July 1, 1998
Sorry I haven't written in here for a while. I have been doing lots of traveling during June and am getting ready to go away for another week. I have asked Gene to post updates here for me while I am away. I will archive June when I get back.
The beets have all been pulled, and I haven't had time to try to plant more. The corn isn't doing as well as before, mainly due to the strong winds we have had a lot of this year. The foot-long green beans are doing wonderful, so we are picking a lot of them. The purple hull pea leaves are being eaten rapidly. The okra is beginning to grow much sturdier and more rapidly, due to the heat. The carrots are growing slowly this year. My tomatoes are growing and starting to produce quite well. And the cucumbers are starting to take off, too. And the bell peppers are being picked almost daily. We only have 3 bell pepper plants.
We had about 1 and 1/2 inches of rain yesterday, and another 3 inches this morning. Gene won't have to water for at least a couple of days. I'm sure he's happy about that. See ya in about a week or so!
July 3, 1998
I picked two peppers yesterday. The green beans aren't doing very well. They are being eaten up by bugs. The foot-long green beans are covered by wasp during the day. That may be why they aren't being eaten by the bugs. I haven't noticed an abundance of leaf hoppers this year, but there are a lot of grass hoppers. There is now black plastic between the rows. We received another 1/2 inch of rain on the 2nd.
July 8, 1998
I'm back! Gene picked lots of green beans while I was gone. I picked a few last night, and the cherry tomatoes are doing great! I also picked a few bell peppers and cucumbers. They are growing fast right now. So are the okra plants. It is mostly the purple hull peas that are being eaten up. The corn has worms in the tops, but the rest is good.
There was about 2 1/2 inches of rain that fell over the 6th/7th. The garden still has water standing on some of the plastic. I am so glad to be back!
July 13, 1998
I have picked lots of foot long green beans,and the tomatoes are coming along rather nicely so far. The cucumbers have managed to get some mealy bugs on them, so I will be spraying them with a soap-water solution tonight. The corn (what corn we have this year) is being attacked by corn earworms. And the purple hull pea leaves are continuing to be eaten by 'something'. My butterbean plants are growing rather nicely, and putting on quite a few blooms, but no beans are growing. The okra is doing wonderful. I already have some pods to pick today.
We got about a half inch of rain, Saturday. And the temps have stayed pretty hot and VERY humid around here.
July 17, 1998
We have had very little, if any breeze (day or night) for a long time. Today, we had a nice breeze, which made the humidity much more bearable. The temps have remained in the 90's for what seems like forever, and they say 100's are coming. The air has been so thick with humidity, it feels as if you could cut it with a knife, or swim in it!
The corn is drying out and most of the ears have been eaten up by earworms. The tomatoes have been losing their blooms, due to the heat, and the same goes for the bell peppers, although we have been picking quite a few bell peppers, and they are nice-sized this year. My cherry tomatoes are doing okay, but I have caterpillars eating the fruit. I think the carrots just forgot to grow this year, as they grow quite a bit, then they just stop. The butterbeans are still blooming, but no bean pods are forming - yet! The purple hull peas are doing much better, now that the heat has picked up so well (ugh!) and the okra is liking it, too. The foot-long green beans are still producing quite well. I haven't seen an earthworm in weeks! I think the ground temp is just too hot for them near the surface. It is staying around 85 degrees, and it is just too hot to keep it moist for them.
In the flower beds, the coleus are doing wonderful, and my aloe vera is doing okay. Most of the petunias are doing well, but we have managed to get some caterpillars that are eating them up. Looks like Gene's silver mound and lamb's ear are doing okay, as are his and my rose moss. The geraniums seem okay, so long as they get enough moisture to keep them going. They are growing quite slowly right now, though. And, of course, the marigolds are absolutely loving this weather - as they always do! Some of the marigold bushes are already about 2 feet tall. I just hope they don't get too big for themselves again this year and start falling over from the weight every time it rains or dews heavily. I will be on a trip this weekend, so will write more at the beginning of next week when I get back. Have a good weekend, and don't wilt! You might watch out for those caterpillars, too. When they run out of plants, the only thing they will have left to feast on will be humans! *G*
July 22, 1998
The grass is green........the bugs are mean. etc., etc., etc. *G*
The okra is growing like wild, and the purple hulls look like they are going to make it. I already have some turning purple out there. The "more-than-a- foot-longs", as Gene calls them are doing great. The cherry tomatoes are starting to produce quite well, and the other tomato plants aren't too far behind, although it has been hard for them to keep their blossoms, due to the heat. Same for the bell peppers. Occasionally, a bell pepper will fall to the ground a bit prematurely, but it is large enough to keep. The butterbeans still aren't producing, although the vines look beautiful. Too bad I don't care too much for vines, unless they are providing me with some chow.
