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, the greenhouse and grow area are really beginning to take shape. I got everything hoed, fertilized, and really, it’s startin to look pretty good. I guess it does anyway. Deb hasn’t complained about anything yet, so that’s always a good thing, and a pretty good gauge that you’re sittin alright in her book.

Poor ole thing. She doesn’t like to offend anyone, her bein so shy and all! LOL! That woman ain’t much bigger than a full grown skeeter, but she’ll get on me like white on rice! Whoever said that dynamite comes in small packages nailed it when it comes to her!

She reminds me of a dern ant. You guys ever watched one? Those little things CAN WORK! Then to sit back and see what they can tote, is amazing! She’s the very same. If that woman weighed 150 pounds, I swear she could take over the world if she set her mind to it. I thank the Good Lord fairly often that he made her no bigger than he did.

Anyway, you guys don’t want to hear about my troubles, do you? LOL!

We staked a few tomato plants in the greenhouse today. This was a couple rows in the middle bed. We’d already staked the ones in the beds with the volunteer tomatoes 2-3 days ago. Next week, we’ll be staking a couple three rows in the grow area.

I believe I’ve bout got that “hardening thing” down pat. The bench we made to get them out in the sun is working great, and we ran micro-jet to it as well. Man…this micro-jet has really made watering a breeze!

We’ve got over a couple hundred plants hardened off, put into 6” pots and ready to sell. Most are different varieties of tomatoes, but there are some eggplants, squash, and peppers as well. Matter of fact, this afternoon I made Deb a sign…vegetable plants for sale.

We’ll set it out by the road tomorrow and let em come in and get a few. I caught the cows in the back pasture, so I shot down there and shut the gate. This allows us to leave the main gate open for traffic to get to the house and they don’t have to jack with opening or closing a dern gate.

Once I put the cows in the back pasture, I took the sign and set it out by the road just for the heck of it. Didn’t say anything to Deb. This was about 5 in the afternoon. It wasn’t 15 minutes I’d sold 20 bucks worth of plants.

About 6:30 I went and took the sign down, turned the cows back out and locked the gate for the night. I’ll move them back in the morning, then reset the sign, and we’re open for business once again. We’re havin a ball! Deb is anyway!

An example…Deb was in the house when I’d sold that lady the plants. By the way, this lady, Fran, was really an interesting lady to speak with. She was a nurse too, so we did have a few things to talk about. The juicing, and some of Deb’s alternatives she does (no Sandy and Mississippi, NOT that one, LOL!).

Anyway, after I’d made the sale, I went inside. Deb goes, “Dub honey, everything alright?” I’m like, “Yeah, why?” She goes, “Are you sure ya don’t have anything to tell me?” I’m like, “NO, why?”

She then says, “Well, I could be mistaken, but I really don’t think I am, BUT…didn’t I hear a distinct, Cha-Ching out there in the greenhouse?” So, I coughed up the 20 bucks! I swear, women can SMELL money, can’t they? LOL!

Maybe tomorrow I can send her up town and POSSIBLY pocket me a dollar or two, huh? I doubt it though!

Well guys, I’m tired, dirty, hungry, fixin to get a shower, eat some supper…AND BROKE! So I’ll close out for now!

If you’d like to watch it, here’s a video of the greenhouse and grow area. Check it out, things are indeed movin right along!

Also, you were goin to send me some pictures last week of your garden Sandy…what’s up with that? LOL! We would love to see how its comin along though for sure!

Plus before I forget…Hey Mississippi, how’s Tennessee? We hope you, D-Lo, and all the rest of the gang are havin a great time! Enjoy yourself Sandra, you deserve it!

Here’s wishing you all the very best, and God Bless you and yours! “Ole Tightwad” says to keep a smile on your face, and one in your heart!

Dub and Deb