BBH 458
Blueberry Hill report. The season is getting late, the garden is “long in the tooth” and its production of veggies has slackened considerably. Even though it was uncomfortably hot today I was out cleaning out some of the very opportunistic grass that had invaded the good soil. Along with the grass and a few weeds, some brambles were trying to make a comeback and also institute a takeover.
Clad in my sun-blocking hat and shirt, this kind of work gets hot in a hurry and today was no exception. After a couple of hours I was soaked through and decided to go back inside while I could still walk. I had filled my large garden cart full of grass, weeds, brambles and dead or semi-dead squash plants. Their fate was to be dumped on the dead plant and decayed veggie pile.
The squash have almost quit producing entirely with just a few vines still alive. At the last picking only one squash was brought inside. I waffled back and forth about pulling the rest of them up and planting some winter greens – in a few weeks of course. In times past a few of the vines have come back for a small harvest late in the season – this event remains to be seen.
The cucumbers are on the downhill slide but are still giving forth a few of this green salad and/or pickling veggie. YD has made a good number of jars of pickles from this row of cukes. The okra plants are still doing fairly well and seem to love this hot weather. Tomatoes are still coming in but these late season taste orbs are getting smaller and losing quality – still very tasty though.
The blueberries are mostly gone now with only a few still remaining to be picked. I lost some of the harvest when I made the trip to MS for the reunion but not enough to be concerned about. Much work of cleaning out and mulching of these berry producers needs to be done in the dormant season upcoming. Of course then the temperature will be much more comfortable for the job.
The figs are right in the middle of their ripening season and are producing like “gangbusters”. In the latest picking session I took the 6-foot stepladder out to get the uppermost limbs but picked all I could reach from the ground first. This was fortunate because about halfway around the tree I chanced to spy a large wasp nest on a branch about 3 feet into the tree and 5 feet off the ground.
This would not have been pretty had I been on a ladder and not seen these emissaries of sting-dom. I went for the water hose, sprayed them and just reached in and plucked down the nest. By the time their wings had dried they came back to defend a home that was no longer there. I do pick figs with latex gloves to guard against the oozing sap and that helped in my bravery of tossing the nest.
On a walk-around of the place I noticed that the muscadines were just starting to ripen and I picked a handful to munch on while I surveyed the rest of my “estate”. Amazing is the only word that I can think of to describe God’s creation in the area of the plant world – well, maybe awesome would also be in there. But greater still is that He loves us humans and gave to us the best gift of all – Jesus! ec
Clad in my sun-blocking hat and shirt, this kind of work gets hot in a hurry and today was no exception. After a couple of hours I was soaked through and decided to go back inside while I could still walk. I had filled my large garden cart full of grass, weeds, brambles and dead or semi-dead squash plants. Their fate was to be dumped on the dead plant and decayed veggie pile.
The squash have almost quit producing entirely with just a few vines still alive. At the last picking only one squash was brought inside. I waffled back and forth about pulling the rest of them up and planting some winter greens – in a few weeks of course. In times past a few of the vines have come back for a small harvest late in the season – this event remains to be seen.
The cucumbers are on the downhill slide but are still giving forth a few of this green salad and/or pickling veggie. YD has made a good number of jars of pickles from this row of cukes. The okra plants are still doing fairly well and seem to love this hot weather. Tomatoes are still coming in but these late season taste orbs are getting smaller and losing quality – still very tasty though.
The blueberries are mostly gone now with only a few still remaining to be picked. I lost some of the harvest when I made the trip to MS for the reunion but not enough to be concerned about. Much work of cleaning out and mulching of these berry producers needs to be done in the dormant season upcoming. Of course then the temperature will be much more comfortable for the job.
The figs are right in the middle of their ripening season and are producing like “gangbusters”. In the latest picking session I took the 6-foot stepladder out to get the uppermost limbs but picked all I could reach from the ground first. This was fortunate because about halfway around the tree I chanced to spy a large wasp nest on a branch about 3 feet into the tree and 5 feet off the ground.
This would not have been pretty had I been on a ladder and not seen these emissaries of sting-dom. I went for the water hose, sprayed them and just reached in and plucked down the nest. By the time their wings had dried they came back to defend a home that was no longer there. I do pick figs with latex gloves to guard against the oozing sap and that helped in my bravery of tossing the nest.
On a walk-around of the place I noticed that the muscadines were just starting to ripen and I picked a handful to munch on while I surveyed the rest of my “estate”. Amazing is the only word that I can think of to describe God’s creation in the area of the plant world – well, maybe awesome would also be in there. But greater still is that He loves us humans and gave to us the best gift of all – Jesus! ec
posted by mreddie | 12:20 AM
6 Comments:
Hi Mr Eddie ~~ So the veggies and fruit are getting towards the end of their productive life. You have preserved a lot in the freezer for the time when there are none. I have not heard of muscadines- grapes perhaps, I'll have to google it..
Glad you are enjoying the Olympics and it is only for 2 weeks, so why not? Take care, Regards, Merle.
GO IS SO GOOD!!!!
I love muscadines! I need some blueberry pointers, we're thinking about planting some.
Please don’t end up with a sun stroke while attempting to obtain a few more mouthfuls of luscious eats! OK?
It all sounds so good. What an incredible blessing!
Glad you stayed safe while taking care of the nest/hive!
Your writing are so enjoyable, and such a blessing, that I'm passing an award on to you. :) (You can copy it off of my blog.)
merle - Muscadines are called a wild southern grape - they make good jelly and some folks make wine out of them. If they are eaten fresh only the inside is eaten, the hull is too tough.
jayleigh - We are in total agreement that God is good!
brenda - At one time I had 12 muscadine vines but now I'm down to 7 to make room for more blueberries. All my blueberries are "rabbit-eye" and I have at least 6 or 7 different varieties. I have grown them for over 25 years and the most important thing about raising them is to keep them moist when they are young and after that keep them cleaned out and well mulched with pine straw. My email is mreddie@bellsouth.net
SSN - I appreciate the concern but I do come inside often - maybe more so than I should. :)
momto3cubs - The wasps usually only get me if I don't know they are there - I was fortunate this time. Thanks for the kind words and I will do my best to receive the award - there are still many mysteries about blogging. ec
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