Hot Hot Hot Hot Stuff

Oh sure.  It’s hot.  Gardening happens 12 months out of the year around here and I really get burnout in July.  The heat pushes me to the point of not caring and letting the garden take care of itself (for about 5 minutes).  Like most gardens, tomatoes are exploding along with squash and peppers.  I’ve been canning salsa (both 5 alarm and 1.5 alarm varieties) and tomatoes to preserve summer’s bounty at least until Thanksgiving.  That’s why I haven’t been blogging lately.  Any spare time is used in the garden or canning the harvest.

The heat and my persistence has rid the garden of hornworms for now.  This is good news for the gajillion pounds of tomatoes yet to be processed.  Everything is moving right along nicely.Red Flame Grapes continue to ripen.  This vine really thrives with the hot, hot temperatures.  The grape arbor is laced with scare tape that seems to be keeping the birds out.  This is the 2nd year for the vine in the garden.  Last year there were a few grapes produced to my surprise.  2010’s production  has increased by about 5 times.  The vines were pruned when dormant and fed sporadically with Dr. Earth.  I don’t apply as much water as Farmer MacGregor.  His method seems to be working well.

Malali Watermelon also are going bonkers with the heat.  I counted about a dozen the other day.  Keeping the vines in bounds of the raised bed may be helping but this is the 1st year I’ve grown this variety.  As the vines creep over the blocks and out into the garden paths, I turn the vines back over on top of itself.  This is shading the melons growing below and the blossoms are on top for the bees to handle.

Borlotto Solista Beans were planted on May 18.  Here is the progress 2 months later.  They love the heat too.  I planted Summer Savory around them; but the shade from the vines is preventing its development.

Luffa Gourds are thriving in the heat.  They were planted last month on June 18.  In the late afternoon, the leaves get a bit droopy so I give the 4 vines a little drink and all is well.

Hope you’re thriving in the heat or at least coping.

Spelling Bee

I have a proofreading department here at Maybelline’s Garden.  This is a feature I enjoy free of the responsibility of paying wages, benefits, or even a bouquet of flowers.  My proofreaders belong to the Daughters of the British Empire, Sir Edward Elgar Chapter.  It seems there was a recent disturbance in the proofreaders department.  Lyn had noticed that luffa was misspelled.  She conferred with Marjory to double check her catch of my California public education spelling.  Yes.  They agreed that I had indeed made an error.  Today, Marjory notified me of the error.

I thought of this alert on and off until this evening.  Of course I questioned myself because I make plenty of spelling errors either from typing carelessly or believing that I had spelled the words correctly.  I looked at the seed packet.  I looked in my Sunset
Western Garden Book.  I looked online.  There it was.  Luffa is spelled 3 different ways:  luffa, loffah, lufah.  I’m probably spelling the American way (That’s the right way, by the way!). 

There is a problem within my proofreading department.  They spell some words cockeyed like colour, flavour, favour, spelt, catalogue, and others.  On top of that, Marjory spells her name 2 different ways and Lyn only uses 1 “n” in her name.  So from time to time we will have this issues arise.

I’m happy to have loyal readers and proofreaders watching out for me and keeping me on my Croc covered toes. Thanks to Lyn and Marjory in the proofreading department

Luffas

 

I planted gourds this season (June 18, 2010).  Luffas are my gourd of choice.  I didn’t want gourds for decoration or an crafting projects.  These will be used for scrubbing.  (Farmer MacGregor is known for getting paint on himself as well as the house and fence.)  The seeds were ordered from Park Seed Co. in South Carolina.  My research led me to believe that it takes the seeds 2-3 weeks to germinate.  Not in Bakersfield, California, partner.  The sprouts were up in one week (June 23, 2010).  

Now that the heat is on, they are growing like a weed does where you don’t want it to grow.  I’m using a big terra cotta pot that once held a Satsuma Mandarin tree.The mandarin didn’t make it as predicted and now rests at the green waste dump on the south side of town. 

Seeds were planted at all points of the compass (North, South, East, West).  There is no fancy trellis for the 4 seedlings.   I’ve turned a tomato cage upside down for the vines to use on their climb skyward.  The fruit will be left to dry on the vine.  The skin will be peeled off to expose the luffa material.  The seeds should shake free to be used another time.

I’m surprised that so many people do not know what a luffa is.  My Granny would send them to us in packages that would also contain undervests, Roundtree jellies, Edinburgh Rock, and Smarties.  Now, loads of people probably don’t know what the other items in the package are; but I thought everyone knew what a luffa was.  A luffa is something I remember always having in the bathroom for scrubbing when I was growing up. 

My father had requested that I clean my dirty elbows.  I went in the bathroom and did what I thought was a passable job.  No way, Jose.  He took me in the bathroom, applied Lava soap to the luffa, then scrubbed my elbows a most rosy hue of pink.  My tender elbows remember that lesson on cleaning from so many years ago. 

 This is what the wee beastie looks like.