Excitement

Friday was a bad day for Dave, aka Mr. Mulch. It began while he was shoveling woodchips out of the truck bed. He uses a big pitchfork and tries to scoop up a large load and then tosses it out onto the bare ground. He was in the driveway, standing in the truck, mulching the area next to the rock wall when he lost his balance and fell out of the truck onto the rock wall. He broke several layers of rock, but only came a way with a scratched elbow.
I believe he is a cat with nine lives.

But the excitement was not over. At 1:40 am he got up to visit the head and lost his balance in the dark and fell onto the toilet, making a terrible crashing sound. I lept out of bed, opened the door, and out came a sunami of water!
We used every towel in the house to clean up the mess. My bedroom floor is really clean now.

Of course we needed a new toilet so off we went to Lowes.
We had a wonderful shopping experience, and hit the Goodwill store and Walmart and spent a lot more money than planned.
Here's the lovely new throne.
It is so sleek and modern and  has the fastest and quietest flush ever. Practically instantaneous.
You will note that it is smooth sided, no snakey drain visible. Much easier to dust. My only complaint, and it is a minor one, is that it is taller than the old one, and my short little legs are not as comfortable. On the other hand, I don't have to grab the towel bar to stand back up. A good tradeoff.





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The veggie beds are doing so well this year. Not a bit of bug infestation. OK the green bean leaves have a few holes, but nothing you'd notice driving by. Someone asked why we placed this garden so close to the road. We have so much shade in this spot, that the sun doesn't reach this area until mid morning. Therefore the sunniest site to place the garden was here.

At the beginning of the season, we topped off these beds with Miracle Grow garden soil. I hoped it would provide a bit more oomph for my plants. I had no idea it would work this well. So far no sign at all of squash borer which have always destroyed my zucchini, or the dastardly tomato worm.

It is still early days, but I have big  hopes of a large harvest.




The Bonnie Grape tomato has tons of fruit and one red one, which no doubt will have to be picked today.
I can't believe how early they are coming in.


And the zucchini is growing larger by the hour. I will be sharing the harvest for the first year since we began this garden.

Not everyone loves beets, but homegrown ones are so amazingly good, and the greens are tasty too.
In past years I planted them here and nothing came of it, which is why I am crediting the Miracle Grow for this abundance. ( Yes, they need to be thinned out.)
I planted two varieties of bush beans, Blue Lake and Contender and they are sprouting slender beans and lots more blossoms. We cannot wait. Dave eats beans, so I will have help with these. I am really the only one who likes tomatoes, and zucchini and beets, hence this small garden.

Is this the smallest possible planting of carrots? I didn't really have faith that I would get any, but I was wrong. These are the short stubby variety, but next year, I will plant them again, in a bushel, so they will have depth to deliver long slender orange beauties.
All the tomatoes have fruited nicely, but the most amazing plant is the Super Fantastic, which is living up to its name. Strong sturdy brances and a cluster of 13 tomatoes, growing larger every day. My tomato cage is barely containing the plant.


We planted three varieties of potatoes in the compost pile and they are doing great even tho it is not as sunny as it could be. The composted soil is so rich that it more than makes up for the shade. Our neighbor has a huge field of potatoes, growing right in the nasty rocky clay. My guess is that potatoes are a hardy lot.
And last but not least, a California Wonder pepper is forming.  I usually get some pitifully small fruit, but the way everything else is doing, I am encouraged.