Fresh Picks

Our first grape tomatoes have ripened! I also picked the first eggplant, only 5 inches long, but enough to add to the already plentiful zucchini for a little giambotta!

Potato Blight Hits Eliot

John and I spent the weekend digging up the Early Rose and Katahdin potatoes down at the cabin garden. Late blight has struck, so we salvaged most of the crop and have begun a spraying regimen to save the Kennebecs and tomatoes. I pulled the Early Rose at the house as well, although they seemed to have suffered more from wireworm damage and maybe too much moisture in that location. The cabin garden yielded some very interesting potatoes--a family of Mr. Potato Heads. One even reminded me of Wallace from "Wallace & Gromit".

The House Gets a Facelift

The house is looking really nice--no more Band-Aid brown with toothpaste green trim! The crew worked all weekend (since it finally wasn't raining) and got the first complete coat on. What a difference. Even the mailman liked it. He left a note "The house looks great. Nice color!" I'm not sure what to do about the ugly wood front steps. Granite would be nice, but may settle for something a lot less pricey.

Big Bertha Moves

Dad came up for the Eliot Antique Tractor Show on Saturday. But before he signed in and parked the '55 Ford Jubilee, he put it through its paces. Dad twitched three chunks of Big Bertha up the driveway so when we cut the remaining wood, it will already be in place for stacking. That last chunk, about 4 feet high, had the tractor wheels spinning on the damp drive, but he got it up there! (Oh, and the damn kayak--that's John's project that is going to go away soon, before I call 1-800-got-junk! Maine Yard Disease is spreading.)

Callie Lou the non-working farm dog

Yesterday, in a fit a energy, Callie galloped through the garden in a mad dash, doing her version of beserker dog. She stays on the boardwalks most of the time, but her enthusiasm overtook her smarts. Luckily, not much damage was done.
After finally finishing off Ruby's old chew bone, we had to buy Callie a new one. Here she is in the back yard, having a good chomp.

Under Construction

I'm finally getting the house repainted. It's time for that horrible Band-Aid brown and toothpaste green to go away. And like any project with an old house, you are constantly opening another can of worms. I'm having rotted clapboards replaced, a new window to replace the ugly "porthole" (an octagonal eyesore soon to be a cold frame), and maybe some new front steps. Even the chimney is getting a face lift-peeling paint removed and a new coating. This rainy weather is slowing down the painting, but it will look so nice when it's done! The house will be a blue-grey (Lexington Blue), with white trim, and a claret door. Stay tuned!

What's Growing (and what's not)

At the home garden, we're seeing little cucumbers forming, and mini-zucchini. Yesterday, I dug out a few Early Rose new potatoes for our supper--delicious! The tomatoes seem to have stagnated--flowers, bud no fruit forming. And of course, the radishes, peas, and chard are doing well in this cool weather. The spinach needs to be re-seeded and we started another row of lettuce and beets yesterday. I'm watching the tomatoes to be sure we don't get late blight--a disease which can wipe out our crop!

The cabin garden looks much more promising for tomatoes (the New Girl variety), and we've enjoyed some delicious radishes and beet greens. But cutworms decimated the pole beans and lima beans. The winter squash appears to be holding its own. The corn, on the other hand, is spotty at best. And you can definitely see where compost was spread, and where it wasn't! There's a stark difference in the output.

The wonder of blue birds...

Last night, an indigo bunting landed at the feeder, giving us ample time to grab the binoculars and get a gander at his amazing blue colors ranging from royal blue to iridescent turquoise--a true gem!

Hunter in the Garden

A few days ago I noticed a garter snake in the garden, out looking for breakfast. I think it was eyeballing that juicy snail clinging to the onion stalk. I welcome any predators I can get that will keep the pest numbers down.

Sunny At Last

After nearly three weeks of solid rain, the sun finally returned for good on July 5th. We enjoyed an entire day of breezy sunny skies. I aired out the house, caught up on accumulating laundry in the cellar, and reseeded the slug-devastated lettuce bed. John and I spent a few hours at the Cabin Garden hoeing the corn and squash, thinning beets, and pruning/staking the tomatoes. It looks like me might see some fruit from our labors in the near future--the tomatoes are forming!

While the wind whipped through the laundry, I mowed the backyard, regaining the upper hand on the soon-to-be hayfield. John made some headway with the chain saw on Big Bertha, lopping off another few feet. We will need to get that tree moved by winter or the highway department will be after me!

Here I am, on my second tractor lesson, tilling the new Cabin Garden this spring.