What I did today

I had re seeded a portion of the native grass a few weeks ago and it is filling in nicely. With all the watering I was doing to get the grass seed to sprout, it also got weeds to sprout. So I gently weeded what I could today.Had to be done, as the weeds were getting big and overshadowing the new grass. Tricky work trying not to disturb the new grass babies. But I got quite bit done- one small patch to go.

Then I dug up those tulips, transplanted a few bachelor buttons and opened up a space for the echinops. It's a drought tolerant perennial and they are tricky to transplant.I dug up this one from the house in town, into a cardboard container and have babied it for 2-3 weeks, making sure it was vital and strong. Today I peeled away most of the cardboard it was planted in and slid the root ball into the hole I had dug. It was looking good after I got it in. We'll see what it looks like tomorrow.

Finished the day dead heading day lilies and roses and pulling some stray weeds in the flower beds. Got in to the house just as the rain was starting.

Watering everything was the key task for the day. No rain expected till - of course - the afternoon/evening of Thursday, July 4th.

Catching up on household chores today since it rained all day. Had gotten some dark cherries at our local store for $1.99/lb, that was a surprise for sure. Got about 7 lbs and sat down and pitted them one by one and froze most of them. They are surprisingly fresh. Went for a walk late morning between rain storms, did treadmill. Between walking and treadmill I'm doing 3-4 miles a day. Cleaned kitchen and wiped down all the cabinets. Cleaned fridge, then called it a day.

Did a quick garden tour, beans need picking tomorrow if they dry out enough. Back yard needs mowing. Eggplant and peppers are finally doing well. Onions aren't as good as usual, blame it on the weather. They got planted the same and same compost etc as in the past. I've even been giving them compost tea. The perennial grass bed is looking like a jungle, which The Princess loves exploring several times daily. The broccoli seedlings are 3" tall, still in the basement under lights.

And I noticed the Hibiscus is getting ready to bloom, 2 weeks earlier than usual.

Latitude33 , how much rain do you get in a monsoon rain storm? Enough to do a deeper watering for the deep rooted things or just enough to wash off the dust and cool things down? It varies here, but the past week or so we are getting some monsoons the have something to them.

I got quite a bit done out there yesterday, though I only picked the tomatoes from one plant - the Rosella - because I ended up pulling the plant, because it came down with a severe blight, that nothing else has gotten (KOW), and I have only seen this severe browning happen with one other variety I grew years ago - Yellow Plum - which I also had to pull early, and nothing else got the blight. A good # of tomatoes on the plant, and I waited until something was starting to ripen, until I pulled all of them, then pulled the plant. The photo I took didn't show much. Another plant that didn't do well was the tomatillos - they didn't set a single fruit, despite having the two plants next to each other, and even hand pollinated a few flowers (even though I see bees in the flowers all the time), and nothing happened! Today, while weed-wacking, I saw at least 4 volunteers, so I dug up 3, and replaced those 2 originals, plus that Rosella, that I pulled. After planting, I did a drenching of the plants and the soil with the Bonide Revitalize - hopefully, these volunteers are a little tougher than the originals.

My okra had a few aphids on them again, but were starting to produce. The 3 first pods, that I left on the largest plants, were hard, and at least 8" each, but I left them, just to be sure. Those are the ones I always save for seeds, before the other varieties are flowering, so no chance of crossing. And the Emerald had also started flowering, so it's just those first 3 Little Lucys I keep. After harvesting, I prepared a small amount of pyrethrin spray, and spread that on the okra, and around the base, to kill the aphids and ants.

Later, the last thing before coming inside, I sprayed some weeds with some 20% acetic acid. This kills most of the weeds, though the roots might require a second application.

After coming inside, I started breaking down my hydroponics - usually, I do this about 3 weeks before this. I cut out a bunch of basil from the two plants, and cut out all the tops, and roots, and then drained the tubs. Today, I took them outside, and later, when the shade gets in the area, I'll hose them out.
The end of the basil from the hydroponics, got a generous cup chopped up. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

This was the smaller of the rootballs, from the basils!
Some of the roots on one of the basil plants, from the hydroponics, 7-2. by pepperhead212, on Flickr

Today it's hotter, but still not quite as humid as it has been. And that humidity and heat is coming back, so I'll get all I can get done today!

Not much happening here today. We went out early this morning to pick up a few things for our early July 4th bbq tonight. Tomorrow we're supposed to get severe thunderstorms from around 2 p.m. onward, so figured we'd grill our burgers outdoors tonight.