I plant "three sisters": squash, beans, corn in one plot (well, 60% of one plot). Seem to recall average germination is in the ball park of 9 days (off top of my head) so figure I'll be watering dirt for some time.

This morning (Sunday) I see about 3 things coming up, that look like this:

What?!? I KNOW that is not squash and I know that is not bean and I know it is not our ordinary weeds. I think:    The CORN SPROUTED in 5 DAYS?!?

Woah. That is IN-sane.

I had NO idea it could be that quick.

So I note that, freak out, water things, and then take off for a hike.

Spend the next 8 hours away, driving to, then taking a great hike in, Yosemite NP (and I'll be posting lots of pictures from that soon).

I return, let chickens into their yards and freshen up the water in their "pools" ('cause it's so freakin' hot) and go water the garden.

THIS is what I see in the 3 sisters plot:

baby squash!!

that's more corn sprouting, partially hidden by dead grass (I'm so clever...)

more squash and corn

Color me shocked!

AND, I think the sunflower seeds have also sprouted, and I planted them WEDNESDAY!!

Check it out:

Has anyone else had an experience like this? Please lemmeno if you have.

I know it's been hot, but really...

wow.

Stunned and Amazed by Nature, as ever,

biobabbler


P.S. So, next day I'm not exhausted from the hike: Burgess Buttercup Squash "Days to germ" = 5-10 (so that's on target, but the EARLIEST possible time); Good Mother Stallard Pole Bean Dtg = 8-16, which makes sense as I've not seen it yet; and last but not least, Hopi Blue Corn Dtg = 7-10. So, the corn is officially ahead of schedule and the squash is not, but WAY on the earliest possible day. Beans: still thinking happy thoughts, hoping they'll a) arrive, b) not get eaten by everyone as tiny sprouts.
PPS I was wrong on the sunflowers. This morning (Monday) I now see them up, and they look a little yellow, not great, so we'll see if it lasts. Gave them a good soaking, so maybe that'll help?

It's 100 degrees outside, why are you watering?!?

  
Because it's 100 degrees outside!

Some of the beds with seeds (that must be kept moist) are ALREADY DRY from when I last watered them--THIS MORNING!

oy, it's hot.

(pant, pant)

biobabbler

ps poor chickens! but they have their wading pools in the shade...

they don't call me biobabbler for nothing...

   
it has been SO HARD to NOT talk on Mumday. Yikes. So, won't post till Tuesday, but must write now.

SUMMER PANIC/baking blather

1. Who turned on the "HOT" and "IT'S SUMMER" switches while I was away? Holy cow!

2. I now MUST buy the swimming pools for my hens, who can experience heat stress at 80-something degrees and it's already hitting 90. And it will def. get over 100s this summer, like every other summer.

3. I am NOT kidding re: kiddie pools. They LOVE to cool their feet in the cold water and drink it up. It's adorable. And then they stop standing with their wings held away from their bodies, and their beaks open. It's good. And, really, SO adorable.

4. I'm not ready!

5. My garden isn't started!

6. Farewell to spring (the flower, a.k.a. Clarkia spp.) is on OUR PROPERTY! Spring is OVER! =(

7. I need cooler clothes. Jeans are WAY too hot. And I never shop. Hm.

Anyhow, we didn't make it to Yosemite Valley Sunday.

Had some required chores 1st thing and by the time we would have left, it would have been Major Zoo, so skipped. I'm thinking I'll try to get there this week some time M-F so it'll be quiet. Might need to bring my swimsuit in case it's bakey.

I'm also thinking of taking up biking 'cause it generates a breeze and is different and fun, so maybe I'll see if I can get my bike a tune up (and new tire) and bike my buns around the valley.

Okay. So, I am now vowing to YOU to get the YARTS bus schedule so that I can take public transportation to the park this summer, also bringing my bike if possible. How cool would that be? And of course my camera for y'all =). And $$ for the world's largest iced tea.

Got (as in bought) my Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day book (Hertzberg and Francois, St. Martin's Press) and I'm psyched to try it.

A wee bit warm for baking, but why not? Life's too short to adhere to seasonal styles if they don't suit you. =) Just so long as it doesn't mean you're taking the planet down with you (as in eating blueberries from another hemisphere...). Actually, talked with a friend re: you wanna bake bread when it's cold, but it rises better when it's warm. So, there ya go.

To show you that I am actually serious, here's what I bought today, and I'd not even HEARD of it until I read it in my new book yesterday. =) More yeast experiments coming up!

Okay, is it me, or does Bob's Red Mill rock hard, or what? They have the coolest stuff, sometimes fairly uncommon ingredients that I suspect would otherwise NOT be locally available to me in the sticks, so even we hillbillies can bake cool stuff. AWEsome.

And their Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal (which happens to be gluten free) is AMAZING. Honestly. YUM. (I assume you'd guess but this blog is SO not underwritten. Mostly powered by enthusiasm and chattiness.)

So, how's that for your random update?

=) bb

P.S. Are there any summer (or winter for you down southers) traditions you've already busted out for the season? What are they? Any you're looking forward to?
P.P.S. We may go to "the east side" this weekend (Mono Lake and vicinity). Hoping!! (that's a summer tradition I adore!)