Well, like I stated last post, I’m bitin at the bit to get this “garden thing” kicked off.

My tomato seeds I planted last week just jumped up last night! The day before, not a sign of a dern tomato, walked in the greenhouse bout noon, looked down and said, “YES!”

The little mutha’s were everywhere!

Just as my luck would have it, the weather’s gonna change…tomorrow?? Around 40 in Tampa through Sunday, with high around 60. This means probably some 30’s here at our place.

Deb, I’m sure, is goin… “You’ll NEVER learn, will ya? Always jumpin the gun!”

My answer now is just the same as it always was back to her…when her back was turned, AND she was out of earshot!

Nope!

And…

YEP!

What can I say??

We started a compost pile a few days back. Actually, not really a compost pile, but literally just some home-made planting soil.

Not only do I “not learn from past mistakes,” and always, “jump the gun,” as my better half used to exclaim, but…I’m a cheapskate, too!

I mean, why buy the dern stuff? We’ll just make our own!

I gotta admit…it’s lookin good already, if I do say so myself. You guys who don’t know me all that well will soon see that I’ll do that pretty often too, which is…DO say so myself! LOL!

I talked about it a little already, but we’re takin cow manure from the pasture and layin it out in a row about 10-12 feet wide, and maybe 40-50 long.

We started off choppin it up with shovels to break it down some. Well…I had Dale doin that originally.

Once I finished up what I’d been doin, I went around there to give Dale a hand in the choppin “goins on.” Bout 10 minutes later, and bout all the choppin I saw I’d wanted to do, a light bulb came on.

I got to thinkin on that 9 wheel traffic roller in the barn. We’re in the pavin business, and Red’s been sealcoating, so, I thought I’d just grab that roller, and bust me up some cow manure!

Worked like a charm, I’m here to tell ya!

Dale was like… “You Da Man!”

I was quick to point out though, that flattery would get him nowhere…at least in regard to Friday’s paycheck!

I believe I’d stated earlier that…I’m a cheapskate, and as soon as I’d explained to Dale that this bright idea of mine had made HIS job SO much easier, I felt it only right…that HE buy the diesel, FOR the roller!

Jus kiddin guys. Honestly, I’m not that bad, but him buyin bout HALF the diesel oughta be bout right, wouldn’t ya say?? LOL!

Just gotta figure out what to tell Red when he sees cow manure ALL over his roller tires???

Not sure just yet what I’ll say, but you CAN bet…Dale will have a BIG part to play in it! LOL!

After we roll the manure, we the take hay and scatter it all over the top of the row, then come behind this with oak leaves. I then take the tiller and stir this all up, and honestly, after 3-4 passes, this stuff IS…

Lookin good! REAL good actually!

Tomorrow we’ll repeat the process once more, to double our quantity. This should insure our having enough to set all our seeds out and plants as well, with this as their starter.

Once I get ready to set out seeds and plants, we’ll then add some regular soil, then some good topsoil, and then, turn this in good to stir everything up together.

I WAS going to use some slow release fertilizer as an additive too, BUT now, I’ll be using something else instead.

Reading through “The Old Farmer’s 2013 Almanac,” I came across something pretty interestin… it states that instead of adding slow release fertilizer, as an example, instead, you can use… “RABBIT FEED!”

YEP, I’ll say it again…RABBIT FEED!

Here’s why…

First off let me say this…

Couple years back, I had some corn on the west end of our garden, out front. This corn was about 1 foot shorter than the rest of the corn, and the discrepancy was increasing. It was obvious the soil this corn was in wasn’t quite as good as what the other was in.

A good friend from Canada (Kunoichi?? Hope I spelled it right!), commented, “Hey Dub, put some grass clippings in,” and I did. The nitrogen from the grass clippings caused this corn to catch the other…I was amazed.

Well, once I got over the initial shock of using rabbit feed as a fertilizer substitute, and I read a little further…it clicked.

Rabbit feed is compressed alfalfa meal pellets, which are nitrogen and phosphorus rich.

I thought, you know, this might work, so, I’m gonna try it and see. I’ll keep you guys informed, unless some of you have already tried this, and if so, let us in on what you’ve found, please?

Alfalfa it seems, also contains large quantities of a hormone called triacontanol, which stimulates cell division and growth in ALL plants.

It also has high quantities of arsenic, which if ya didn’t already know……

NOT REALLY, I’m jerkin your chain about the arsenic! LOL!

They recommend 1 to 2 cups of rabbit feed to cover 16 square feet of garden bed.

So, I’m in, and gonna give it a shot!

That’s what we’re up to so far, so let’s try out a little humor for a change.

Man, I love to laugh, and just here recently, this is coming back into my life once more. Good night…I’ve sure missed it! It feels GOOD to laugh again!

This comes from my Aunt Ann…and is in prayer form.

In church, while reverently preparing for the service, I heard a sweet
little old lady, sitting next to me in the pew, quietly whispering a
prayer. It was so sweet and sincere that I just had to share it with
you.

Amen.

Well…

I THOUGHT IT WAS FUNNY!

A closing thought to ponder…

“Are you disappointed with society today? If you are, I challenge you to take the first step. I challenge you…to look at yourself.” Rev. Billy Graham

I have to admit that after reading this, I found it actually right on the money in my regard. The first place I needed to start “doing something about the world we live in today,” WAS…right inside my own home!

You guys have a great day, and God Bless you and yours!

Be sure to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub AND Deb

My last post was about how God works in our lives, and the day I had Sunday in regards to feelin kinda down and out was so inspiring in that sense. Honestly, everywhere I turned I was getting the very same message.

