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Ugh. Today, it was back to the grind. Work for a living, I mean. Having been off work since May 30, this extended time away has been blissful, and merely because I didn't have to experience the grind that I have come to detest.
I had wanted to take some one-day photo excursions while I was off, but that didn't happen. Instead, a lot of my free time on good-weather days was spent in my gardens, which I really did enjoy. It proved to be therapeutic ... and satisfying. And ... I found myself envisioning two spots on the lawn -- on either side of my brick patio -- that could be expanded into additional garden space. I don't think I'll do that, however, if after this summer it turns out I was mostly unsuccesful with my first foray into growing vegetables (other than tomatoes, I mean).
As you well know from previous posts, I have lettuce and broccoli growing right now, with the former ready to pick and the latter plants very huge (larger than I had envisioned) and probably a week or so away from sprouting florets to pick. I do hope the florets come soon, however.
Both lettuce and broccoli are supposed to be "cool" weather crops -- they don't like temperatures above 70 degrees, and we've already had a couple days where the high temperatures crept into the 80s, and you can be sure that the deeper we go into June and summer, we'll be seeing many more of those days. As cool weather crops, I can try to plant a second crop of each in August, timed so that by the time the plants get big enough to harvest, it will be well into October, and cooler temperatures.
Both lettuce and broccoli are supposed to be "cool" weather crops -- they don't like temperatures above 70 degrees, and we've already had a couple days where the high temperatures crept into the 80s, and you can be sure that the deeper we go into June and summer, we'll be seeing many more of those days. As cool weather crops, I can try to plant a second crop of each in August, timed so that by the time the plants get big enough to harvest, it will be well into October, and cooler temperatures.
Meanwhile, last week, I planted carrot and cucumber seeds. Most of the cucumber seeds are in the genus garden near where the broccoli now grows. The carrots I spread out -- a couple near the tomato plant, a few more in the spring bulb section of the genus garden, and two in the north garden next to the rose bush. The other day in that garden, not far from where I sowed the carrot seeds, I notice a seedling I did not knowingly plan or plant. I almost yanked the growth, thinking it was weed. Upon closer inspection, the foliage looked just like that on my tomato plant growing near the garage. If so, it undoubtedly sprouted from the seed of a cherry tomoto I discarded last year while harvesting fruit from one of two tomato plants from last year, the one I had placed at the east end of the row of asiatic lily bulbs. I left it alone and may transplant it later if my suspicions prove correct.
If it really is tomato, this would mark the first time I've ever been able to grow tomatoes in one season from seed dropped from a previous season. And it might motivate me to actually TRY to do that at the end of this fall season to see if I can do it again next spring.
If it really is tomato, this would mark the first time I've ever been able to grow tomatoes in one season from seed dropped from a previous season. And it might motivate me to actually TRY to do that at the end of this fall season to see if I can do it again next spring.
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Yesterday, on my last day off before returning to work, I watched a wonderfully entertaining HBO movie: "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl." It's the story of a wise, spunky and warm-hearted 10-year-old journalist and her family living in Cincinnati during the Depression era. What grabbed my interest to watch it in the first place was my recent reading of "Tales of an American Hobo" by "Reefer" Charlie Fox.
A very integral storyline of "Kit" includes hoboes. Early in the film, two very young hoboes stop at Kit's home in search of work to feed themselves, and they in turn lead Kit and her neighborhood friends to a nearby hobo "jungle," or village, where the kids get to meet quite a few adult-age hoboes. Later, the two younger hoboes are wrongly accused in a series of robberies in the area and adjoining states, and Kit -- who up to this point has been rebuffed in her attempts to get her feature stories published in the Cincinnati newspaper -- puts her cub reporter investigative nose to work to prove it. Very well worthwhile watch -- for all ages.
It has a strong cast, too -- Chris O'Donnell and Julia Ormand play Kit's parents, and Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack play guests who move into the Kittredge home as boarders when the family seeks additional income to address mountnig financial difficulties.
Abigail Breslin plays the charasmatic Kit.
A very integral storyline of "Kit" includes hoboes. Early in the film, two very young hoboes stop at Kit's home in search of work to feed themselves, and they in turn lead Kit and her neighborhood friends to a nearby hobo "jungle," or village, where the kids get to meet quite a few adult-age hoboes. Later, the two younger hoboes are wrongly accused in a series of robberies in the area and adjoining states, and Kit -- who up to this point has been rebuffed in her attempts to get her feature stories published in the Cincinnati newspaper -- puts her cub reporter investigative nose to work to prove it. Very well worthwhile watch -- for all ages.
It has a strong cast, too -- Chris O'Donnell and Julia Ormand play Kit's parents, and Stanley Tucci and Joan Cusack play guests who move into the Kittredge home as boarders when the family seeks additional income to address mountnig financial difficulties.
Abigail Breslin plays the charasmatic Kit.
You can visit the film's Web site.
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