Thursday, July 8, 2010

Farm Report… And Bad Hair Day

Yep… I promised the next bad hair I’d show you would be mine and it will but first things first.  Tipper, feel free to use any of these garden photos you’d like on Blind Pig And The Acorn.

Sunflower, donkeys and phlox 018 This photo was taken on the 28th of June,  the good day squash is on the left and the bad day squash is on the right.  Just to the right of the bad day squash is okra and black eyed peas planted alternately.  The squash is still getting good sun because it gets from mid-day to late afternoon west sun so I don’t worry about it being in too much shade for good growth.

Sunflower, donkeys and phlox 019 Look at all the squash starting to come on…  this is a good day plant.

Sunflower, donkeys and phlox 021 Another good day squash plant.  Spud helps me out by checking for mice, gophers and snakes…Sunflower, donkeys and phlox 022 This is the littlest bad day squash.  It’s hanging in there and it is very healthy, but it is probably a tenth of the size of the good day squash.

Sunflower, donkeys and phlox 024 This is the other bad day squash.  It’s about half the size of the good day squash and it is setting on a bunch of baby squash.  Four out of five of the good day seeds made and only two of the bad day seeds survived from planting day until now.

Now today’s photos…

g-b squah 7.8.10 Good day on the left, bad day on the right.  The biggest bad day is about 2/3rds the size now of the bad day.

bad day squash 7.8.10 Taken from the other direction the bigger bad day squash is hanging in and producing and has filled out enough to be almost indistinguishable from the good day squash on the right and the okra and black eyed peas plants.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 010 The littlest bad day squash is now producing but is still so small compared even to it’s companion bad day squash but it should be noted that it is a testament to the strength of it’s seed that it has survived and is now producing squash.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 013 There’s squash!  This is the bigger of the bad day squash, the flowers are now going on to baby squash.  Another 3 or 4 days and they will be ready to go into the salad or to bake in a squash casserole or fry up in the skillet with sliced up new potatoes and onions… mmmmm, I’m almost drooling just thinking about these choices.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 019 Good day buds…

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 015 Huge amount of babies and another testament again to the organic seeds that were donated for this experiment.

I could go on and on about the fun I’m having with the squash but I did promise bad hair.  I need to set up the scenario first, though.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 007 The front garden from the driveway in front of the house.  Looks kind of like a jungle out there…

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 008 Okra!  And some squash and flowers on the right and behind them are the tomato vines that were featured last week. We’ve had a terrible fight with squash bugs and the squash plant there in front that is yellow is succumbing to their onslaught.  The good day/bad day squash have been able, with a little help from us, to fight off the squash bugs and remain healthy.  Very impressive since we lost two other plants besides this one.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 024 Here ya go, folks… My bad hair day.  I was in a lot of hurt today with the storm front coming in and spent most of the day in bed sleeping because I don’t hurt when I take my drugs and sleep.  I had gotten up about ten minutes before this photo was taken and hadn’t even brushed my hair… just came out to take photos before the rain came.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 025 My Cuz came out to do some weeding and I asked her to take photos of me in the okra so Rick could see that, yes, the good Lord willing and the creeks don’t rise, there will be a big crop of okra.  Lucky and Spud help me give you a size reference.

gb squash and garden 7.8.10 026 I really don’t have enough hair with my summer cut to look really bad, but a promise is a promise and this is the worst my hair has looked in a while.  I usually at least run a brush through it when I get up but I didn’t even do that because I wanted to get photos for my farm report before it rained.

Okay, okay… that wasn’t really fair since you can’t really see my hair. I guess if I can show y’all my butt I can show you my bad hair day so I snapped these on my web cam on my computer.

WARNING!!!  Put down any food or drink to avoid having to clean off your computer screen.  You may also want to have eye drops handy to help take the pain out of your eyes…

100708-201804 No, that isn’t a halo behind my head… just the sheen from the overhead light in the bedroom.  This shot and the following have not been edited…  You have been officially warned.