It truly was amazing to me how the frustration I had been feeling was literally crushed out by the messages I was getting from different people. Again, all were basically telling me the very same thing.

It was uncanny how all this came together and I felt I really needed to share that with you. I’ve never experienced anything like that before in my entire life, and I’ve been around a few years.

I have to emphasize once again that I’ve never been what you’d call a devout Christian. I’ve always believed in God, and through the experience I shared with Deb during her ordeal, it became very evident to me he was a very loving and caring God.

Once more, on more than one occasion while talking to Deb she’d make a statement to me and I’d ask, “Where did you hear that,” or “Who told you that?”

Her answer would be simply, “God told me,” or, “God showed me.”

Deb was rock solid in her commitment to God, and from her talks with me, there was absolutely no doubt that his commitment to her was rock solid as well. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it to the day I die, “God walked with Debbie, and I saw with my own eyes he smiled on her daily!”

I believe that with all my heart.

I had seen all this joy in Deb, yet I could never put my finger on it. Sunday, I lived a little of this…the power of God. I tell you guys, it was amazing.

Now…let’s talk about the garden some.

First off…MAN, I’m getting a late start! LOL! Slow but sure…that’s me. I believe most everything will come off if we have pretty much a typical fall and winter. But again, you factor in my luck and this could get interesting! LOL!

What’s in the greenhouse I’m sure will be fine throughout the entire winter so we’re lookin good in that sense. This is also the reason I need to somehow find the time and the moola to get those other two set up as well.

I set out some eggplants today, and like our tomatoes we’ll put the overflow from the greenhouse grow area into the garden out front. That poor ole thing hasn’t been a producing garden in a while. It won’t know how to act!

I’ll take in our radishes tomorrow, and set out some more seeds. I juice these daily as well, so between that and a dern salad or two, they don’t stand much of a chance round here!

The beets are doin pretty good too, and looking through them today the beets are forming up well. You all know I’m a firm believer in the nutritional values of those guys. Still surprised though of how hard to find they are down here??

I set out about 30 or so He Shi Ko onions we’d grew off from seeds, and they’re doin well. I have about 60 more of them in seed trays getting close to bein set out as well. They’re a bunching onion if you guys haven’t tried them before, and I love em.

But, once again that’s not really a good recommendation comin from me…I LOVE everything when it comes to groceries! They are good though.

I also have set out about 20 of the Crimson Red bunching onions as well. They too are good, but I prefer the other. With these we also have maybe 30 more that are pretty close to being ready to set out. Won’t be long.

Let’s talk just a little, actually very little, about the okra I set out next to the greenhouse. Why do I want to just brush on this subject? Simple…thinkin I was bein very smart, and getting out of some work, I decided I’d herbicide around those little fellers.

Well, evidently while I was herbiciding “around them,” after about a week it became quite clear that not only had I herbicided “around them,” BUT also I’d herbicided between them, over them and ON them! Tore there rear-ends up!

Most of my okra will now come from the garden out front, and NO, I won’t be herbicided near them anytime soon, thank you! LOL!

The “maters” better look out though…I’m thinkin bout givin them a good fertilizin tomorrow or the next day! LOL! I figure if a little goes a long way, shoot, a handful or two around each plant outta make those suckers jump! What cha think??

In the next week or two I’ll set out some different lettuces, and that’ll pretty much finish me up. I MIGHT set a few greens out front too, but we’ll see.

All in all though, everything is doin pretty good, cept that dern okra, cause it for some reason just kept jumpin out in front of that dern spray nozzle. Craziest thing I ever seen!

I THOUGHT I kept hearin faint cries of “Banzai,” while I was sprayin it??

I hope the dern turkeys don’t get in there and eat some of those things. The herbicide do them like it did that okra, I’d be in BIG trouble they started havin thoughts on the art of…Kamikazee attacks!

Phew!
Anyway, here’s a video of how things are comin on.

Well, as “ole Bugs” used to say, “That’s all folks!”

You guys take care, God Bless, and keep a smile on your face and one in your heart!

Dub

First off, I gotta say that the grow area outside the greenhouse is lookin great! We got it all cleaned back up yesterday and what a difference. Prior to this I’d walk by it and think, “Man, I can’t believe it has gotten into this kind of shape,” but…it had.

Now I’m very pleased to go out around it again. What a difference a good prep and cleanup make.

We snatched up the irrigation lines, tilled it up twice, re-laid out the irrigation, and then raked the area out real well leveling the soil. It looks so good now, shoot, I may not even plant it! LOL!

After tillin it in, Red, Corey and I were under up under ole Deb’s oak tree coolin it a minute or so. We were just talking and I mentioned stringing the irrigation back out after our break.

Once we got up to get started again I walked over to the grow area and…no Red or Corey?? I’m wonderin where these two ended up? In a minute or two here they come with stakes in their hands with rolled up poly twine on them.

I’m like…what are you guys doin with stakes and poly twine? They both look at me and say, “What do you mean what are we doin? You said you wanted to string out the irrigation, right?” I almost fell down.

I said , “Yep, that’s what I said…we’ll string out the irrigation again, and that’s exactly what we’re fixin to do. We’ll each grab a part of waterline (which is poly tube), and lay, or in different terminology, but meanin the same thing…string it back out, NOT take stakes and twine and literally run string lines to relay the dern stuff!”

Now, I can’t really knock Red for his misunderstandin of my statement cause shoot, I raised him…so he can’t help it. BUT Corey, I thought he was smarter than that! The blind leadin the blind is how best to describe us though, huh? LOL!

