I was surprised to find The Husband already home when I got home today at 3:30. He'd already changed out of his work clothes.
After making sure that he wasn't ill, or something, I said, "Good! Just look at how much daylight we have left to work in the garden!"
I changed out of my work clothes and put on my gardening apron. I asked The Husband whether he wanted to walk to the garden or drive, but before he could answer, I said, "Let's drive. I'm up for the walk right now, but I won't be when we're done."
We put up the hog-wire fence for the tomatoes. We lacked a few feet on both rows, so we just put tomato cages around the 6 or 8 plants growing where the fence didn't reach. We tied the other tomato plants to the fence, pinched off suckers, and cut off any leaves that were touching the ground. I buzzed all the blossoms with the battery-operated toothbrush. Two or three of the plants already have little tomatoes on them. The tomatoes on the north end of the garden (which has stayed pretty wet ever since the tomatoes were planted) - the ones in the cages - were a little yellow, and stunted-looking. I thought I saw some dots on some of the lower leaves, so I removed those leaves and sprayed the plants with copper fungicide. The fungicide may be several years old, so I don't know if it did any good. Tomorrow I'm going to mix up a sprayer full of baking soda, water, milk, and dish detergent, and spray everything in the garden with it.
Next on the agenda was re-planting the purple hull peas. We decided to just plow under the few plants that had sprouted, and start over. I used the bicycle-on-a-stick planter, but it doesn't cover the seeds enough to suit me, so I raked a little more dirt over them.
Looking at the green bean rows, I suspicioned that a rabbit had been there since yesterday. There were odd indentations in the soft dirt: two long ones, and two round ones, like two dotted letters - ii - two hind feet and two front feet? I asked the menfolk to come take a look, but they were non-committal. I didn't see any poop, so maybe it wasn't a rabbit.
Would a rabbit eat bean seeds right out of the dirt?
He'd better not. Nanny doesn't want us to shoot the rabbit, and I'd hate that, myself, but I don't mind trapping his furry ass and turning him loose somewhere else. Don't piss me off, or I'll turn him loose in YOUR garden. ;)
While The Husband did some weeding, I raked up another wagon-load of pine needles to use for mulch around the pepper plants. They were full of pinecones and bits of branches. I piled that wagon as high as I could get it, and as I added the last little heap, a squiggly little stick rolled down the heap and landed by my foot. For a split second, I thought it was a little snake. My life flashed before my eyes, and I sucked in about half of the air in the county in one great gulp.
The Nephew came home from work just about the time we finished spreading the pine needles. He loves okra. I told him I'd plant some if he'd run the tiller over the rows. He said he needed to visit the potty after his long drive home, but would be right back out to help. By the time he came back, The Husband had tilled the rows and was almost finished planting the seeds.
I was right about being too tired to walk back home.
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