garden pic

Esme at where the gate used to stand

She is going to be PINK with sunburn the way she is refusing to come inside.


Misha dog supervises, and digs holes


Mark going uphill with the tiller
Esme trying to show him a green taffy candy she got from me

Mark is really out there pushing the Cub Cadet to till up the garden. Esme is watching him and being very good about staying out of the way, mostly. Misha dog is helping some and digging her own holes as well. I took a pass at the garden yesterday with the tiller and Mark says it is much easier today after the ground is partially broken.

There is something in the wellhouse that needs fixing plumbing-wise. I have taken a good look at it and it does require a bit more parts than we have on hand. I'll buy them at work next time I am there and set the project for the next nice day. It is the valve leading to our garden hydrant, and it is broken just after the shutoff valve from the main well. However, there is another shutoff valve between the main one and the hydrant which has a slow leak at the handle when the water is on. So - replacing that shutoff valve would also be prudent. But, that means having a shutoff on hand (we don't right now) and there is another non-necessary area which is also broken further down the line just after ANOTHER shut-off valve, which is okay, but too closely coupled to the broken pipe to be used again.

I still feel hot and tired from the previous week - like I could sleep the day away. I hope it is not anything more than just exhaustion. I FEEL hot but am not running a temperature. I'm measuring right underneath 97 degrees, which is a normal temp for me (cold-blooded, or something).

We have started nearly 75 tomatoes and 18 peppers in the garage, and a few marigolds to put between the tomatoes to keep bugs away. The tomatoes are 'Roma' hybrid breed, 'Oxheart' heirloom breed, and Brandywine heirloom breed. The first two are sauce type tomatoes while the third is a slicing. The peppers we started were a hybrid 'mix' package and I don't really want a lot of those plants but do want a variety of the ones we will have. We will direct-sow the rest of our marigolds, beans, corn, zucchini, carrots, squashes, cucumbers and anything else that ends up in the pot.

There are several other 'big' things we need to do. Mark has a chainsaw to rebuild, get that hydrant working, mix black earth into the garden and put the fence up around it with the gate working again. We have a big week ahead of us, or two.