After “workin through” our shortcomings, we eventually prevailed and once more…it looks really good.

Today I thought we’d jerk some chains this morning and see if we couldn’t share a few laughs. That’s one thing that Deb and I both appreciated in regards to our lives together…the ability to make each other smile.

There were many times with each other that these smiles became full-fledged uncontrollable laughter…even hysterics!

She’d kill me if she were still here by my tellin this, but in all sincerity I thought about this particular experience last night, prior to goin to bed. It really is too funny, but it may be one of those you had to have been there to appreciate how funny it really was…to Deb at first, but by the time she’d reached the point in her laughing at me that she had tears streaming down her face, dern if I didn’t think it was funny too!

Here’s what happened…

Many times, prior to goin to bed at night, we’d get our baths at the same time, her in her bathtub, while I showered in my shower. We’d dry off, then sit and talk for a few minutes.

Well, I smoke and I’d have one at this point (this was the only place in the house I’d smoke, and then only once in a while), while we shot the breeze.

She’d wrap her towel around her and sit on the step beside her tub, whereas I’d towel off and just stay naked while sittin on the “john” until I finished havin my smoke. No, it wasn’t a purty sight but it was the only place for me to sit…Deb wasn’t about to give up her seat on the step.

Anyway…

We’re sittin their talkin, and again I’m havin a cig, and once I finished it, I’d chunk it in the commode and flush it. I know, I know, I shouldn’t do either one, smoke or chunk em down the commode but I do, and did. LOL! It doesn’t help when you were raised in a barn!

Well, after chunkin it into the commode, we talk a while. I THOUGHT, I felt something warm feelin to my, in the words of a layman, my testicles? Then I thought, naw, couldn’t be, so we continued conversing. A few seconds later I felt a burnin sensation once more?

All of a sudden I jump up just a screamin, cause shore enough it wasn’t just a feelin…it was REALITY, they WERE burnin!

Deb is crackin up…hard, uncontrollable laughter, while I’m goin nuts (pardon the expression), as to WHY this was takin place!! What in the world was going on???

After getting this burning situation under control, I get to tryin to figure out what in the heck had just happened? In just a second or two it was obvious where my trouble had started…

While I was finishing showering, ole Deb had used the bathroom, but had neglected to flush the dern thing figurin I probably would use it too once I stepped out of the shower…but I didn’t! I just sat down to have a place to sit and lit a cig.

This is where all this trouble started.

The toilet paper she’d used was in the commode, sure nuff, BUT, part of it wasn’t totally in the water in the bowl, thus…a part of it was still DRY! Guess where my cig landed when I chunked it in the toilet bowl? Yep…right on top of…the DRY toilet paper!

That stuff flamed up…and LIT ME UP! I came off that dern thing like I’d been gut shot, burnin to beat the band!

I again had no earthly idea what had just transpired! Deb must have figured it out immediately cause again, she was in hysterics by now! The tears were pouring down her face and in reality, she was laughing so hard she was havin trouble breathing!

When I realized what had caused the problem I looked at her and said, “Why didn’t you flush the dern thing?” She could only shake her head laughing cause her talking at that point was just not gonna happen…she was laughing hysterically!

At that point I too started laughing. It really was hysterical what had just happened. I swear we must have laughed 15 to 20 minutes…nonstop!

I’m telling you, Deb and I have laughed about that episode many, many times, and after it was over I asked if she could keep a secret. Her response… “NOT A GOOD ONE!” LOL!

But, there it is, the story of ole Deb lightin me up one night…literally! LOL!

While I’m horsin around some this morning, let’s have another laugh or two? Ya game?

What did the blonde call her pet zebra?

Spot

Did you know that Bill Clinton doesn’t use bookmarks?

He just bends over the pages.

You guys do realize we’re aging, right? Well, at least the ones from my generation anyway. The groups we all used to listen to have gotten old as well.

Any of you remember the group, the Who? They sang a song titled, “My Generation.”

They just put out a new version. It’s titled “My Medication!”

Actually several of the bands we used to listen to have released new versions to some of their greatest hits. A few examples…

Herman’s Hermits… “Mrs. Brown…You Have a Lovely Walker.”

Rolling Stones… “You Can’t Always…Pee When You Want”

Bee Gees… “How Can You Mend…A Broken Hip”

Roberta Flack- “The First Time…I Ever Forgot Your Face”

The Temptations- “Papa Got A…Kidney Stone”

The Beatles- “I Get By With A Little Help…From Depends”

And…
Marvin Gay- “I Heard It Through…The Grape Nuts”

Finishin up today, here’s a video of our cleaned up grow area, and the reason Bill Clinton wears underwear!

You guys all have a great day and God Bless! Remember…keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

Well, the goal of getting everything in the greenhouse and grow areas ready for replantin is finally beginning to pay off for us. Good night a livin…I sure had a mess.

Time had been in short supply and I was “learnin the ropes” in how to be…a housewife! If I ever state that I’ve started “paintin up my toenails” some, please call 911 for me. I’d be in DESPERATE need of serious professional help! LOL!

You take into consideration my normal duties and chores, put into the equation the added chores of housecleanin, washin clothes and dishes, not to mention “secretarian” as well, and dad-gum, my dern plate got full in a hurry.

I already knew it before, but now I fully understand…that dern Deb was a workin Trojan!

As I’ve said prior, I was havin a hard time regulatin my time. I was busy as a “13 petered weasel” (sorry, I couldn’t resist the expression), but for the life of me I just wasn’t getting anything accomplished. I had 40-11 projects in progress yet couldn’t seem to finish even one.

