Too Hot again!

Still more elderberries

I didnt pick elderberries on Friday.  Decided it would be too late by the time we got them all cleaned.  So Saturday I got to picking... 30 quarts (on the stem)!

Then on Sunday I picked another 18 quarts (sorry, no pictures from Sunday).  I do know that we got between 6 and 7 gallons from Saturday and Sundays pickings!  Then, before I left Monday, I got more - I don't know how many yet; Katherine is still destemming them I think.  Of the last batch we put at least one gallon of them into the freeze-dryer!  We will see how it goes.  Mom was nice enough to let me put some out berries into her freezer, so I took 6 gallons over to her place before we left.

Also, blackberries and strawberries

We picked some blackberries off of the thornless bushes we planted in 2015.  Pretty goo yeilds for such young plants!

We got another pint (guessing) just before we left.  Plenty enough for a decent size pie!

Not a lot of strawberries - but enough to eat!  I put these into the freeze dryer too!

A few other pickings...

First of summer squash from the late plantings!

Onions are ready but it was too damned hot to do much work outside.  I was already half-dead from picking berries and re-setting up the  fence around the beans.

First onion, a couple more volunteer tomatoes and a couple apples that the birds had damaged.

Grape Vines

While do a ride around I noticed that one of the grape vine arbor posts was leaning way in!  Turns out that it rotted off at ground level.  I will have to replace it.  Until I get a chance, I just braced it with a couple of small posts.

On the lighter side of things - the grape vines are growing nicely!  

I think that the nitrogen I added last year really helped.  I plan on adding some more early next year.

Fruit trees

I found another peach!  It looks rough though.  I wonder how long it will last?

Here are 4 apples that I found - 2 had been pecked by birds.  I picked them (above).

Same apples - I sliced them up an put them in freeze-dryer

Crazy crab-apple bloomed recently - now it has little apples on!  

We figure its going to die - trees will do this when they are stressed.

These are crab-apples - believe it or not!  Large variety that hasn't produced much until this year.

Hornets nest!  Getting bigger!  I want to keep them around - they aren't as mean as  yellowjackets and they eat other bugs.

It looks like the parrot tree (or whatever it is!) is going to make it after all!  It looked mostly dead but the rains seem to have brought some of it back to life!

Just a couple green sprigs there - which some bugs managed to eat - sheesh!  But it seems to be fighting

I was riding around and noticed that my english walnut trees were taking bug damage!  I looked closer and found them - little fuzzy "acid dropper" worms!  I sprayed them with sevin.  I didn't see any worms the next day.  I hope the trees recover.

Fuzzy worm damaged english walnuts

Worms also got one of my butternuts too!  Its also recovering.  

Gardens

We might get something from our corn!  We will have to wait another week I think - not quiet ready. We talked to neighbor, he said he saw a mommy and several baby racoons just across the road from our place.. they probably are the ones eating my fruit!  They love corn and you can see where they have been tearing up the field corn..

Weeds are taking over!

Squash plants are doing nicely.  I actually picked a summer squash!  They had just started blooming last weekend!

the front four plants are summer squash (I think) - winter squash in the back.

Deer Issues in the Bean Patch!

I saw more deer eating away at the bean patch again this weekend!  The electric fence was evidently not working.  I went to put some peanut butter bait on the fence and found that it was not functioning. So I connected the bean patch fence to the "hardwired" fencer!  No I have it baited and connected to a kick ass voltage - that should get thier attention!  I hope my beans are far enough along that they recover and produce!

More Flail Mowing

I was able to get the flail mower out and mowed that field up around the pecan trees.  This area wasn't as hard to mow as the hill was!  Not as dry so I didn't have to backtrack as much either.

Equipment problems

I have been nursing my mower around because of leaking transmission oil and a loose drive belt. Somewhere along the line I got a bad leak in my left rear tire.  It wont hold pressure worth a damn now.  I barely got the grass mowed around the pecans before I gave up.  I didnt have the right patches to plug the hole!  I ordered some more patches - they should be here Tuesday.  I wish the replacement drive belts would make it here before we go up next time, but they haven't shipped yet so there is not much chance of that.

Main mower is down!