Dreaming of Spring Gardening in the Middle of a Wisconsin winter part 2

[jvls1942]

our sibs breakfast was a success.
it went from six people to thirteen.
a cousin showed up and a few offsprings and grandkids.
afterwards bro Dave came out and we changed the blades on the rider lawnmower. put on a set of idler wheels onto the mower deck.
decided to disconnect the headlights. we don't mow in the dark. no sense on draining the battery needlessly .

 

[jvls1942]

Barb, it is nice to sleep all through the night, eh?
Lisa, is it too early for second crop ?
You sure have the weather for it.
I thought I was going to finish the barrels yesterday. No such luck. I went out to work on them several times. only to get driven back into the house from the heat.
I did manage to raise the platform 5". that will give me 15 gallons more of water to use.
every inch in the 55 gallon barrel equals 1 1/2 gallons of water.
It looks like I will be using the barrel water for a few days. I don't expect much rain on Monday.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Not tall enough for second crop yet. Husband wants to get a second cutting. We will see by the end of August where it's at. We have enough without it, so it would just be because it's more tender.

 

[jvls1942]

I finally got the rain barrels finished on the east side of the porch this morning.
that black tube on the ground is the overflow from the barrel on the left.
the blue barrel is extra. I will be putting it on the other side of the porch to catch the overflow there.

 

[jvls1942]

these are the late planted squash.
3 weeks from seed to this.
when do they begin to vine ?
they are buttercup.

 

[Callender Girl]

Squash looks really good.

If the drought isn't over here, it should be. Rain started early in the evening. Rain gauges this morning show about 2 and 1/2 inches. It's probably because of me. I went around yesterday and gave everything a good watering.

 

[jvls1942]

thanks, I think the squash looks good, too.
although I am doing everything wrong with them
the dirt is too shallow, I planted too late,
and they are most likely too crowded.
but I like to experiment .
my weather app says rain should start at about 11AM.
I will hold off watering, showing good faith in the weather man.
our fair starts tomorrow. it always rains hard on at least one day of the fair.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

No rain here. Was hoping. Not looking forward to watering in these temperatures and humidity.

 

[jvls1942]

I waited until noon and then watered. all the while listening to the thunder pass by to the north of us.
it did rain about 2pm , but not very much.
picked our first grape tomato today.
the squashes are vining.

 

[Callender Girl]

Apparently, the monsoon season has begun. More rain overnight, and more is predicted for later today.

I sauteed one of the "surprise" zucchinis yesterday. Cooked it in olive oil, added Italian-style canned tomatoes, minced garlic, salt and pepper.

Wondering how long the ewe will let those football-sized pumpkins dangle from the vines that are growing up the fence.