Once more, thanks to two of our grandsons…I’m ahead of the game now. For how long remains to be seen? LOL!

The greenhouse is ready for plantin. Matter of fact I believe I have about 140 beets or so in the ground, some radishes, only 4 pepper plants (they’ll cover me up for my own use), and a few herbs. These are stevia, lemon basil, basil, oregano, and cilantro.

Gave up on my “white horehound.” Yep, it really is a herb, and that really is its name. When I purchased the seeds Deb thought I was crazy. Actually the only reason I bought them was it is supposed to be good for coughs.

Okay, okay, I’m lyin. I REALLY bought the seeds to just aggravate Deb. Still though, they are supposed to be good for coughs.

Deb used to tell me… “Dub, if they took your brain and put it on the sharp edge of a razor blade, it’d look like a BB rollin down a four-lane highway.” As you can see, she was always so full of compliments in my regard! LOL!

My tomato plants should be ready to set out the first of next week. I might even jump the gun and set the ones I’m putting in the greenhouse this weekend. We’ll see.

We’ve got squash, eggplants, and peppers, all getting close to being able to set them out. I’ll also set out okra and peas as well, but most, if not all of these two veggies will go into our garden out in front of the house…IF I get that dern thing cleaned up??

I think I will, but we’ll just have to see about that. I will definitely plant some more Japanese cucumbers for sure. Those things were actually very good and the size they grow to was amazing the first time around. Even when very large they stayed tender and had very few seeds.

Anyway, tomorrow we’ll take up our irrigation lines and till the grow area up pretty well. I’ve herbicided the weeds and grass on 3 different occasions so I’ve gotten a good kill on it prior to tillin. I”ve sprayed it so much on account of these areas being thrown away for so long while tending to my Deb. I wouldn’t have done it any other way.

Our irrigation is unhooked and moved around very quickly so this won’t be any type of problem. As quick as we till the soil then lay out the beds we’ll chunk the irrigation back down and set everything back out.

Red and Corey will be here to help out and I’m lookin forward to their help. I’ve learned through the years that if you really need their help, just have them here on a Friday. The reasoning is very simple…they want their paycheck! Works out good for all of us! LOL!

In all honesty I’m lookin forward to getting everything back in the ground and startin up again. To me it is almost like therapy. It is very rewarding to watch all those little fellers grow off and the flavor of your own homegrown vegetables is second to none. Store-bought just cannot compare.

It’s something I really enjoy doin and I’m half good at doing it so, why not?

Ole Deb loved it too. My only regret is her not bein here to help out this go round, but, in regards to bein here with me, versus where she is now, I have to concede…that’s a no-brainer.

She’s missed by all that knew her, but I take consolation in the fact we’ll be together again one day…in the presence of God…

Man, I’ve pulled a couple things since her departure she would have been all over me about. The last of these was comin up to check my e-mails while heatin up a pot of coffee water. Now you have to understand, I drink instant, always have and probably always will.

Anyway, I had my water heatin and was gonna be upstairs for just a few seconds, at least that was my intent. With this bein the case, I was heatin up the water…ON HIGH! Got sidetracked, forgot I even had the water boilin…until I smelled a peculiar odor.

I lit off downstairs, ran to the stove and here sat the pot…on high, with not a drop of water in it. Looked like it had been that way…for AWHILE!

I snatched that scoundrel off the stove, ran it under some water in the sink…and blew the bottom off the pot! I swear…the bottom blew off the dern thing. I guess it was SO hot that once the cold water hit it…something had to give! LOL!

Well, I now boil coffee water while I’m down stairs with it…at least for now, anyway. LOL!

I’ll throw up a little video for you guys to take a look at if you’d like. There ain’t much too it besides just a little update, and maybe me jerkin your chain a time or two. Check it out if you’d like, if not, ta heck with ya. LOL!

You guys have a great day and God bless you and yours. As always, please keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

We’ve had an occasion or two where we’ve caught 2 inches or better but we’d been so dry prior to our rains startin back up that in 30 minutes there’d be nary a puddle anywhere. Like I’d told ya’ll before, it had been so dry the dern trees were bribing the dogs!

Well, ole Devin our grandson is still hangin in here with me and that guy has sure been a help. Today Red and Corey came as well and we finally got everything pulled up in the greenhouse and fed to the cows. We then tilled the beds up good, and put down new soil to fill them back up like they should be.

I just came in from the greenhouse to throw up a post and dang if I’m not sittin here sweatin like an ole boar hog. I’d get my shower but Red and the guys went to pick up another pallet of Jungle Growth so I figured I’d do this while they were gone.

You know though, I was gonna wait to shower until I helped them unload and stack it, but if I’d go on and get my shower, shoot, I wouldn’t have to unload period.

Supervision…pretty good soundin word, huh? Especially if you’re the one supervision-in!

Let’s go back to Jungle Growth for a minute or two. I have to say that hands down, I prefer it to Miracle-Gro. In the video I’m putting up with this post I talk about it a little bit, but what happened was when we first built the greenhouse I was going to use Miracle-Gro garden soil all the way in our beds.

Anyway, we bought Lowes out of the Miracle-Gro they had on hand and the garden center manager suggested we try the Jungle Growth. So we bought some to finish up.

Our first two beds were Miracle-Gro, and our last bed was Jungle Growth exclusively. The difference in a week or so was literally phenomenal. The beds with Miracle-Gro were infested with weeds, yet the beds with Jungle Growth had none…zip narin! That’d be zero in “Yankee talk.”

