PA is beautiful, IL is just hot and sticky :(

It has been supremely hot here in Southern Illinois. Hot enough that I've neglected the garden a bit. I'm still clearing grass with the hand held scythe. Just a ten foot square area between the pole bean tripods and the carport where I have the spaghetti squash. I try to wait until dusk so it's cooler,  It's almost done though and then I am going to till the cleared areas.  My cucumbers are dying out and I believe it's mosaic disease. I'm not sure.  If I can get things cleared then I will try and replant in a different area.  I actually have a pretty good growing season down here for another round I believe. It's worth a shot. As of right now I don't have enough to do any pickles and I was hoping to have started that by now.

As a boon (?) of my neglect some of my zucchini are the size of my forearms. So I will be making zucchini bread, with this I can barter, well that and I still have some of the soap Helen and I made.  I am itching to do another batch.  The okra is starting to produce but I am unsure on when I should be picking them, what size, etc.  Eggplant is starting to set and I believe the first one will be ready in a few days. The potatoes seem to be doing well. I need to hill them up in a bit.  The corn is starting to get ears and the beans are starting to flower.  Ahhh yes, the beans.......I'm starting to hate beans as beans equals Japanese beetles. The fight is on again with them and I am losing.  The Stella blue pumpkin that I got from the seed swap is fruiting so is the yellow squash and spaghetti squash. I'm optimistic about the tomatoes and that's all I will say lest I jinx myself.

Going and spending a week in Slippery Rock, PA (where Ragnarok was) was beautiful. I had a really great week and I even met up with some similarly minded people. Talked a little bit of garden shop but not nearly as much as I would have liked, just not enough time. I unfortunately didn't get many pictures but other people did and I'll try to get some put up.  I am wanting to do a road trip soon not really sure when but I'd like it to be before September.  September will be one busy month!  I have a wedding in Pittsburgh the first weekend, and then I have a fighting event in Holden, MO the second weekend.  Third Sunday of September is a fighting event at my home field in Carbondale and the last weekend of Sept my friends are talking about going to the St. Louis area for a PirateFest.  (I'm not really sure what it's called). Maybe I should wait until October? LOL

I am at Burger King soaking up the WiFi.  I am without internet at least for a week or so grrr. I'm taking a two hr break and grabbing dinner and running some errands. Today I've been working a bit in the garden. I am having to clean up the garden with a hand held scythe.  Its working pretty good, well better than the weed whacker, that keeps getting messed up in the tall grass.  We have been getting a steady crop of jalepenos, zuchinni, yellow squash and  cucumbers.  I havent done any pickling yet though.  The peas did not do well again this year and my herbs are meh.  However the beans are looking ok and the stella blue pumpkin has fruited!!  I will get picks up soon after I get the garden back in shape.  When we leave here its back home to work some more in the garden.  Oh and  I forgot to mention... for anyone interested I have a facebook :)  Feel free to add me

Well the big trip was over with in the last two weeks I have driven over 2200 miles.  We got home from Ragnarok Monday at 5 in the morning. I went to work Tuesday and then after work Bill and I got in the car and drove to Indianapolis for my grandmother's funeral, she had died the Friday before while we were at Rag.  I am in the middle of doing massive loads of laundry, unpacking and also getting my garden back into shape.  I have missed reading you guys' blogs.  I will attempt to catch up on everyone this week. Im hauling the laptop with me to Burger King on my lunches to soak up the wi-fi.

We are in Decatur today and a big chunk of tomorrow visiting my parents.  I will try to get pics of my parents yard.  We showed Dad how to make rain-barrels and I've encouraged Mom on gardening.  All in all its looking really nice and their saving money with the barrels. I may drag William out around town so I can catch up on things here.

Garden May 2010

Before the rainstorm chased us out of the garden we did get some pictures, including the grassy raised beds :( But its coming along, slowly but surely. Warning its pic intensive

That is the view from the compost pile looking toward the back of the house

The first bloom in the garden!!

There are more pictures but I have to resize them and what not.  I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday weekend

Today I am officially 32 years old.

So it cost my coworker $50 bucks for her supplies and took about 1.5 hours to put in a 4x4 square foot garden!       I am very happy for her as she can now plant seedlings I took over to her and split the direct sow seeds that we had purchased together.  Put there will be no planting for me :(  All we have had is rain, rain and more rain.  Not as bad as Tennessee or Kentucky mind you but enough that it is a big ol' muddy mess in the back yard. ::sigh::

Yesterday I received a package from the folks over at Pile O'Melays that had the most fantastic smelling soap!! My husband was wonderful enough to not open it but he danced it in front of me and confessed to sniffing it a LOT. Any way you can share the secret recipe??

So it's only 7:30p and Im restless, William is on the computer and Helen has the kitchen table occupied cutting out patterns for garb clothes. I need to find something to do :(