I had to take a break from the garden today--it was just too soggy. I went and got a pedicure, instead.

According to my wife, the time was much better spent, Linda.

I think if I went for a pedicure they would take one look at my feet and show me to the door!

I wear Crocs almost exclusively (sorry, Tim Gunn). I can slip in and out of them easily - important when it's hard to bend over. One day my doctor glanced at my feet as he came into the treatment room and asked me kindly why my feet were so dirty. I think he was concerned that I might be homeless and not able to bath regularly. I'm more careful to get the surface dirt off now before I see him but my toes and heels will never recover, even after a long soak and scrub. kb

Weedwhacker said:I think if I went for a pedicure they would take one look at my feet and show me to the door!

Me too!!

Nice surprise in my garden. One of five tropical almond seeds has germinated!! They are supposed to be hard to germinate so I'm happy to have one. Apparently It's edible but the nut is small and hard to get to. Probably better for birds to eat but excellent as a shade tree which is always welcome here.

katiebear said:Nice surprise in my garden. One of five tropical almond seeds has germinated!! They are supposed to be hard to germinate so I'm happy to have one. Apparently It's edible but the nut is small and hard to get to. Probably better for birds to eat but excellent as a shade tree which is always welcome here.

Awesome, Katie! Are they very fast growing? (Or is any shade that it will provide a long time off?)

No idea how fast they grow but the are salt tolerant which is a plus. We have pretty good shade now but always welcome more. And a new kind of tree that provides food - even if it might be better for the birds - is welcome.

Besides going for an exercise walk with my dog I did lots in the garden today. Shrub trimming and replanting a sedum that had to move.

But mostly I worked on my veggie garden and my bean planting.

The trellis net is up where it belongs and nice and tight and secure. It already looks great and will work out good for the beans. Along that 10 foot section I planted Emerite (green) , Carminat (purple) and Monte Gusto (yellow) pole beans.

On an obelisk I have in the garden that had clematis last year that died off this year, I planted some White Seeded Yard Long Beans. Red Seeded are already up because they are planted in a six foot row in the front yard.

On two other obelisk structures I have here I planted Stortino Di Trento and Anellino Giallo "shrimp beans" . The first is green with purple streaks, the second yellow. They are called shrimp beans because of the curved shape of the bean which resembles a cooked shrimp.

I watered all my newly planted bean seed and I am too tired to do any more today. I Never got to planting my baby squash seedlings or tying up my floppy peas. On the agenda for doing tomorrow.

OK--so in my defense here ( and my hands ALWAYS look like I've been digging in the dirt)....I still work, so if I want to wear open-toed shoes to work during the summer, I need professional help My hands are beyond help--I can't even imagine how much they would have to charge me for a manicure. Those poor nail technicians would have their work cut out for them. I try to keep my hands moving so fast on the keyboard that no one can tell how bad they look.

LOL, Linda -- no need to defend your pedicure on my account; I'm very envious of people with good-looking feet! My poor feet just have so many issues (but they still function okay, so they have that going for them)... starting with my little toes, which have always been somewhat bent under the next toes (and have essentially no toenails), one toe that was undoubtedly broken at some time (or times) and doesn't exactly lie down flat, another toenail that just is generally weird, and minor bunions on both feet. I believe I've missed the window of opportunity for being a foot model!

Newyorkrita said:
If I had more room I would have so much I could never take care of it all. I just seem to want to grow everything.

That is frustrating. The first yard I ever owned really excited me - there were so many things I had wanted to do, for decades.

Instead, I barely had time to weed-whack all the way around, and had to PAY people to mow.

It seems like we're either working full-time and too busy, or retired and too poor, to do everything we might wish to.

BTW, isn't this the first year you've started from seed? Now it's just a casual "two cellpacks of melon seedlings" like "Oh, you mean THIS old thing?!?"

RickCorey said:

BTW, isn't this the first year you've started from seed? Now it's just a casual "two cellpacks of melon seedlings" like "Oh, you mean THIS old thing?!?"

First year I started tomatoes from seed. I have always planted summer squash, cucumbers, melons and things like that from seed myself. Beans and peas too from seed.

@weedwhacker thanks for correcting my link to Peace Seedlings. They are not very well known but they are a young couple very dedicated to developing nutritious edibles. The father of the woman owner is renowned for developing stable OP veggies; he was a physicist I think who switched careers to be seed developer. Passed on his passion to his daughter and her husband.
Now that most major garden work is done I find time to look at their website and dream of next years plans. Plus I have done great peace seedlings peas, tomato, pepper that I will be saving seeds from and putting on the seed swap this fall.

Judy, it's now on my list of "new-to-me" places to consider buying seed from

Ohhhh. I forgot that, Rita.

Didn't do too much in the veggie garden today but will have to get back to working more tomorrow.

I did manage to tie up my flopping pea vines. And I planted the cellpack of home grown squash seedlings.

Also I admired my trellis for the beans that I set up yesterday. It is planted so we will see how long it takes for the beans to come up. I even made my friend come back to the back yard with me to see my bean trellis when she came over.



Also I added the bamboo poles to make this bean tower for the violetto purple beans taller.



Here are the beans growing nicely at the base. They have already started to vine.



Kentucky Wonder beans doing good.


And here are my Marketmore 76 cucumbers.

If I had a trellis like that first one, I'd show it off to friends, too!

RickCorey said:If I had a trellis like that first one, I'd show it off to friends, too!

It turned out the best looking of all my trellis set ups. Of course the beans will not care if its pretty or not once they start to grow.

Oh I forgot to post the picture of my peas. They have pods set so soon it will be time to harvest.