A Break in the Drought and Cantaloupe Thieves

New cucumber plants

We have appreciated the rain. The garden is growing super quickly with the extra water and the cooler temperatures. We have some corn on the way, purple hull peas, okra and peppers. There are new cucumber plants with little cukes and some odds and ends of other things. We also have melons, but we are in a race to see how many we will get before the varmints eat them all.

Unripe cantaloupe

Banana peppers

When the cantaloupes are about one or two days away from picking they begin to send off fragrant fruit smells. Before we pick the fully ripe fruit, something comes along and eats it. I am guessing it is a raccoon, possum, squirrel or rabbit, or maybe several of these. They don't come every night and they only eat the ripest ones. They don't get all of them, but they have gotten several of them. We have yet to see what it is; very frustrating. They are either climbing over or under the fence. They may even be hiding out in the garden. It happens at night, which makes me think it isn't squirrels. They haven't eaten the corn, and I think raccoons would do that. Oh well we will keep trying to figure it out and take some kind of corrective action.

In the not so sneaky department, I caught a box turtle sneaking up on my compost makings. I sat the peelings outside to deter the fruit flies and when I opened the door to leave this morning, I caught the turtle checking out the container.  It surprised both of us. I can handle sneaky at that speed. 

Fence, Flowers, and Food

Okra in cornmeal ready for freezing

I just finished preparing some peaches, rhubarb and okra (separate items there, not mixed) for the freezer.  The next veggies will be tomatoes and squash.  I plan to can the tomatoes and I may make some salsa as well.

It is a good time to stay in the house as much as possible and drink great quantities of iced tea with lemon.  I try to get my outside garden work done before noon and avoid the 100+ temperatures.  It wouldn't be SO demoralizing if it was at least July, but it is so discouraging to have it like this so early in the summer.  I have bowed before the high temperatures and turned my air conditioner on, but at least I am comfortable with it set on 80.

Clearance geraniums perking up

Just as I thought they would, my geraniums bought on clearance are perking up in their planters on the deck.  I also snagged some caladiums and basil from WallyWorld clearance and have containerized them for deck enjoyment.

The real accomplishment of the day has been my assault on the fencing slated for removal.  I was able to loosen a twenty foot section this morning.  But after that (and my early morning jogging session) I was pretty much done.

Fence removal tools & aids

The blue bucket holds the snippets of wire that The Husband used to attach the fencing to the metal posts. We have a basket full of mismatched work gloves to use.  The mattock-pick tool is borrowed and I think the hoe is mine.  I use a pair of vise lock "channel locks" or pliers as well. 

After the wire staples are pulled loose, the removal of the fencing involves, hoeing away the rampant Bermuda grass and brush piled against the fence.  Then I take the mattock and dig a trench alongside the fence.  Using the pick end I attempt to pry up the base of the fence.  I have gotten to a part that has vines growing on it so I must also break the stems loose from the roots.  Definitely labor intensive. 



What usually transpires is that only a little bit of the fencing breaks free from the soil so I must begin a process of rocking the fence loose.
It seems that I make a ridiculous number of trips from one side to the other while I try to figure
out what is still holding the fence.  Sometimes it is a vine, some times I have overlooked some wire attaching it to the post. In one place a

After the fencing is removed

sycamore seedling has grown into a sizable
 sapling entangling the fence.  I had forgotten
that sycamores have a nasty white fuzz on their leaves that makes me cough like crazy. There's  nothing quite like staggering around in the weeds with sweat burning your eyes and
 running off your nose while coughing and
 hacking. No one said recycling and saving
money was always easy.  At least I hope I
never said that.


Unfortunately it is even harder to dig the fence posts out.  The Husband said he thinks one of the neighbors has a fence post removal tool.  I will definitely check that out.  That could make it pretty easy to love my neighbor as myself.