Memories: Too Hot To Eat! Many moons ago when I moved into my first home in La Mirada, I wanted a garden. We had to room so I dug up a six by six foot spot. The dirt was horrible, pure clay. I looked at the garden books, this was before the internet. It said to apply “steer manure” to the ground.
OK, I went to the local lumber yard and bought eight bags of steer manure. I figured the soil was so bad that eight bags would be fine.
It took me an entire day to turn the soil and dig in the steer manure. It was early summer so I planted radishes and watermelon. Time to wait.
I watered the plot religiously awaiting the plants to pop up and they did. The radishes came first and then the watermelon.
Well, when I bit into the radish, I had to spit it out because it was firey hot to the taste; we are talking blistering, boiling, broiling, burning hot. I just assumed I got the wrong kind of radishes, I was not yet a farmer.
The sugar-baby melons began to form and they we a tad on the small size. I waited a month and decided to try one. One bite and again, spit it out onto the lawn where it burnt the grass. The melon was scalding, scorching, searing, sizzling. sultry. sweltering snf torrid; I could have patented it as a tongue remover.
I asked our Japanese next-door neighbor about what I had done; we owned a nursery. When I told him of the soil-to-manure mix, he damn near fell over laughing.
Time to check the corn and many of the ears are ready. Those that are not probably will never be ready because of the crazy weather, which made the top of the corn come out too early. The average ear of corn has 800 kernels, arranged on 16 rows, with one silk for each kernel. Corn, also called maize, has existed for about 7,000 years.
Did you know there’s an app for corn growers? It’s made in Sili-corn Valley.
Did you hear about the piece of corn that got in trouble? It got quite the earful.
We got our first corn; ate it for lunch!
We worked for two hours trimming and sprucing up the garden. Mary quit early, went inside with a collection of veggies, and made a terrific lunch from the garden.
Every morning at the salt mine.
I stayed outside and planted a row of beets thirty feet long just at the edge of the concrete. They should be sprouting in a week, and we will have beets all summer long. They are so good roasted we could eat them daily, and they are excellent for the old ticker.
The are easy to roast!
Wash them, wrap them in aluminum foil, and sprinkle in salt and pepper. Roast in an oven for one and a half times longer than a potato of the same size. Stick a fork through the foil to be sure they are tender. Unwrap carefully, cutoff the top and bottom, and the skin will fall off. Cut into whatever size you like; we like bite size and served with goat cheese crumbles.
We had some room and had some seeds; which means they get planted. I added potting soil to the dirt and dropped din the seeds. The plants will sprout and break the surface in about 10 days. In two months we will have a plethora of beets; we planted three different kinds.
We wanted beets at the end of the concrete to the right of the grapes,
At 1:00 pm, we took Scout to the vet to get his shots and get his ears examined.
We don’t think Veterinarians should be called doctors at all!“Dogtors seems like a more apt description, don’t you think?”
While he was with the doctor, we drove two blocks to the OC Farmers Supply and loaded up with new corn, many veggies for the garden, and some fresh flowers.
We went shopping for another meal!
While we were out, the security camera went off, and it was the UPS driver who helps Santa Clause all year long. We got our bunting today!
The security camera sees all.
Mary helped me unload the van as it was full! We had both cards loaded to the hilt and headed to the backyard. We work together very well like a well oiled machine.
Putting the fleet of carts to work.
We are thinking about a tricycle horn for each cart so we can blow the horn at the corners of the house to avoid accidents.
Paul got the heavy load.
After unloading, we went to Home Depot and bought 100 pounds of agricultural sand to plant more carrots. We also got another three large bags of potting soil to replace some of the dirt in the corn garden. Our work is cut out for us tomorrow.
We stopped by Ralph’s Market and got some groceries. Normally we would have visited our friend in Villa Park, but since she had not called, we assumed she was still sick and did not want to be disturbed. Maybe she will call tomorrow or Wednesday and join us for an outing to lunch?
While Mary cooked dinner, I installed the new bunting on the front of the house; it looks great. Even our neighbors commented on the decorations. One of the walkers stopped and asked about our under-the-eve lighting system!
Bunting installed!
We had a super dinner and decided we were too tired for the hot tub. We headed for bed at about 9:00 pm to get ready for tomorrow.