Temps today got up to 107 here around 2:30 or 3:00 pm. Of course, it got hotter, but that was the last reading I got to see. It was actually nice, though, with such low humidity levels. Tulsa said 102 was the high for them. Gene and I have had to keep the pond cooled with fresh water and we have had to water the garden daily. We have had no rain in a long time. A "chance" is forecasted for tomorrow. Haha! The humidity is nearly bearable, finally, due to lack of rain, etc., and it's now supposed to "possibly" rain. Figures!! We'll probably get rain just so the humidity levels can rise again. Right? *G* Have a nice day!
July 26, 1998
The temp was up to 106 yesterday at 6pm. It wasn't quite as humid as it has been, but it was humid enough to be uncomfortable. We got a little bit of sprinkle-rain a couple of days ago, and the humidity was horrible.
I figured out the corn wasn't so good this year, because I usually plant it later - in June or early July. The green beans and purple hull peas are doing great - loving the heat. I still haven't figured out the butterbeans this year. The vines are lovely, but there are no beans. The tomatoes are dropping their blossoms, as are the bell peppers. We have had to water daily to keep the soil moist. It is terribly dry this summer.
We have a couple of young blueberry plants - about 2 years old - and one is turning brown on the outer edges of the leaves, and it's working inward. We have been watering it, but it looks like it might have a disease. The other one has been fine, so far. Does anyone know how to correct the problem with the one? We are new to the blueberry thing and could use a little advice on it. Thanks for any suggestions.
In the flower beds, the coleus is doing great and turning into it's usual bush style. The dusty miller is dying. The pineapple mint is seeding. The rose moss is dying from the heat.
August 3, 1998
The garden is doing - "okay". The green beans are spreading out. The okra is growing rapidly now, and the purple hulls might pull out of it. Now, if the tomatoes will just hang on and PRODUCE!!!!! The heat has been a bit more bearable lately, thanks to some clouds and a trace of rain last night and this morning. But the humidity is awful.
I cut some of the corn plants down last night, since they were pretty much done. I found some butterbeans on the plants, finally. One of the cherry tomato plants seems to be doing better than the rest. The basil had lots of the fuzziest white caterpillars on it, and I had basil growing up and down each row, so I decided to cut it all down.
August 21, 1998
I have been gone (on genealogy research trips) for most of the past month or two, so my notes have been rather scarce. Sorry about that.
The green beans are growing so rapidly I can hardly keep up with them. I am getting about 3 quarts (cut up) per day. The okra is spreading out into huge trees. I pinched the plants back once when they were about 1 1/2 to 2 feet tall, to help them bush out more and they are producing accordingly. The cherry tomatoes are doing pretty good, too. The bell pepper plants are sagging from the weight of the peppers that are growing. And the cucumbers are doing pretty good, for the problems that bed has had the past couple of years. The butterbeans are beginning to produce better, now that the vines have clustered up so thick I can hardly find the bean pods. The purple hull peas are finally coming along, too.
AND THE LADYBUGS ARE BACK!!! I have had quite a few aphids lately on my butterbeans, but now that the ladybugs are back, I am no longer worried. The hummingbirds brought their friends and new families with them this year, too. Life is good.
August 24, 1998
The butterbeans have gone mad. There are so many beans growing on the vines I am shocked. The vines are more like bushes this year.
Gene and I have been pulling up old plants and he has been putting most of the compost under the black plastic between the rows so the food from it can go into the root systems of the plants in the rows. Also, it is easier to put down this way, since our plants have gone wild now. I have "gobs" of cherry tomatoes busting out everywhere, and the plants have grown to about 6 feet tall already.
Our pesky, little, territorial hummingbird is back. We were beginning to think he went somewhere else for the year. One of the first to return was the guy who lets me know when the feeders are overflowing (when the air pressure forces it out) and when the feeders need new nectar in them. He always buzzes around in front of my face (when I first step outside) to let me know. We have some really tiny ones this year, too.
September 4, 1998
Notice anything different? The picture you see above is my hand-drawn picture of a ladybug larva. The actual critter is only about the length of the bottom three sections of the picture. They are very small. Some look a little different in color and design, but that is the general look of one. Sorry it took me so long to figure out how to change a .bmp to a .jpg.
The garden is still doing pretty good, but we are having to water regularly, since it hasn't rained in ages, and the rain we got a while back was small in actual quantity. The temps have been in the upper 90's and the lower to mid 100's. We have had very little breeze lately.
I picked more bell peppers today. Yesterday, I got about a quart of butterbeans, and three large pockets full of okra. We only have about 7 okra plants, if I remember right. The purple hull peas and green beans and tomatoes are still doing great. We are about to have way too many cherry tomatoes to eat them all. I like that kind of production. *G*
September 5, 1998
I got up early to work in the garden today. I spent over two hours watering, and only managed to dampen the first inch or so of soil. I transplanted some flowers from three rows (which are vacant of veggies right now)to other locations in the garden, so we can go ahead and till up the rows that we are letting sit. We have another load of compost, which we will be tilling into the soil, when we do. I spent about four hours in the garden so far today, and am nowhere near done, and I haven't picked anything yet.
