Et Tu, Thor?

As loyal readers will know, I have been defending the homestead from all sorts of disasters this year.  There was the marauding rabbit which had to be dealt with.  We suffered through heavy wind damage as well as unusual amounts of rain.  (Unfortunately I have not been able to lure a herd of deer to the garden for their summary execution)   Through it all, we were blessed to eke out a handful of crops.  But I recently began to notice half eaten tomatoes lying around the yard.  Our garden not being fenced this year, I was curious as to the culprit.  I caught him last night.  It was the official dog!!!  He even shamelessly wandered into the house with tomato on his breath.

This first betrayal was compounded this morning when I rolled him out for our morning run.  We set off for an easy seven miles but I noticed he had no heart for it.  For the first time ever, I had to drag him along.  A little over a mile in he pulled off into the grass lay down and look back at me to say he had gone far enough!  HE QUIT ON THE RUN!?!?  I was beside myself.  We jogged back to house and I put him up.  That lazy pooch slept for most of the day.   The Web-Mistress did some research and found that tomatoes are bad for dogs and can cause lethargy.  My dog didn’t run this morning because he had a tomato hangover.  I am at a loss.  It is one thing to get your tomato drink on, but you have to be willing to deal with the consequences.

Here’s hoping tomorrow returns some normalcy.

Andy

Hurry Up!!!

I hate waiting.  Most would not describe me as a patient person.  So, this is kind of the worst part of gardening.  You know, the time between planting and harvesting.  We are currently pulling in a ton of cucumbers but I want the tomatoes to ripen up and the squash to turn yellow.  HURRY UP!!!

Andy

Giving Thanks

Ok, so things have been going well here at the homestead.  Someone was able to make a salad for herself out of lettuce and radishes from the garden and even made kale chips for the kids.  Now I won’t name her, but she also didn’t document the amount of the harvest.  By the way, the name rhymes with Meb-Wistress.  But, we are off to a good start.

However, one area of less than stellar success has been my seedlings.  While they took off and have been under a grow light, a lack of a greenhouse to control the temperature left them looking very sorry.  We have placed cucumbers and various squashes in the ground with some direct sown seeds in the hope we can recover a harvest.  But the saddest of the bunch by far is our tomato plants.  These things are pathetic.  Let’s just say I am looking for a reason to replace these this year with store plants. 

After last night I have one.  We were visited by a special needs prowler.  He left all of the viable plants alone but dug up the tomatoes.   So I have no choice but to replace them.  Thanks!  However, it looks like a small fence is in my future, so a sarcastic hearty thanks for that one.  Oh well, have a happy and safe Memorial Day.

Andy