100708-201907 

100708-202115

100708-202131 and even I cant believe that I shared with you all this glory…

Wouldn’t you just love to wake up looking this awesome!!!

12 comments:

Tina said...

i think it looks pretty artsy stylish myself :) Tina

joanne said...

quite impressive...all.of.it!

Sharon Rose said...

Helen, your garden is very impressive!

Your hair is definitely the style of the year!

Reddirt Woman said...

Tina, I'll take all the kudos I can get. The friend that cuts and colors my hair just about fainted when I said it's time for a summer cut and I think the #7 blade on the clippers may be just about right. I told Carol yesterday that it's time to get my hair trimmed again but then we've been having weather in the high 90's with heat factors 105 to 110 Fahrenheit. It's about 5 minutes outside and the sweat is dripping off every thing...

JoJo my friend! Thank you for the compliment. I will say that it sure is easy to wash the salty sweat out of my hair and I'm saving on shampoo and creme rinse. Love you Lady J.

Thank you P.S. It's good to hear from you. I have truly enjoyed how the garden has grown this year. The food we have enjoyed has been wonderful... broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, new potatoes, radishes, onions, squash and now the tomatoes are coming on and the okra and black eyed peas are really taking off.

As to the hair... if I'm in style it is a total accident. I'm just trying to be comfortable and keep it easy. I've never been very good at styling my hair.

Lonicera said...

I've discovered your secret Helen, go on, confess: you see your hair in much the same way as your vegetable garden. A bit jungly, stalks of different lengths and not all facing the same way, but DEFINITELY not allowed to run amok. Oh, and trim but not full of wildlife amidst its fronds...
(Think I'll quit while I'm ahead...)
Caroline

hetty said...

Hmmmm. Not too bad. At least I didn't have to clean my computer screen. It's quite stylish, actually. I like having my hair short, at any time of year. I love being able to get out of bed and brushing or not brushing my hair and no one knowing the difference.
Love your garden report. Things grow so much faster in your region.

The Wildwood said...

Hey Helen people pay good money to have a bad hair day! Looks good to me!
Garden looks wonderful!

Tatersmama said...

Wow! It's all impressive! I just love okra, and seeing those plants has my mouth watering for some fried okra - and it's not even breakfast time yet!

And your hair?? I have an appointment to get my hair cut here at home next week, and I swear, I'm gonna ask Sue to give me a slightly longer version of your cut! With the mentalpause and everything, my head sweats constantly, so a short cut would be perfect!
SERIOUSLY... I LOVE YOUR HAIR!
I might even share the pics. ;)

Roslyn said...

Both your veges & your hair, stunning!

Reddirt Woman said...

Caroline, I love your theory and no, there are no critters in the fronds... but yes, my hair does look kind of wild and jungly in the morning...

Hi, Hetty... I don't know about things growing faster here but we definitely have a much longer growing season here than in Canada. I do like keeping my hair short but in the summer as far as I'm concerned I could have it buzzed off even shorter.

Thanks Karen... if I need to spiff up the hair for an occasion I just get out the mousse or gel and I can do something with it. I never was any good at doing the curling iron or doing the styling thing. The garden is beautiful even if it does look somewhat like the place 'where the wild things are'...

Katie fried okra is one of my favorite things in this world. I don't think much about food, although you wouldn't know it to see my 'love handles', but fried okra and fresh, home-grown tomatoes just makes my mouth water thinking about it. Short hair and menopause just kind of go together, don't they... I swear even my eye lids sweat. And you are welcome to share the photos if you'd like.

Roslynn you are one of the kindest people I "know". Thank you for the kind words.

Tipper said...

Hey-I like the hair!!! Looks much better than mine does on most days and that's the God's honest truth.

Love all the squash pics and the details too. Man your garden looks good!

Reddirt Woman said...

Tipper we have had bookoos of rain... not enough to drown everything but enough that I probably haven't had to water more than a dozen times and now the heat is kicking the okra, tomatoes and black eyed peas into high gear and helping the squash to produce even more. It is so much fun to see the garden just growing so wild and beautiful and producing enough to share with a lot of people.