When I was picking some of my beans the other day, I saw a few ladybug larvae, which is what reminded me to get the picture up here. We have had a few aphids start hanging out on the beans, so I'm glad the ladybug babes are back to have a meal out of those aphids. I also spotted one on my cucumber plants today.
September 7, 1998
Today was a big day for the garden. First, I picked some veggies, then I turned on the soaker hoses and FORGOT about it. Talk about giving the garden a drink!! At least I had it on a very slow pressure!
Later in the day, Gene and I (mostly Gene) cleared the area of three rows that we haven't been using for a while and he tilled it all up - all three rows and the walkways between. He added a load of compost from the ComposTumbler before he tilled it. He had a long day before he started, so he says he's gonna finish it up tomorrow. It looks great! We are going to let that area just sit, unused, for the rest of the season.
September 11, 1998
The butterbeans are still producing quite well and the tomatoes have been making more than I thought. The cherry tomato plants are heavily covered with little tomatoes. The okra has already slowed down quite a bit, as the temps have dropped. The foot-long green beans have slowed down, too, as well as the purple hull peas.
Overnight, on the 9th/10th, the temp got down to 50 degrees. It seemed very cold compared to the 100+ temps we had been having during the days. The daytime temps over the past couple of days have only been in the upper 80's and lower 90's.
September 12, 1998
Not much going on in the garden today. We were going to try to till up some extra area for next year's garden that we have kept under black plastic this year, but the day was gone too soon, and by midnight, we had about 3/4 inch of rain, with lots more to come. FINALLY. But, there won't be any tilling going on until the ground dries back up somewhat.
September 14, 1998
We got over 7 1/2 inches of rain from midnight (the 12/13th) to midnight (the 13/14th). That makes a total of 8 1/4+ inches of rain, so far. My rain gauge was full and splashing out at one point, so I don't know for sure how much more we got. The high temp for the 13th was 72 degrees. Upper 60's overnight. All around gloomy day, with more rain forecasted for today.
September 17, 1998
The total rainfall for the 36 or so hours during Saturday night through Monday morning was 9 inches or more. But, it was a slow, saturating rain, so we never had any runoff. It just soaked into the ground. The temps have varied from 50 to 88 degrees ever since then. My garden almost makes me want to cry. My butterbeans aren't growing anymore since the cooler weather hit. Neither are my green beans or my purple hulls or cucumbers. The okra rebelled at first, but is adapting finally. The tomatoes don't seem to care much about the weather right now. I have a multitude of aphids and ants that have taken over my bean plants.
The hummingbirds haven't been seen around here since Saturday evening. I just filled my feeders Friday and Saturday, too.
September 20, 1998
Gene found a watermelon growing under the ComposTumbler today, when he was working in the yard. He also cut back or cut down much of his flower bed. Some of the basil plants were about 4 ft. tall and wide, as well as the lemon balm and some other plants.
Three of the spider lilies my grandmother gave me are blooming. They are such a pretty red. Gene has some coming up in his flower bed, too. The cherry tomatoes are heavy with ripe tomatoes. I pulled up my cucumber/radish/carrot bed yesterday. It had too many problems over the past two summers.
September 21, 1998
My butterbeans have gone mad again! I went to search for beans again today, and my vines are much taller and more thickly tangled. I found no new beans on the plants, but the vines have gone out of control! Some of the green beans are covered with aphids and ants. I was going to spray them down with a strong water flow today, but the skies have been promising a good, strong rain, if the storms make it out here. The purple hull peas still haven't come out of the slump from the cooler weather, even though the temps have gone back up to the upper 80's (although they feel like the upper 90's, due to the humidity). I picked about a gallon of cherry tomatoes today.
In my flower bed, the coleus is doing great, and the aloe vera has quite a few babies growing this year. The plant is between 1 1/2 and 2 feet tall, and the leaves are very wide and very thick. I get a lot of compliments on it. The spider lilies are still blooming.
The marigolds and petunias in the garden are still doing well. So are the white geraniums. The ornamental (purple) basil has been cut back many times and is still getting crazy on us. I have pulled up quite a few basil plants, and the roots have gone out as far as 3 feet in all directions. They are seeding, and I don't want to be picking a forest of them next year.
September 22, 1998
Last night, we got 2 1/10 inches of rain. The temps before noon here got up to 67 degrees this morning before dropping again. The present temperature (at 2pm)is 62 degrees. We have a light (5-10 mph) breeze from the north. We have had more rain today, already. We got a total of 2/5 inch of rain by midnight tonight. The temps had begun to rise (still in the mid-60's) by midnight. What a gloomy day!