I could not believe the infestation of weeds with the Miracle-Gro. I took pictures, did a video, and sent them to Miracle-Gro. They did reimburse my money, AFTER a couple of ANGRY episodes, so from that standpoint they did the right thing…in my opinion.

Here’s the first video. The weeds at this point were nothing to what they became as time went on.

Anyway, to this day I honestly believe I had gotten a run of soil from them that something must have happened to the soil. Now, whether it was someone not paying attention to what they were doing at the plant, a machine or quality control malfunction, I don’t know.

But being honest with you guys one more time, if they put the product out that we bought on a daily basis, they wouldn’t be in business long, I promise you. The beds that product is in is a continually ongoing weed problem. Not some, but a lot, a whole lot. I don’t know??

But, with the Jungle Growth, I’ll bet you we haven’t pulled over a dozen weeds…period. The difference is that great, plus, the vegetable plants did AT LEAST as good as the ones in Miracle-Gro. It’s night and day between the two products…at least from my experience.

Now, we found out this morning that Lowes will not be carrying Jungle Growth in the Orlando area. I have only one remark in that regard…WHY?? LOL!

For what it’s worth, I’m gonna call Lowes and try to get ahold of Jungle Growth as well. If their product comes off the shelf, man, I’ll be one disappointed sucker to say the least. We’ll see, but I bought an extra pallet of it just in case.

So, I’m hoping by next week sometime I’m settin some tomatoes, radishes, beets, squash, cucumbers and eggplants in the greenhouse. Before long it’ll be some lettuce varieties.

I’ll continue setting seeds and I hope we can get to the garden area out front before long. It’s one big dern mess too! Okra and peas out there to start, then I’ll kinda play it by ear.

Here’s our video we did earlier today. We just got the last of the Jungle Growth put up and I gotta say…the greenhouse is lookin good again. I’ll do another video fore long.

It’d be nice if Deb were here to share this with me, she absolutely loved piddlin in our gardens, but, if nothing else, I know she’s watchin down over me…my own very special angel.

I couldn’t close today without a little e-mail I got from ole Bill and Sandy, up Mobile way.

Senior Moment…

A Preacher was explaining that he must move on to a larger congregation that will pay him more.

Lord, keep your arm around my shoulder and your hand over my mouth…

Well, that’ll bout do it from “our place,” so take care, and God Bless every one of you guys. Be sure to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart! Deb would be proud of us!

Dub and Deb

I’ve taken a little time here lately and I’m trying to get the green house and the grow areas beside it established once more. Man, they were a mess, but little by little it’s beginning to come around.

I’ve got the tomato stakes and twine down, I’ve herbicided the weeds that were so prominent in the grow areas, and will be tilling these areas up here in the next week or so. I’m waiting to insure a good kill.

We’ll then take up the watering system prior to tilling. This is simple enough by only taking off one hose clamp from the main line on each run. We’ll set the lines outside the areas to be tilled, then replace them once we’re done.

By then, the seedlings I’ve gotten started should be big enough to start setting out.

Last week we set over 400 tomatoes in seed trays and they’re all doing well. We planted Rutgers, homesteads, green pineapples, which I thought were very good from the ones we got. They have a good old tomato flavor, but taste much less acidic than other varieties, although I have yet to smell a pineapple aroma when slicing them.

This was supposed to be the case, which again I haven’t noticed, but who knows, at my age maybe my ole sniffer just ain’t what it used to be??

We also set a few of the black or purple varieties such as Southern nights, carbon, and the Sara Black’s. These types were the last I set out the first go round, but then when Deb took a turn for the worse I neglected them, along with everything else.

The end result was I didn’t get the opportunity to try these baby’s out. Hopefully this time around I’ll change that. Then I’ll make the decision to keep these in the garden or not. I’ve got a neighbor that has grown the Southern nights before and he says they’re great.

I believe him, but ole Willie is a lot like me….you call it food, and I call it GOOD! So, with this being said…I better wait and decide for myself. LOL!

I haven’t set any beefsteaks yet, but I will. Good night they produced some very, very large tomatoes, but I was having a bit of a problem with disease.

I can’t put this all off on this variety because honestly, they, like everything else didn’t get a fair shake from a care standpoint simply on account of our situation. I will plant some more of these, but will get the others established first.

As far as the cherry tomatoes go we reseeded the black cherry, I liked these, the mini-orange which produced abundantly, the fox cherry, another good producer, and the Reisentraube, which is a German tomato.

I think the name has something to do with grapes, and that’s just what the tomatoes look like when producing…bunches of grapes. These tomatoes are prolific producers as well, and as far as their taste…I love them. They have an EXCELLENT taste!

I’ve never been a big, big fan of cherry tomatoes in the past and our reasoning for planting the different varieties was to eat them of course, but also to give us a blend of several different tomato flavors, if you will, in using them for straight tomato juice or soups, and from what we did get to do this way, we loved it.

I’ve continued to juice daily, and I swap out with the juice Deb and I use to share which is a multiple variety of different fruits and vegetables. I drink a 44 oz. glass of this each morning, then throughout the day I might have a 16 oz. glass of tomato juice. I’ll usually drink a couple of these…

One variety of cherry tomato I did not replant was the Isis candy. I was really, really looking forward to trying out these because I’d heard so much about their taste. The problem we had with these were they produced hardly any tomatoes.

