A little work got done on landscaping this week. I was expecting some painting but most of that would have been on tall ladders and the wind was blowing hard. So, the folks stayed on the ground and did some digging and stone moving.
The pile of rounded river rock is almost gone – distributed being a better term. Because of the heat, the crew starts early and leaves at 1:30. The boss would have to pay overtime if they stayed longer – even if the heat is less than expected.
In looking for the image of the pile of rocks, I’m told by WordPress that I have 4,352 images stored on the site. I guess I should look through them sometime. If I go back and look at an old post, those photos come up, so I can’t delete them.
The Mariposa Lilies bloomed this week – – about 8 days later than average. The cool spring caused that. They are a shrub/steppe (dry land) plant. My photo is on the cell phone and I can’t seem to get it onto the computer. Go to the following link to see what these pretty flowers look like.
https://www.pnwflowers.com/flower/calochortus-macrocarpus
Use the “more photos” link to see the sort of landscape where they are found. The locations are south of me, 60 to 100 miles.
I got the push mower back this week – walk behind and push type. I need a cooler day. I’ve been working in the shade, sifting the rocks out of dirt and moving each to its intended place. I haven’t been doing much of that either.
Early this morning I harvested the sugar pod peas (or edible snow peas). I need to clean and freeze them. I did have some with supper, a chicken thigh and fried onions. I’ll have close to 10 pounds. That should be enough for about 40 servings.
The onion was one of the “bolted” ones. It had a hard core as tough as a carrot, so I used only about half of the volume. I still have 3 store-bought red onions that I assume were in storage since last summer. I’ll use those before taking any more from the garden.
For long term storage they need to be dug, cleaned some, and laid out to dry, out of intense sun. When the green tops are dry, I’ll cut them back to about an inch above the bulb. Some of these should keep until about next March. Two-thirds should last until Christmas. In 2 to 3 weeks, I’ll have a harvested weight, when they are ready for storage.
Gila Bend AZ is 100°F at 9 AM. Forecast is for a high of 113°F. Much the same for the past couple of days, and for the coming week. The lows are minus or plus about 85°F. Europe, this week is not quite as hot, but they struggle to deal with it.
When we were living in Idaho the Spokane TV station had a weather presenter that liked the sound of “Gila Bend” and would frequently mention the temperature there. One summer, we were headed west on I-8 that passes just to the south of the town. We detoured and took a photo of the welcome sign (I think it was not this one) and sent it to the TV station. He mentioned us and used the photo on the air.
I talked with Gina (Houston TX) for nearly ½ hour until someone showed up with a reptile critter for her to care for. She has large tortoises outside and it was 97° today. They are coping. School starts for her in 2 ½ weeks. EBRG schools won’t start until after the Rodeo and County Fair – so Sept. 6th, a month later.
That’s it for the Ides of July
Keeping Track
John