We have been processing fruit nonstop for a few weeks now. Annmarie was able to pick up 25# of #2 peaches on Friday for $22. We have been cutting them and freezing them in one cup portions for her to use in her smoothies. We almost have enough fruit to make it the entire year, the upright freezer is 2/3 full of frozen fruit. We are still getting half a flat of tame blackberries every four days. Annmarie made plum jam today and we are done with the plums. Luckily, I was able to give a large portion of them away. The sheep gobble them up as soon as I toss them over the fence.
We have a few Italian plums still ripening on the two trees and some nectarines. The nectarines have about 1-2 weeks before they are ready. I will need to keep checking them every four days to make sure they do not get away from us or else the yellow jackets will be the only ones eating nectarines. Mr Rainman had told me that they propped up their fronds from the asparagus plants. He said that the plants shot right up once they no longer had to worry about stabilizing themselves. Who knows, we propped them up with bamboo stakes and tied them onto the stakes. So time will tell if he is right. The new parts to our trumpet vine are finally taking off and we may be able to get it to grow on our new trellis around the living room window. I have been trying to get the bush to spread out that way with very little success but this may have been the year for expansion.
I went to town and got 45 bags of sand for the floor in the Gazebo. I had to empty out the gazebo first then clean up all of the organic matter and then to make sure the floor is flat. I was hoping I could just toss the sand down and spread it out then slap down the tile but I am told that I need to spread the sand out, hit it with the compactor and then work on getting it all smoothed out. This is going to necessitate repairing the drive cord on the compactor first. So I guess the best way to get started is to unload all 45 bags and spread them out on the floor. But I do not want to do this until the compactor is functional. Otherwise the cats will use the sand like a kitty litter box. I don’t really want to be chucking cat turds out of the sand as I am trying to lay bricks down. After the Gazebo floor is done the greenhouse needs to go up next. Unfortunately, I need to install a small fence to go around the greenhouse first. I don’t want the sheep or cows rubbing on the greenhouse.
Stewart Creek Somethings 