We were very disappointed in this tomato and again, I refused to set any more out. I might try them once more later, just not right now. They grew big, beautiful bushes, but no tomatoes. That’s kinda like your wife fixing fried chicken and mashed potatoes…with NO gravy. We just can’t set back and abide such as that! LOL!

We also set seeds for beets and radishes and both are doing extremely well. Them muthas are shooting up everywhere. We planted the Detroit dark red beet, the Lutz, the Bulls blood and, are ya ready for this Judi and Brian…Golden beets.

The germination of these has been fantastic, and for all you that have never grown them before…you have a nice little surprise.

The seeds are actually like little capsules, or there’s more than one seed per seed, if you get what I mean, so each seed holder you plant in, usually provides you with two, to three, or maybe even possibly four little plants. I like that.

Beets are very beneficial for you, and Deb and I kinda got started using beets a little late in the game.

First, we’d never grown them before, shoot, we’d never seen ANYBODY grow them before, plus, down here, finding them in your supermarket is like…pulling teeth. It almost never happens.

We did grow over a hundred of them and the dern things turned out nice. I still have MAYBE a half a dozen left. So, even though I’ve replanted them, I’m going to have a lull between what I’ve got left and when the new beets start coming in. Once in a GREAT while, you can find them at Wal-Mart, but that’s few and far between, and the ONLY place down here that Deb did find some.

I just seeded eggplants and peppers too, but they’ve not started germinating yet.

For peppers we planted sweet chocolate, emerald giant, tequila sunrise, sigaretta de bagamo, and corbachi. These are all sweet peppers. For hot peppers I only planted Anaheim, and corne de chevre. I’m considering possibly a few more hot peppers…we’ll see.

Last night I saved the seeds, actually quite a few, from several corne de chevre’s, sweet chocolates, and the tequila sunrise. Today or tomorrow I’ll save seeds from the others. It’s very easy to do. You guys are probably thinking to yourselves…if Dub’s doing it, it HAS to be uncomplicated!

For eggplants, we planted Florida Market, Ukrainian Beauty, and the Listada de Gandia. All three did very well for us the first go round, which is exactly why all three are going in the ground this time as well. If it ain’t broke…don’t fix it!

Well, there’s my update on what’s happenin here at this place. We’ve been very busy, but not a lot of it in the garden.

There’s been way too much closure to deal with, but it’s almost been done now. I’ll be very glad to get it all behind me, but thinking now that it’ll be kinda sad too, after all…it is closure.

Mentally now I’m much, much better, but still have moments from time to time. Getting fewer though. It’s amazing sometimes what triggers them. I may be just walkin around the yard, maybe mowing even, and BAM, I think about Deb and that’s all it took.

I’m staying much too busy in the house to suit me as well…I like it outside! But, I’ve had to create a new filing system, etc. so this takes time as well. Getting closer on the house end to though.

Anyway, I guess I’m just saying sorry for not posting more, but this all has been one big adjustment. Again though…I’m seein daylight now, and that’s a good thing.

Thank you guys all once more for all your prayers and support in Deb’s regard. They all meant so much to us both.

Please take care, God Bless, and always, always…keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

Anyway…

Our garden or what’s left from our garden… ain’t much! It was thrown away as you all know, but that’s fixing to change. I shot a video of it this morning and once I took a look at it I was like, “MAN, it’s going to be awhile before you can relax again!” LOL!

I bet ole Deb’s crackin up…dern her time!

I tell you though, our friends have been eatin pretty good, but now even they have evidently had their fill. Honestly though, you’re scrapping for what you’re getting. But thankfully, very little has gone to waste, and then the cows got that. Things find a way of working themselves out.

We’ve got some peppers we’re drying on the bush. Our grandson Devin is coming back this coming weekend and he wants to take the seeds and replant them. I’m just happy to know that he’s taken an interest in gardening and will help him all I can.

I figure 10-15 minutes with me, he’ll bout know everything I can offer him. I never did say I was very bright, huh?

I’ve got a meeting to attend tomorrow, then will be going to pick out a headstone for Debbie Wed. or Thurs. I wanted to make sure I got it right. I think I have.

After that, we’ll be planting seeds once more to get started again. They’ll be tomatoes, beets, radishes, peppers, and probably some more cucumbers.

We’ll be starting okra for sure and some onion sets. Then prior to the full moon in August, we’ll plant our peas. Deb and I came to the conclusion that our peas always did better in the fall. We found there to be less bugs, and our pea crop ALWAYS just seemed to make more peas than they did in the spring.

Another project I’d like to do is plant about a quarter to half an acre of some different varieties of blueberries. We’ve always wanted to do this, but just never seemed to get around to it.

One other thing I’d like to plant, is again, about a quarter to a half acre of peaches. There’s a couple new varieties that are supposed to do very well here in Florida now, and I’d love to try some. The Florida peach was always SO small that people seldom tried growing them. That is supposed to have changed. I’ll look into that a little more.

Most of you guys know that Deb and I had purchased two more greenhouses and had put them under our equipment shed. I’d like to get those up and running as well, but in time. Both these houses are 30 feet wide by 72 feet long, so they’re considerably larger than the one we’ve been using. It is 18 feet wide by 60 feet long.

I’d like to get these set up as you come through our gate, but back against the wood line. This way you’ll be able to see them from the road, but they’ll be back about 300 feet off the road.

I’d really like to retail sell our vegetables and fruit right here on the place. That would work out great for me. It’d give me a ton of things to do, plus generate income for me right here. Deb and I had talked about keeping our paving business for about 3 more years, then letting our son Mark buy it out.

That’s still in my plan…we’ll see.

