Thursday, April 28, 2011

Assorted things

All those tomatoes I raised so carefully and pampered in my bedroom?  Not doing so well.  One of my readers said they had tobacco mosaic, a form of blight; could be.  I set a bunch of them out, and some were absolutely being reborn as they grew new leaves.  Others, not so hot.  And then something, perhaps cutworms, decided to take them all down, the good, the bad, and the ugly... like a lumberjack chops down trees.  I've never had a cutworm problem before, but there's a first time for everything.   So today is our shopping day; I believe we'll head to Blue Springs and buy some tomato plants.  Hey, I tried.  I think next year I'll skip all the mess of trying to raise my own seedlings and let the professionals do it.  Oh, and when I set my new plants out, I'll be putting paper cutworm collars around them.  At least my pepper plants are thriving!  
Morel mushrooms are loving this cool, damp weather.  Nephew Michael is finding lots of them every day; I get to pick through them when I want morels for dinner, and he sells the rest at the going rate of $25 a pound; we all win.  Trust me, anybody who is physically able to climb those hills and hollers on the back of our place deserves $25 a pound.  
Cliff and I had planned to travel to Le Sueur, Minnesota, this weekend to one of the biggest tractor swap-meets ever.  However, there's a  50% chance of rain for Saturday, the main day we'd be there; Cliff doesn't want to drive eight hours (he hates travel) when there's that much likelihood of rain.  So we'll pass.
On the up side, Friday looks like an absolutely perfect day for a motorcycle ride, so that's what we'll be doing if the weather-guessers know what they're talking about.  Temperatures near 80, not too windy, sun shining.  I would love to have taken a three-day weekend to go to Arkansas on the bike, but they are being flooded so badly, I think we'd need a boat to travel there.    
I have day lilies and iris getting ready to bloom, and my pink hibiscus is sending forth shoots.  The Crimson King maple tree Cliff bought me for mother's day last year is leafing out nicely.  At my age, it's good to be able to see another year and notice trees actually making progress year by year.  Cliff made fun of me for planting trees because of our age and how slowly they grow; I told him if I'm lucky, I may even live to see the Golden Rain Tree bloom.  That will be my next goal; I have no idea how long that will be, since I only became acquainted with this type of tree two years ago.  
So that's your update on what's happening around here.  I'm going to put on some clothes, get the dog, and go for a walkabout around the yard and garden.  

4 comments:

  1. Too bad about the tomatoes. It is a lot of work and then have that happen to them. Hope your Friday is a sunny one. It's supposed to be nice here too but only in the 50's. We had a couple of warmer days but they were stormy. Enjoy your walk this morning! It sounds like it is lovely there.

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  2. Glad you are not in the flood zone. I knew you were close to the river from all the trips you and Blue used to take there so that's why I wondered. We are right beside the Penobscot River but are high on a hill so the flooding here doesn't affect us.

    Thanks for the info on Naomi Judd's situation and glad that you didn't have that kind.

    Those morels look so good cooking! I've never had any so don't know what they taste like. People around here pick fiddleheads on our property and sell them to the grocery stores. They are way too deep in the woods for me to pick, I'd never find my way home! lol!

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  3. I never do well with seeds, myself. Sorry to hear about your tomatoes. Hopefully the plants you buy will take hold without problems. Sounds like a wonderful day for a motorcycle ride. Have a good time.

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  4. We cheat and buy the plants! Nothing better than home grown tomatoes. It spoils you for the store ones. (yuck)I'm not sure I've ever had a morel mushroom. :)

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