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I Really Love Your Peaches
I’ve been watching the peach trees ever since they were covered in blossoms to look for signs of summer fruit. This afternoon I went out to check, and to my delight, the older tree was covered in these half-inch peaches. The tree we just planted even had several fuzzy ones! I am crossing my fingers that we beat the birds and bugs to the ripe ones this summer. It also looks like my blueberry and strawberry bushes are in business…
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From Busyness to Malice – Separating from Community
In the song “By Thy Mercy”, J.J. Cummins writes: From the depth of nature’s blindness, From the hardening power of sin, From all malice and unkindness, From the pride that lurks within: By Thy mercy, O deliver us, good Lord, good Lord. Last night, I was on my way to deliver some tomato plants to a friend, who was volunteering at church, and was debating sticking around for the service. I was in preggers’ sweats and still a little dirty…
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Thursday is Planting Day
After Thursday, Raleigh’s evening temperatures are predicted to stay above 50 on the ten day forecast, which is perfect for tomatoes. April 1 is also our area’s last killing frost date. I still don’t have enough spots ready for all seven breeds I’ve started indoors. To avoid cross-pollination there should be about 20 feet between breeds, or netting should be used to block access for bees that travel back and forth between closely planted tomatoes. I may isolate a couple…
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Balancing Act
Having arrived safely into the third trimester, I realize that my giddy glow is rapidly transforming into a grimace. Coming off of two miscarriages, I’m reluctant to delve into the general “waaah” that many pregnant women feel is their right as the weeks count down, but I also realize that I shouldn’t manufacture a cheery disposition for the sake of proving my gratitude. I’m also learning there is a fine balance between being real and being rude. For instance, merging…
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Hot Box
We never did put hinges on the hot box (or is it a cold frame?), but I put it out yesterday and left the tomatoes in them for the afternoon and overnight. Not knowing how well the box retains heat, I was worried that the temperature had dropped too much for them overnight, but today they were still perky and even looked better than they did the day before. I brought them in this afternoon and will continue to take…
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Asparagus For The Rest Of Us
After two or so years of asparagus curiosity, Joe and I have planted a row of Purple Passion Asparagus. Asparagus should be planted in this region from mid-February to early-March, so we were about a week late. After reading about optimum planting methods, we tried to stick to those but budged on the dimensions of the trench and had not prepared the soil a year in advance. 1. Joe dug a 25′ long trench that was about 8″ deep (give…
