Thursday, September 16, 2010

This and that

Cliff got our pasture seeded Sunday and Monday; it was mighty wet for him to be working the soil, but our sandy soil drains quickly and he got the job done.  Grass of any kind needs, ideally, to be sown by September 15, so he got it in just under the wire.  Tuesday the rains came, over 2 1/2 inches.  The pasture ground is not level, and we both figured half the field was washing away.  As it turns out, the rain came slowly, and there was only minor erosion.  
Yesterday it rained again, almost an inch in the course of the day.  


Again, the rain came slowly.  So far, so good.  All this rain should have that seed germinating in record time; once the grass and clover is up and growing, the danger of erosion will be reduced.  
Cliff has been having a lot of back pain lately.  He has a history of back pain, ever since he worked at the butcher shop and was the only person big and strong enough to move beef quarters from one rail to another.  But he's been able to manage the pain.  Now he has a hip bothering him too, and it sometimes pops when he's walking.  I'm pretty sure what that means, but I'm no doctor.  I do have experience with osteoarthritis, though.  
Anyhow.  We've never been ones to go to a chiropractor, but Cliff decided to try one while we still have good insurance coverage.  We'll see how that goes.  His first visit was yesterday. He experienced some relief immediately following the treatment, and he goes again today.  
It seems as though it takes forever for daylight to arrive now.  I was in the habit of going outside with my coffee and checking the garden and flowerbeds to see what little miracles had occurred while I was sleeping.  These days the coffee is long gone before it gets light enough to see.  
On the garden front, I'm feuding and fussing with a mole who insists on making his run right under my row of fall beets.  The miracle zucchini is producing better than ever, and I am celebrating the fact that the squash bugs have not bothered it.  
I'm only getting a couple of tomatoes each day, and they aren't very pretty.  But they still taste better than store-bought.  
We're getting garden-fresh green beans, and these recent rains have given the eggplants new life.  I've blanched a couple of gallon freezer-bags of sweet peppers to use in stuffed peppers this winter.  
My little garden is giving us lots of free food, and I'm thankful for every bite.  

5 comments:

  1. Your rain has moved up our way today bringing us some relief from the dry spell we've had. It's so dry that not much is growing here. I am already going to bed earlier due to the shorter days. The sun sets at 7:30 and I miss those extra hours of daylight.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Good morning to ya. I sure do envy those mornings you can drink coffee and and watch the sun come up. lol. I'm busy getting ready for work and trying to sneak in a blog entry. Our garden has not done as well this year. I think George did something to the soil that threw it out of balance. We have tons of butter bean sprouts but the beans are just not happening. The tomatoes did not do well. The squash and peppers were the only thing that did well. We froze some of the squash, so I'm looking forward to eating that this winter. Have a great Thursday! I gotta doc appt. :-(

    ReplyDelete
  3. Lindie8:09 AM

    I love the feeling of a full pantry due to "free" food! And a full freezer too! Didn't love it so much when I was working 9 to 5 and then picking and canning until midnight! just saying!

    ReplyDelete
  4. We truly had "free" food yesterday when we picked the voluntary cantaloupe that had grown up amongst the tomatoes. We didn't have to buy the seeds or the plants!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Suggest to Cliff that he look very hard at what he is wearing on his feet, particularly at work. Replacement of a worn (but not "worn out") pair of work boots with a new pair with an orthotic gel inner sole virtual eliminated my hip pain after a few weeks. I'm just saying ... his mileage may well vary.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments!