A few weeks ago, shortly after I wrote about my garden suffering from dry weather, it began raining. Sometimes an inch, occasionally a half an inch, enough to give my sandy soil garden the boost it needed.
Yesterday I picked about ten pounds of snap beans; a half grocery bag of cucumbers, five pounds or so of zucchini and our first three tomatoes of the season. I could have dug more red potatoes—I dug a half sack last week, I could have dug more onions—how well they have developed. And I could have dug more beets—I also did that a week ago. But the day was hot and steamy, hanging just around ninety, so—Ruth and I quit harvesting early.
Two weeks ago the pumpkins showed nothing but blossoms, today they have pumpkins the size of softballs and larger. The pumpkin vines are everywhere, crawling up the sweet corn, snaking over the tops of the tomatoes, and sneaking under the fence on their way to the cabin.
Can you believe it, I have tomato vines five feet tall? Tallest tomato vines I remember for several years. We have 48 tomato plants. If they continue developing as they recently have, we will have tomatoes—lots of tomatoes.
But I know full well the hazards of gardening. This week’s joy can turn into sorrow with one hail storm, another spell of dry weather, a broken deer fence and a critter raid. So I must be careful. When people ask me how my garden is doing, I usually say, “Could be better.”
THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Keep things simple. They’ll get complicated enough, soon enough, without you intending that they should.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
August 10. 5 p.m., program at 6 p.m. Red Crown Lodge, 3852 Highway 51 North, Arbor Vitae, WI Preview of Ken Burns’ latest film, Prohibition. Discussion of Prohibition in Wisconsin. Free.
August 13. 5:30 p.m. Manitowoc County Historical Society. Horse Drawn Days
August 18, 7:00 p.m. Three Lakes Historical Society, Three Lakes Wisconsin. History of cheese making in Wisconsin.
August 21, 4:00 p.m. Arcadia Books, Spring Green, WI. Presentation and Book Signing.
September 7, Noon. Friends of Eagle River Library Banquet.
September 10, Barnes and Noble, La Crosse. 1:00 p.m. Campfires and Loon Calls.
September 11, Woodland Country School Reunion, 1-4, Speaking at 2:00 p.m. Two miles from Hustisford on Highway R. One-Room Country Schools.
September 17, Creekside Bookstore, Cedarburg. Book Signing, 1-4.
September 18, Creekside Bookstore, Cedarburg, Book signing, 12-3.
1 comment:
Shortly after you wrote about it being dry, it began to rain. Watch it! Please be careful what you write about. Bill
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