Farm Report, Obit And Happy Flowers...

Things are looking bleak for my 'good day' cucumbers. We are on our 27th day of + 100 F. heat and most days there has been at least a 5 to 10 m.p.h. wind to further dry things out. I tried to make sure that I was getting both the 'good day and bad day' plants the same amount of water but the way the 'good day' plants have faded I must have miscalculated. I'm still gonna pour the water to the 'good day' to see if I can bring it back because the first cuke that Carol found was very good flavor, not at all bitter and Carol is the connoisseur of cucumbers in this house. I enjoy them in salads but I don't have the discernment of flavors like Carol.
This poor brown twig is my wigelia. It couldn't withstand the heat. It is a first year plant, it even flowered for me but it was one the tail end of where our sprinkler range was and it got even less water than the good day cucumber, and this was the result of me being down or having doctor's appointments and not checking every day. Needless to say I repaired the cut hose and now can get water to the far end of the back yard but I'm afraid I'm too late for this youngster.





Now here are the 'bad day' plants. There are two of them that came up as opposed to three 'good day' plants and these are going nuts. They got more water due to the hose being okay where they were but I'm amazed at how many blooms and babies cukes are loaded on these two plants. So, Tipper, while my experiment with planting by the signs was flawed this year due to my health problems but hopefully if you do another experiment next year you will keep me in mind... after all, you got me back to blogging and I can't thank you enough for that.


The flowers on one of the bad day plants. The leaves are mostly looking good. There are a few burned up leaves but for the most part it is holding up good.

Be sure to drop by Tipper's blog, Blind Pig And The Acorn, to explore how other intrepid gardeners have done with their experiment. There's always good stories, good music and recipes.







The white cone flowers are loving the heat.













As are the pink cone flowers...
















The plumbago and the yellow and white lantana are enjoying the heat.


















I love the blue with the yellow and white...














And, of course, the sunflowers are loving the sun and the heat.

You know I'm not loving the heat. I have trouble dealing with it so I stay in most of the day. I go out and move the sprinkler around and go back in the house. Then later in the evening I do hand watering if it's needed. Carol gets up way earlier than I do and she goes out and waters early in the morning so that is probably why we've managed to keep the things alive that we've kept alive so we are a pretty good tag team when it comes to gardening. Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed this Sunday stroll. Come back and visit anytime.

Update And Update...

The first cucumber... and I didn't find it. Carol was out in the yard and she checked out the vines and found this fat little guy. Being the size queen that I am you know I have to put something in the photo for you to be able to get an idea of the size hence the cellphone. Carol is cutting it up for salad so I will be able to give you a report on it's tastiness. This came off the 'bad day' vine which is probably triple the size of the good day vines now. I tried to make sure they were both getting the same amount of water but the only thing I can figure is I misfigured on that facet of their growing. We had 21 consecutive days of 100 F. heat or higher, only getting broken yesterday when we, thank God, got about 2 inches of rain. It has been hard getting water to everything on a daily basis. I have felt so punk that Carol has had to do the major portion of the yard with the exception of the garden and I have managed to go out and set the sprinkler and move it periodically. I've done some of the weeding and grass pulling but Carol has done a whole lot more and from her wheelchair... makes me feel pretty useless some days.

My liver biopsy has been scheduled. I'll go in on the 19th for the biopsy. I don't know how long it will be before I get results but I don't imagine more than a day or two. It's amazing what the medical people are capable of doing nowadays and I So know my GI is as anxious as I am to get this resolved. I don't think it's because I asked him where my kiss was before my colonoscopy... He told his nurse that was her job. You should have seen the look on her face before I cracked up. I just told him when I was there for my blood test results that I was ready to find out what was going on and he said, "So am I", so I know he's concerned and wants to get to the bottom of this liver business.

So you all know as much as I know now and it's all just a matter of hurry up and wait... but that's okay because I know you all are supporting me and standing with me. I can't tell you how much that means to me, nor can I thank you enough.

It's Farm Report Time Again...

As you know, Tipper over at The Blind Pig And The Acorn is having another planting by the signs experiment. It's cucumbers this year in case you missed my first post.

Let's give the 'bad' day cucumbers a chance to be first for once. There are two plants that made it and are starting to grow pretty good despite being planted on the 'bad' day. I fight to keep the grass away so each time I go out I weed out a bit more. Don't want grass to get the water for the cucs now.




These are the 'good' day cucs. There are three and of the three there is one that is especially vigorous. They are sending out tendrils to climb the pickets and the plants themselves are about twice the size of the 'bad' day plants. I'm fighting the encroaching grass here also. It would help me out if we weren't having 100F. weather on a daily basis. Four of the last five days have been 100 F. or higher. That means it only cools at night to the high 70's of low 80's and since I'm one of those late sleepers it's pretty much hot and I only stay out a bit at a time.

The 'good' day plants are loading up with blooms. I'm looking forward to fresh cucumbers before long...














I found one almost bloom on one of the 'bad' day plants. It's in the center bottom third of this picture. Just to the right of the finger tip below my thumb... I won't tease anyone who doesn't see it but I will try to duplicate the photo when it is open so you can see where it is. I almost missed it and I was there, touching the plant!


For the fun of it I'm going to share pictures of some of the other stuff on our little piece of the world.





A sunflower Carol planted from seeds is just getting ready to share it's beauty with the world...














Two types of Mexican Blanket flowers. The big ones are new to us. The smaller pink ones we've grown before but the new ones are big in comparison.















This is a joyous little yellow flower in the coreopsis family.... I don't remember it's given name I just know it makes me smile... a lot.












This plumbago has proven to be just a delightful plant. It's light blue blooms seem to love the heat as long as it gets it's drink of water. We planted it close to a couple of yellow and white lantana and they look so good together. Again, please ignore the grass. We are working on it.










Here's the neighbor of the plumbago. This plant and one like it almost didn't make it through the first of the heat waves... but thankfully we were able to pour enough water to them because they are now blooming their little stems off. It's wonderful.









Last but not least for this post anyway... gotta have some red flowers here and there to brighten up my life. This lantana is such a wonderful color next to the green leaves.

I don't think I'll ever give up the fight to get back to my old self as long as I can walk out in my yard and see colors like all of these that lighten my heart.

Being in a garden is about as close as I think you can get to being next to God.