Summer is not officially here but some days feel like it anyway. Yesterday was close to 90, today will be warmer. At noon it is already 92. Before this week we had some days in the high 70's and low 80's which is more normal for early June I think.
Rhubarb selling has begun. Fifty pounds already. The buyer gave me a jar of rhubarb and pepper jelly that her sister makes. It's pretty, pink of course. She says it is not really hot, made with Fresno peppers that are a medium hot variety.
Strawberries were weeded this morning after harvesting and delivering rhubarb. While watering early this morning I mentally moved that job to the top of my list because I noticed they are starting to make runners and I don't want them and the bindweed to be all tangled up together. These strawberries have been a challenge to get going because so many of them were dead or almost dead when I bought them a few years ago, and then the weeds got ahead of me. I spread some compost around them last fall after cleaning out the weeds again and they seem to be doing well, growing, blooming and making berries as well as runners. Bindweed and quack grass grow like they're on steroids. And of course there are several others that take advantage of any bare ground.
The garlic has weeds again but not too bad. Yet. Given time the bindweed will twine it's way up the garlic and bind the leaves to the central stems and I don't want them to be stunted by weed growth. I also need to go along the row with my clippers to snip off the scapes I missed on the first trip through. So far it is just the Purple Glazer and the elephant garlic that are making scapes.
Ants: I finally resorted to a commercial ant bait 2 days ago because I need them gone! The weepy hose needs to be put under the plastic, holes cut and winter squash planted there as soon as possible. I don't want the ants to decide squash stems are tasty.
Box elder bugs: I spray my homemade mix and find more of them every day. Eggs are still hatching. How many thousands of those things are no longer crawling around? They congregate in clusters, sometimes several inches across, solid red bodies. They like sunny spots. I don't see many of the adults anymore. My guess is that it will take at least another year to get this infestation under control. I can't get them all and those survivors will mate and lay eggs. A few wasps have also died from my spray, however I have to be close and quickly give them 3 or 4 squirts of it because they have armor on their bodies. And I sure don't want to make any wasps mad while they are still able to fly.
My peas almost have open blooms. The wind has leaned them over somewhat but they are not on the ground. It's getting pretty hot for peas so I hope we will get a few dinners worth.
House painting is almost finished and our Alaska son has 3 more days here before going home. Our other son and his wife who have been living here in their 5th wheel trailer while she finished getting her Master's degree to become a Family Nurse Practitioner and secure a job will be moving in a few days. They will be on the Oregon coast, almost to California. They have been here for 2 1/2 years so it will be quite a change to have them gone. Before moving here to our place they bought and remodeled a 1917 built house in town so they were relatively close. They sold the house and bought the 5th wheel and the truck to pull it, paid off some school debts and have been here ever since. They will continue living in the trailer until they are able to buy a house.
Wild roses are starting to bloom along the yard fences. Some are yellow, both single and double, another single variety looks yellow or orange until they open to be red, and we have double white ones. Yellow and red are blooming now, the white ones are later. Behind a shed where we can't see it from the house is a huge patch of the double yellow.
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| Rhubarb pepper jelly by LysmachiaMoon | Jun 8, 2021 4:13 PM | 1 |
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