Rather full day of variety yesterday. While typing out my post in the morning squirrel came around on the deck. He was searching for scraps and nosing around the table and chairs. He hopped up onto a chair then he jumped to the hanging chair. It was the first time he had been on it so was funny to see him skittering around on it as it swung wildly from his weight.
Full load of squash once again. 48 nice sized ones got put in the cooler. The daily variation is interesting to me and I have to go back through my posts and note the varying quantities for record.
The cucumbers just keep pumping them out but I am getting a few wonky ones now here and there. I don't like to sell the super curled ones, I prefer them to be straighter and better looking.
Hours in the beans again finishing up the Roc d'Or and Compass rows. It netted me about 8 pounds from the last of the row.
My picking cart. The entire garden is sloped towards me so I am able to haul the cart back to the top of the row and then rolling down hill is pretty easy. I can pick 2 rows at a time and each pass takes up to 2 hours for the 2 rows.
The purple Velour beans produced okay but they are not the longest producing plants. The Jade are the longest producing of the bush beans. With this load though it puts me at 80 pounds of mixed beans. I need to pick the Jade rows still which will have at least 20 pounds in them.
Washed J's clothes and got them hung on the line. No dryer during the daytime in the summer is a basic rule.
As I stood there putting his clothes on the line I heard a plane inbound. I looked up to the east and there was the Boeing 777x test plane flying overhead with an escort jet on it's wing.
You can see directly above the tail of the plane a tiny little jet escort plane with it. They looked to be heading for either Spokane Int. or for Fairchild AFB. I am pretty sure the 777x has done touch and go's at the airport before. This is the second time I have seen it fly over our house but the first pics I could get.
My largest sunflower so far in the garden in one of the stand of Skyscrapers. The green bug was wandering around on it before I knocked it off.
With no rain in the forecast I set the sprinkler out in the garden to rinse the bean plants a bit. It was afternoon and the sun was behind me which gave me a killer little rainbow.
At ono point it created a a full arc rainbow but since the sprinkler was moving it didn't stay visible very long.
Pulled out the dish and brushed it off. The kale is getting stupid and I need to dry it again this year. The dish gets set out in the sun and works as a giant drying rack. The screen doors and window screens all need to be gathered as well for the project. Part of today will be locating them in places that will get good direct sunlight and heat. First though I have to clean off the horehound that is dried and still on the screens.
I have been missing one of our tux ducks at night when closing the birds in. A day or two ago I saw the area where she has been as she went paddling across the yard, tail up, neck bent back, quacking like a fool. The ducks will do this when they are off the nest for a break, they go running around and trying to move around a bunch since they are spending all their time sitting on the nest.
I edged her off the nest a bit to see how many eggs she has. Looks to be nearly 15. Hopefully she has been slumming with the younger males since our older pekin seems to be ineffective since the older ducks have had no good eggs come from him. The 4 older females sat on eggs for a couple of months with not one hatching.
Slowly but surely the tomatoes are ripening. This was the extent of them for the day but the plants are loaded so soon they should start ripening by the pail load.
Much cooler day today in the mid 70s so I am going to pick then spend time on the shed. I need to take advantage of the cooler weather today and tomorrow while I have it.
Fleming Family Farm
FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC
Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce
All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.
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I toured the Crystal Gold Mine in North Idaho many years ago, and the guide that the rials sloped slightly upward into the mountainside so moving the full mine carts would be easier. Seems like your garden cart follows the same philosophy.
I'm a fan of letting gravity do a lot of the work for me. Our entire lower property is sloped whereas the upper property is perfectly flat. I'm very thankful that I decided to change the direction of the rows in the main garden to allow for this.
I love old mines. There are a bunch of old school mines by where I grew up near Yosemite. A few miles from the house is Poison Switch which a sharp turn in the river that then cuts through the ridge and flows down into the central valley. In the ridge and around the bend is a notorious gold panning/mining area. Within 30 to 40 feet of the road are numerous open mines. Many have had rocks dumped into the entrance but a number are still open to exploring. None of these were of any size to allow for mine carts or rails.
Once the COVID craziness is done, you might enjoy a family field trip through the Silver Valley. Could be good fun for the kids, too.
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Our tomatoes are just starting too. Got 4# for the spaghetti sauce.