Good Morning All. Clear and an incredibly cool 65° this morning. However we will return to our regularly scheduled weather tomorrow. Under cloudy skies the past two days, the pool temperature has also dropped from 83° yesterday evening, to 80° this morning! It will take a day or two to warm up again, but this is comfortable for now.
Wife went alone to Dallas with the birthday cake for my daughter yesterday while I waited for the repairman for the dishwasher. He told me to spray some WD-40 on the wires underneath to deter rodents. Apparently they don't like the smell or taste. Unfortunately he told me that after he put everything back together and was going out the door; or else I would have handed him a can while it was open.
These cooler temperatures are a blessing for the garden. Attention: Biology lesson ahead. Tomato plants are what's known as self-pollinating; they do not need insects to pollinate themselves. However, pollination is not successful when nighttime temperatures remain above 75°, except for a few hybrid varieties. So my plants are going through a real active time right now, on top of another time span about two weeks ago. Not our normal weather. What this means to me is quite an extended harvest. Meanwhile the plants have grown much taller than their 4' tall cages.
They are full of tomatoes as well.
So what has this led to?
This is after we used about two dozen on Monday to make some jars of salsa. Plus we sent some to both of our daughters in Dallas.
I have to pick while they are still partially green to stay ahead of the grasshoppers who are able to pierce the skins of fully ripe ones. These will ripen indoors in 2-5 days.
Here's a variety that I haven't grown before called Juliette. It is a meaty variety with very few seeds and less juice than many other varieties, thus making it ideal for making spaghetti sauce.
Another variety that I have grown for years is known as Black Krim. It is a juicy large variety that is bred for fresh eating which my wife likes. She eats them like apples.
Yep! That's my telephone photo-bombing the picture for size comparison. They are larger than apples, almost softball size. She can't eat all of them, so some got made into salsa Monday.
Thanks for all of the likes and comments regarding the layout shots yesterday;
James, Tom O, Smudge, Karl, Joe, Hughie, Dave B, Louis, Sherrel, Jaz, Tom, Patrick, Mikey, Guy, Gary, OB Ken.
Took a little time out in the train shed yesterday, but just ran trains instead of working on projects. Here's a shot of the bracing work on the still incomplete billboard.
Mike - No known bears in my part of the world. There was a mountain lion that I got pictures of about 6 years ago, but it has not been seen lately.
Todd - Here's wishing you safe travels on this journey.
Jaz - See above. Your tomatoes may just need a shot of nitrogen. Organically I provide that with either a dose of fish emulsion, manure tea, or a dusting of blood meal around the plants. Not too much as it might favor leaf growth over flower production.
Patrick - Is the Conoco station in Shamrock Texas still operating? None of the others appeared to be. Shame what the taggers did at the Cadillac Ranch, although it is encouraged by the originators of the project. I saw it at it's old location closer to Amarillo in the late 70's, when most of the cars were still in their original colors.
Jeff - I usually miss the fireworks display at the neighbors house up the road as I am usually in Dallas at my brother's home across the road from a major display put on by the country club there. Neighbor and his buddies typically spend $3000-$4000 combined. They are smart enough to aim everything at the just plowed wheat field across the road, Some years they cross the fence and set them off in the field itself which they will most likely do this year. It hasn't rained here since 6-1 and grass fires are probable.
Guy - Sorry to read of your predicament with the tooth. At least the dentist was honest enough to admit it was beyond her training. My dentist is a licensed oral surgeon as well as a dentist. Quite convenient.
Everybody have a great day.