It looks like I will have to go blast the aphids off the green bean vines, tomorrow anyway, since the rains didn't come down hard enough to do it for me.
September 27, 1998
I picked about another quart of cherry tomatoes and two quarts of okra again today. There weren't many purple hull peas, but there were about 1/2 a quart of foot-long green beans. My butterbean vines are now over 5 ft. tall bushes, and over 4 feet wide, with little blooms all over them. See my new Pics Page to find out more about why they would be so large in size. No rain. My thermometer has gone wacky, I think, as it said it was 109 degrees at noon today. I won't know for sure, even by watching the news, as we are usually a bit hotter than Tulsa, even.
October 2, 1998
I guess my thermometer didn't go bad, after all! It seems to have worked perfectly, since the day it said 109 degrees. Either it went bad for one afternoon only, or it was correct.
We got about 1/2 an inch of rain a couple of nights ago, and yesterday, we got about 2+3/4 inches. Then, this morning, we got another heavy rain. It has been much cooler the past couple of days. I haven't even had time (between all the errands I have been running) to even check on the garden. I have to get out there today and pick veggies. I'm sure I have waited too long on some of the stuff.
A couple of days ago, I picked a ripe super beefsteak tomato that was about 5+1/4 inches across and 3 inches tall. We haven't had a lot of regular tomatoes make this year. We have had loads of cherry tomatoes, though. I cut some of the green bean plants down a couple of days ago. The aphids were getting too heavy on them and the production was down, due to the cooler weather, so I figured it couldn't hurt to cut down that end of plants. Vines and all, I only cut down about 3 or 4 plants. I still have quite a few left. I should have lots of butterbeans ready to pick soon, if the cool weather doesn't knock them out.
October 4, 1998
Lots of greenery in the garden. We got 4+1/8 inches of rain in the garden a couple of days ago (or was that yesterday? *G*) It seems like it's always raining!!! Well, it's about to storm here, again. It's 6:45 am, Saturday.
October 11, 1998
My purple hull peas, foot-long green beans, and okra were not liking the recent colder weather too well, and were beginning to die off. So, Gene and I pulled them up. All I have left growing in the garden is my cherry tomatoes, which have slowed down considerably in production; bell peppers, which are still doing well; butterbeans, which are soon going to have a multitude of beans ready to pick, and my regular tomatoes, of which there are very few tomatoes left growing on the plants. That is fine, as it will give us more time to do more things around the houses that need to be done.
I have been considering planting some more greens in the garden, since the chances of finding worms on them in the fall are much slimmer than in the spring. I know it may be a bit late to plant them, but I am considering it, nevertheless.
The temps have been in the 70's and lower 80's for the past few days, and in the 40's at night. We got about 7 inches of rain during the storms on the night of October 4/5. (The weather man said so!) That was the night there were tornadoes in Oklahoma.
October 14, 1998
The temps have been in the 80's in the daytime, with the ground temps only up around 70 or just above. At night, the temps have been in the upper 30's to lower 40's, with the ground temps dropping to the mid-60's. Today, we have had a 5-15 mph breeze most of the day. The wind has been out of the southeast, mostly.
The butterbeans have LOTS of ladybugs all over them. I haven't seen so many ladybugs in years! All the tomato plants are having problems with the night temps. Some of the bell peppers are beginning to show signs of the weather getting too cold at night. If this keeps up, I will be pulling up all but the butterbeans soon. Gene is anxious to till up the whole garden, anyway. *G*
October 21, 1998
Temps around here have been in the 30's at night and 60 - lower 70's in the daytime. IT'S COLD OVER HERE!!!!!! WHO OPENED THE FREEZER DOOR??????? TURN THE A/C OFF!!!!!! (I'm okay. Just had to get that out of my system. *G*)
We are planning to tear down the tomato and bell pepper plants soon, and maybe the butterbean vines, too. Time to till it up!
October 25, 1998
Well, the weather has cooled down, and what's left of the garden is actually doing okay, but we are planning to tear everything down within the next couple of weeks so we can till it up. (I may leave the butterbeans until they can't stand the cold anymore!) It has been down to at least 33 degrees at night, and even pretty cool a couple of days back.
I have lots of roof work to do around here, and other things before winter hits. I will be updating this page less now, until next spring, but I will try to keep you up-to-date on what we have done with the garden. Thanks for visiting my page and don't forget it's here, as I still plan to keep you as informed as I am. *G* (Anyway, isn't it time to get out and start your Christmas shopping?)
October 28, 1998
I guess I could still keep you up to date on the weather. I will try to keep a closer eye on the temps, too. We got 1 inch of rain today. We are supposed to get more rain over the next week from the looks of the forecast. Temps have been pretty comfortable to cool.
October 29, 1998
We got about 2+3/5 inches of rain today.