Garden notes, end of July

{Found this in my drafts folder from last week.  I'd forgotten to post it.  So here it is, a week later.}


Two days ago I went out to marvel at my sweet peas and saw aphids.  Little green MEAN bugs.  I cut the stems that were thick with aphids and tossed them, then went indoors to research what else to do.  What else to do is apparently this: fill a spray bottle with lukewarm water and two teaspoons of dish soap, then spray plants.  So I did.  I've noticed that the sparrows are flitting all around my sweet peas lately, too.  And now most of the aphids are gone.  Maybe it was the sparrows, maybe it was the spray solution, but I'm happy they're leaving.

 ***

Isaac's pickling cucumbers are (beyond) ready, and his dill has just been growing steadily and waiting patiently for the cucumbers to catch up, so we canned dill pickles tonight.  I've never canned pickles before so we'll see how they turn out, and perfect it as the years go by.

fresh from the garden

sliced

canned: 6 pints

*** 

We also pressure-canned 4 more quarts of beans tonight.  Have I mentioned that the pressure canner scares me?  I worry about all that pressure and watching it so closely.  So Mark does that.  I just get everything ready for him.  The regular old-fashioned canner?-- that's my domain.  I feel entirely comfortable with that.  So far the only thing we use the pressure canner for is green beans (which I love having as a side veggie for a meal during fall and winter months).

Ella did a second planting of lettuces last week.  I wish we'd done it a month ago, but oh well.  I am so thankful she took the initiative and did it, because it's been on my list for several weeks and I have not taken the time to do it.

We see pumpkins and squash and gourds growing in our back garden.  

Our raspberries are coming to a close- but I'm still getting about a cup or two every few days, so I'm freezing those small batches.

That's all for now.