Hot, hot and distressing

July 29, 2012
The fence is working as far as the beasties is concerned.  Not going so well as to convenience.  It takes a bit of time to undo the "gate".  So, I put off care of plants and weeding.
They are finally showing new growth.  I am sure the weeds are growing nicely as well.

So far, they are not bothering other plants.  As the weather continues in the 100's for this whole week, more green things will dry up.  I have a few patches of lush grass as a result of watering the flower beds.  They will probably start on that and maybe leave the flowers alone?

This time last year, we had already had 30 or more days of 100 and no rain.

All anyone can do in this type of weather is mulch and water.  The mulch does work. Gets expensive however.  I have even mulched the pots.  Not many, pots right now.  When the weather cools, I will think of potting things again.  I am also using a product that "feeds" the plants nutrients but is not considered a fertilizer.  It is more to put something back in the soil  that has leached out because of the watering.  Chlorine in the watering is really not good for plants.

This is such a difficult time to keep enthused about gardening.  It is more a war against the elements.  There are still 3 275 gallon rainwater tanks.   We kept it to augment the watering when it gets this bad.  The water bill will double, at least.

I don't have anything in the front flower beds, so that will cut down on water.  That area is on the agenda for reworking when the weather cools off.  

Now, it is just a waiting, watering and wishing for rain time.

It is hot

July 22  
105 yesterday and 101 today.  Everything  was watered  this morning.  The mulch is keeping the soil damp.
This morning was cool and overcast.  I did a bit of tidying up and checking mister hoses.
When it is this hot, there is nothing that can be done in the garden except a bit of weed pulling and watering.  Then hunker down in the house and read a good book.

On to other subjects

July  18
I am officially at war with the bunnies!!
I saw myself in the mirror at the fitness center. The face looking back at me was depressed, hang dog, woe be gone........................you get the picture.
I have been losing plants to the little beasties no matter what I try.  Every morning, I check the poor cone flowers and there are more nibbled off to pitiful sticks.
I decided to try another idea.  I gathered up some chicken wire left over from tomato cages, some T-posts and good ole cable ties.

My hubby and I spent a few productive hours circling the area under attack.  He came up with a clever "gate" idea.
The  black horizontal line is a bungee cord stretched to pull "gate" tight..
The rocks are treasures from trips to New Mexico and South Dakota. When I travel I take home as many interesting rocks as my car will safely carry.  They line gardens, paths and some just sit lookin' pretty.
These around the fence are to try to block openings for the bunnies.

These nubby things should be over 18 inches tall now.

Hopefully, they will get a chance to show off this fall.

Last batch, hopefully, of peach jam

There were at least 20 pounds of peaches ready to pick this morning.  My neighbors are ducking back inside when they see me.  There are peaches in the refrigerator and on the cabinets.  They all have to be dealt with tomorrow.  They turn bad in a hurry now.

I was in need of a hair cut and thought "why not?".  So, loaded up a basket with peach cobbler,  paper plates and plastic ware, a jar of plain jam and one of  jalapeno/peach jam and  delivered the treat.  Bet the cobbler was gone before lunch time.

I came home and made another batch of ginger/peach preserves.   Haven't tasted it yet.  The jars look so pretty, I am going to assume this batch is a success.
There are one or two more interesting sounding recipes I want to try. Not jams however!

July 11 Peaches ad infanitum

The peaches are still ripening, falling, getting eaten by critters, and being made into more jam.
This batch was made from fresh overnight, dropped peaches with bruises and blemishes.
They were not pretty enough to share with neighbors, so cut up what I could salvage from them and dumped the slices and chunks on a non stick cookie sheet, stuck them in the freezer and headed for the super market. I needed sugar first of all and a few other necessities.
I DID FORGET TO GET SMALLER JAM JARS.

I used the food processor again, leaving some larger chunks.  Love the processor for the jalapenos, I used 5 in this batch.
I ended up with 6 pint jars of jam.  One did not seal, tasted it and could not get a hint of  "kick".  I did forget to check the jalapenos for heat.  Oh well, still tastes pretty good.  We are going to try it on Blue Bell ice cream (vanilla of course).

peach damage culprit solved (?)

We have decided the culprit(s) are squirrels.  My husband watched a squirrel force the peach off the branch, go to the ground and proceed to eat the top layer closest to the stem then go on to another one.  I think the rabbits then finish eating the rest of the peach.

He also thinks it is not a wasp that is "stinging" the fruit.  He saw finches (house) peck one or two.  I haven't seen this activity, so not sure if this is the case.

Sunday July 8th

Well, the peach jam with jalapenos is done.  I found a blog that has very helpful instructions on making this jam.  I followed the instructions as closely as I could.
I have learned something every cook finds out somewhere along the cooking adventure.  What works for one cook, may not work for another.  There are too many variables.  So, one tries, learns and tries again.

The recipe does not take into consideration the type of peach.  These peaches are an old stock. I am not sure the stock is still sold.  That being said, my peaches (Ranger) are very, very juicy.
Next, using the food processor is a faster way to cut up the fruit, except..... they cooked down to nearly nothing.
I am glad I used the processor for chopping up the jalapenos however.
The recipe called for 6 jalapenos, I opted for caution and used 3.  Sampling along the way makes me happy I did.  This batch is HOT.
So, my batch looks like lumpy jelly.  The flavor is strongly on the side of the peppers.  That's ok, we like it hot.  Instead of having 8 - 8oz jars, I have 5.  The plain peach jam was "supposed to" produce 8 jars, I came out with 6.

   The jars on the right rear are jalapeno/peach jam, the jars on the left front are peach jam.   All in all, I am happy to have made a good use of my bounty and plan to make more to give to friends.  We Texans like things hot and I know just the people to share with.

Taste for Adventure
The blog site has very good instructions and it looks like lots and lots of yummy recipes.  I am going to use this site to look for ideas a lot.

Happy day, the jam is done and I learned how to do several new things in the process.  Always my motto. "You are Never too Old to Learn!!"