Garden Log from southern Herkimer county, August 19, 2008
Read other people's comments here.
Index, arranged by date, and all the pix are here.


Not a lot to get done in the garden besides harvesting.
The cheddarflowers are done now. The batavia lettuce is still productive. Eating the pole beans every night.
Brought my first big cantalope in yesterday to ripen in the house, rather than on the wet ground.
Vine peaches are about the size of billiard balls, but still hard and green.
More squash every day. The summer squash is resting but still getting one or two zuccinni.

Grape tomatoes in the greenhouse are doing well, pick them up off the ground every night for salad.
The rhubarb chard I planted in greenhouse is coming up, about six plants, expect that's plenty for the winter.
My peach tree is about two feet tall now. My fig tree will be providing us with a couple dozen figs,
and it seems to be sending out a new major limb, that will be three.

Raked in soil around my young asparagus, now I'm ready to move the rocks some more.

Leeks are looking good, will be brewing up a fine cockaleeky tonight.
You don't know cockaleeky? Traditional Scottish faire, a fine chicken stew for dinner. Recipe is at:

skishark.systemhalted.com/cookbook/Cockaleeky.txt

There is still so much mowing to get accomplished, grass needs to be dry, regular rainshowers aren't helping.
The barley grain was not very developed. Very small grains compared with genuine barley berries,
and it was taking forever to dry, so I threw it all away. Hops blossoms still getting bigger, on the vine.
Have you heard about the world-wide hops shortage? Beer will be more expensive. What else is new.

Would you like to see some of my little trees? They keep getting better.



That spruce or fir tree got his own little lawn. I mow that lawn with surgical scissors. He got a bear too.
Bear is a jade carving, a gift from Jane. She picked that up on her trip to Alaska.
The sumac is doing his best to look like a bonsai, hopeless task. You can't have a hundred year old sumac.
He'll be putting on fall color soon.