I do believe though, that our land here will sustain myself easily once I can get this all off the ground. All it takes is time…and money. Time’s not a problem, the flipside to time…IS! LOL!!

This will work though. The few times that Deb and I opened the gate to sell a few plants, the produce wasn’t coming in yet, was actually a surprise to us. People responded. Then, we just couldn’t keep things going with Deb’s ordeal, but the people were calling, “We’re coming by, plus, we’ve told all our friends, BUT, the gate’s never open.”

I had to tell them that Deb was having a few problems, but eventually we’d be open again. They all were very understanding, and promised to keep checking back with us, and some still are.
So, I know this will work for me, but just take a little time. I love doing it, and Deb did too. It was going to be our little niche together.

We had been raised around farming, and agriculture in general, as children growing up, and as we’d grown older, we realized that we’d like to be doing some of the very same things when we… “check-out” from this world! Deb did…I’d like to do the same thing when it’s my time!

You guys take care, and God Bless! Please…keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

Well, as you’ve seen, I’ve been kind of on a tirade in regards to the fraud in the government programs, and the IRS. I’m sorry, but in today’s economy I find such wastefulness and complete unconcern by our elected leaders appalling! This statement being true in good times, or bad. Why…because it’s OUR money!

Here we are, the taxpayers or the funders of our Country’s economic system, faced with tremendous challenges of keeping our own family’s fed, a roof over our heads, and all the other costs we incur in our daily lives.

Yet, our elected officials have decided that what we do…is still not enough. Take, take, take from the producers to give to the non-producers, and even ILLEGALS, and further burden us with such total incompetency to even be accountable for the money’s we give them?? What have we come to at this point in our Country?

But, let’s change gears again and get back more on topic of what our site is about…gardening, canning, sharing a recipe or two, and just kinda having a good time. Jerking each other’s chains, and hopefully, many times you guys leaving with a smile on your face! I know through your e-mails you sure put one on our faces! Thanks!

I’ve got a meeting first thing this morning, so I’ll be short winded. Yeah, yeah, I know that’s hard to believe, BUT, I am capable of that…in a pinch! LOL! We’ll see though, won’t we?

Our first video is of the greenhouse again, and ole Deb pickin a few cucumbers. They’re Japanese cucumbers, which we’d never grown before, shoot, I might as well own up that I’d never even heard of them before!

But, we both love the taste, and even when they become very large they still are tender. Most times though we make pickles out of the larger ones. Same with our squash. If you’ve never eaten them, squash pickles are very, very good, and I personally prefer them over cucumber pickles anymore.

Here’s the video…

Ole Deb’s looking pretty good, huh? Honestly though, she’s doing good! The Good Lord smiles on my Deb, doesn’t he? Good night, we are so blessed!

The other video is of our juicing. We’d done a video of this before, but we felt it appropriate to show once more. This, juicing, is one thing we think ALL you guys need to at least consider.

Again, although Deb was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer 13 months ago, every blood test we do comes back perfect. She’s aced every one of them! We do another next week.

Anyway, several of our friends and family are now juicing, even some of our fellow YouTubers, and every bit of feedback we get all praise the benefits they’re seein from the juicing!

All speak of the energy they now have, and how well they feel as a whole. Most all speak of weight loss they’re experiencing as well. Personally, I’ve lost 50 pounds. Talk about feeling better, Phew, I’m like a new man!

I tell Deb I feel like the 6 million dollar man, and she says I ought too…that’s about what the juice has cost us! LOL!!

Juicing, when you juice the quantity and variety that we do each morning is fairly expensive. Actually when we started out it was costing about 100 bucks a week, and recently went to about 160-180 bucks a week. No kidding.

But, Deb’s health can have no cost put on it, and this is the reason for our greenhouse…year round vegetables in a climate controlled area. We of course, supplement our juicing with our other gardens as well.

A couple reasons for this…first off the cost of food today. I know you guys are all seeing this firsthand!

The second is the AMOUNT of fruits and veggies we juice each morning. The reason is because in Deb’s regard, we’re trying to build…a SUPER immune system, and we feel this is exactly what we are doing. It’s working for us.

Now juicing is not the only treatment she’s decided upon with her alternative cancer treatment, BUT, it is one of THE major players.

Our point though is that we feel juicing is so beneficial, you guys may just want to give it a try, healthy or not!

You would not have to juice anywhere near what Deb and I do, again, we do so many for a reason. But, research your fruits and veggies, see for yourself the nutritional value of each, then juice the ones you feel would benefit YOU, the most!

Here’s the video…

As you can see, Deb was having a little problem. Our juicer is beginning to…get tired. That dern thing is a workhorse though, and has been doing just what you just witnessed for over a year now! Plus, we’ll pick enough oranges, tangerines and grapefruit to juice about 4 gallons at a time…on top of what you see we do daily.

So, we love the type of juicer we use, and are very, very satisfied with the job it does, and the longevity of the machine.

By the way, there’s a brand new one under the stairway, still in the box. We’re going to order a new cutter blade though, and we both feel that will make our old one just like brand new. It has, we know, become dull from all the use it’s gotten!

We’d by this brand again, and again, and…well, you get the message!

Well, I’ve got to run!

You guys have a great day, and God bless! Deb says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb

As you see by today’s title, Deb’s Garden, then it has to be obvious to you all just exactly who wears the britches in this household…and it ain’t me! Basically I’m just “the hired help,” and also she claims on her tax return that I’m…sub-contract labor.

By this she has no tax liability on my account, but this in itself, ALMOST throws me in another tax bracket in regards to my taxes. But by her only paying me $3.50 a day, no not per hour, but a day, I just barely stay under going into another tax bracket.

