One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

There are days when all of my good intentions are for naught. Early this morning Patty and I set out to have a walk with our little dog Dinah before the rain started. One quarter of a mile into the walk, of course, it started to rain. Not just a sprinkle but rain with a bit of gusto. So back to the car we went. When we returned home to our gardens that are suffering under a moderate drought, was it raining? No, of course not. Well, after a cup of Starbucks dark roast my engines were reving so out to the gardens I went. My intention was to cut down the corn stalks from the first planting now that we have finished harvesting them.

On my way to the corn I noticed that the espaliarled peach tree was in need of some summer pruning. And then when that was finished the espaliared pear tree next to it was screaming out to be pruned too. And then on my way past the oriental pear tree I noticed that the branches were bowed down with too much fruit. So I thinned every other pear on the branches I could reach from the ground. The higher up branches will have to wait for me to bring a step ladder.

This is where the story gets interesting. I noticed that the wisteria tree was in need of a summer pruning with stems reaching out in all directions. When it came to the branches overhanging the juniper bush I made the mistake of stepping on it to get at the wisteria branches. What I didn’t realize until it was too late was that I was also stepping on a hornets’s nest. The fact that I was only stung once in the ankle and once in the hand as I tried to swat the hornet away from my leg is a bit of good luck. It could have been much worse. So into the house for some ice and Benedril. Not to be defeated though I ventured back out to the garden, albeit in a different location, to dig some potatoes.

These Potatoes are Kennebecs, a second early variety. This is the harvest from four potato plants. this is not nearly the number of potatoes I usually get and I believe that it has to do with the fact that we are in the middle of a moderate drought. You can see that some of the potatoes have a bit of scab on them. My garden soil pH is near neutral and potatoes need soil that is much more acidic. Sometimes the result is a bit of scab, but it is only cosmetic and once they are peeled they are good to eat. Another potato has a green section. It must have beeN exposed to light as it grew. This green section is not edible and so has to be discarded. And then there are the potatoes that run afoul of the spading fork when being dug. They need to be eaten soon. Supper toNight! Now for a nap as the Benedril is working on me.