Harvest Monday; July 25, 2016

Happy Monday to all and visit Dave at Our Happy Acres to see all Harvest Mondays.
Well I am writing this during lunch today at work so my spreadsheet is at home on my laptop. And since it is my lunch this won't be too long. At least I am posting more often now though :)
Hot. Dam hot!
That was last week and this weekend. More coming this week. No fun to go outside and immediately sweat. I did minimal work in the garden this week as 1) This weather is doing a pretty good job of finishing off the summer crops and 2) I really didn't want to be outside that much. I did do some staining on the pool deck yesterday but while I was wearing my swim trunks. At first it's refreshing but after a while it's not.

The Wife and I cruised the Raleigh Farmer's Market Saturday. We got there somewhat late (for us) but the local farms were doing well! And it's great to see this many people coming out.

Pulled our red onions out Friday evening. Got some really nice sized ones this year which makes me happy. Our onions have always been suspect. I only planted reds this year too and got the slips from Renee's Garden. Plan on getting some next year from them as well. 

I have pretty much left this bed alone after I picked the garlic except for pulling a few weeds. Those are volunteer marigolds. We didn't plant them. Maybe we shouldn't touch anything and see what happens. 

You want hot peppers? I've got hot peppers. I did a good picking on them for salsa I made Sunday and need to go out there again. 

Something has been eating my Sweet Potatoes and I'm not happy. Most are leafless now. Maybe design a fencing system next year. 

This was my picking from Sunday morning. See that big one on top? First Solar Flare that hasn't cracked this year. 

WOF of the Week. 

This goes out to Chewy this week. He had to go to the vet for an infection and as a result has to take medicine. One type is a liquid that the vet said he would love. He didn't. But he does love it with ice cream. He is one happy canine!

That's it for me for now. Until next time, stay indoors.

Jammin

That's what we are doing on the homestead this morning. We spent yesterday goofing morning around town; visiting the dealership to get an oil change, cruised the Dunn Farmers Market (got a plat of strawberries, more later) breakfast, big box store for a few things, and back home. We spent the afternoon working on craft projects and the garden some more. I will say that I am really going to give this a good effort this year. I think all of the rain last year pretty much did a lot of people in, lack of enthusiasm seeming permeating everywhere. And with the record- setting rain we had a few days ago, everyone is like "Shit." But an effort will be made.

I got all of the potato plants strawed out in the afternoon. I did encounter a few beetles here and there but not too many so I just picked them off and squished them as I went. Leave them like this until they are ready to come out of the ground.

Got the first cucumber bloom yesterday. These were a big bust for us last year so here's to crossing fingers for this year's harvest.

Amy did a lot of crafting yesterday and ended up finishing the chair idea of hers. We got two old chairs at the auction last weekend for $5.00 total and she turned one of them into this. 

Onto the strawberries. We have been some good pickings so far this year on our strawberries and since we love them, we seem to eat a lot of them. The idea behind the plat purchase yesterday was so we could combine it with ours and can some jam. So that's what we are doing this morning, canning. And from observations (read tasting) it's going to be good. All in all we did (16) 8 oz. jars.

We have actually considered getting some more stuff in the ground and selling our wares plus other items at the Farmers Market. We'll kick it around some more. Naming it has come down to two choices; Woflandia Farms or WOF Dog farms.  

Speaking of which. WOF of the week. We were outside working and guess who else wants out?

Yes, she got to come out but is pretty much useless helping us out.