Her philosophy to me is simply, “Look Dub, I’m really doin you a favor here. If I paid you more, you’d end up paying more taxes, right? On top of this, I keep a roof over your head, let you borrow my vehicle IF, you need to go to town, and I cook your meals and wash your dern clothes. Ya got a pretty good thing going on here, so my advice to you is very simple…DON”T MESS UP A GOOD THING! Comprende?? I thought you might…cause I KNOW the judge would!”

Hence…IT IS, Deb’s garden, on top of everything else around here too! Marriage…isn’t it grand?? LOL!

The garden is doing very well, and my only complaint so far is…where’s the dern rain? Good night it’s been dry. Our pond is about 8 feet below where it should be, and may possibly be 10 feet. I believe it’s the lowest I’ve seen it before.

You know, I just got to thinkin, everything else around here is Deb’s to hear her tell it, so I wonder if she’s gone and took the water outta the pond too? I sure wouldn’t put it past her!

No, the greenhouse is doing great, the grow areas around the greenhouse are doing fine, and in our garden out in front of the house, what we’ve got in there so far, is doing good too! We’re blessed in all sorts of ways. The Good Lord does provide!

Well, here’s a few pictures for you guys to let you in on what’s going on…

Okay, this first picture is of, left to right, sweet peppers, squash (lemon and straight-neck), onions, and cucumbers. We’re getting squash pretty much daily now, and I’ll probably put up some squash pickles this weekend, or the first of the week. We’ve also been eatin some onions out of…Deb’s garden! LOL!

The next picture is of our tomatoes. If you notice, we cut the suckers and lower limbs off. Thanks for the tip Miz Sandy and Mr. Bill, from Mobile!

Inside the greenhouse now, check out our beets comin up between our okra sets. Beets are really, really good for you! Ours aren’t quite ready, but, they’re getting there! We planted Bulls Blood, Detroit Dark Red, Lutz Salad, and Golden.

Check out the height of those volunteer tomatoes. A couple are now bumpin the top of the greenhouse at the low end.

There’s the cucumbers. They’re the Japanese cucumbers. They get 22-26 inches long, but thin. We love the taste, and they’re supposed to be excellent pickling cucumbers…we’ll soon see! If you look closely, you can see some hanging off the vines. We’re fixing to have to tie more string across the rafters and let them run towards the center of the greenhouse.

There’s a close-up showing the cucumbers.

From left to right, watermelons, squash (crook and straight-neck) eggplants, and far left is hot peppers.

Another view of our tomatoes, again Sandy, we removed the suckers. And lower limbs. The cows ate good! I believe they’d of enjoyed us just pullin the whole dern plants up and chunkin em over the fence to them!

The missing spaces, a row and a half, will have black tomatoes planted in them by next week.

Here’s the garden out front, we’re planting a little as we go out there. Got irrigation to it too, now! YES!! The pictures out here were a little fuzzy, but you can see what we’ve done. Check out that water runnin!

This is a partial row of tomatoes, with eggplants finishing the row on the left, then squash and peppers in the right-hand row.

This is two full rows of tomatoes.

Last is a picture of the greenhouse from the other garden…

We hope you guys enjoyed the photos!

Please take care, and God Bless. I’m relaying a message from Deb for you to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

This is Dub…from Deb’s garden, out!

Dub and Deb

The wind though blew the squash around pretty good. We lost two, just broke em off at the ground, but surprisingly we have maybe 3-4 more that need a couple broken stems cut out, and I believe the rest weathered pretty well.

Watching those things blow around brought back memories of my killing those 50 + plants to get our growin season off to a great start! LOL!

I was talking to our good friends, Bill and Sandy, from Mobile Alabama, who by the way are… “Auburn Tiger” fans (hee-hee-hee Sandy), and she’d sent us some pictures of what’s goin on gardenin wise up in their “neck of the woods.”

Their garden was looking great, and I believe Sandy said they’d just brought in 50# of potatoes! They, like us, love piddlin around in a garden.

Both these guys have green thumbs. The proof in the pudding of their having green thumbs was evidenced to me last year. I called them in January, it was about 15 degrees out up there and I ask, “Sandy, where’s Bill?” Her answer, “Oh…he’s out in the garden pickin some tomatoes.”

“???? 15 degrees and Bill’s in the garden picking fresh tomatoes???”

Sandy’s like, “Yeah, he’s been a little disappointed with em though…he don’t think they’ve done quite right.”

“Okay…”

I have to tell you guys, although I hate to, they’re actually Alabama Crimson Tide fans. Gotcha Sandy! Roll Tide!

Anyway, I’ve got about three videos for you guys to look at if you’d like. One is our other garden we’d just prepped for planting, and one is of the greenhouse and grow area. Honestly, all these plants are doing well. We’re pleased.

The last video, which in reality will be the first was sent to us by a friend, this being Wayne, from Alma, Georgia.

Wayne’s a sport-model in his own right, and that scoundrel grows some great blueberries, but he’s pretty stingy with the dern things.

L:ast year as an example he told Debbie and I he’d send us down some blueberries by my brother, and he did. TWO! When I called he told me, “Shoot, that’s one apiece!” LOL!

Here Wayne’s video…

Not a bad idea actually, huh? If I still drank, I’d be takin a ride up to Ace Hardware!

The next is of our garden are we just prepped, followed by the grow area. Hope you enjoy them!

You guys all have a great day, and God Bless! Deb’s hollerin for ya’ll to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb