May Garden Chores

The squash is coming along nicely. One of your May garden chores is to check your plants each day to make sure they are okay, free from bugs, disease, and are pollinated.

Today is May 2 and it is time to talk about May garden chores. Can you believe we are already into the fifth month of 2022? It is hot and humid now, so hot that no one wants to do garden chores here in south central Texas, but things have to get done.

May Garden Chores 5/2/22-5/8/22

Monday, May 2, 2022 - May Garden Chores

Well, I just spent about 30 minutes making today's total entry and hit build it. It is still going around and around and did not build it. I am just sick. If it ever stops and I can copy and paste it, I will grab it. If not, we saw a snake and other crazy things. It was a busy day.

Obviously, if you look below, I was finally able to copy and paste everything so we are good.

The zinnias seeded themselves last year so here they are out in front of the store again! May garden chores include keeping your flower beds weeded and watered.

Hello Monday! It rained pretty good in the night but David said we only got a fourth of an inch. That is just crazy. The sand is still wet and it is now 8pm. This was a very busy day with all sorts of crazy things happening. We had a lot of orders. We had just two customers who actually bought something from us.

A man came in around 10am wanting flowers already grown which we do not have. He was not interested in seeds. I explained that we sell seeds with a few plants. He then asked me if we mainly sell seeds. What about the name "David's Garden Seeds" says we sell plants and trees and fertilizer and top soil and garden tools and toys for kids? LOL! I get asked this stuff all of the time. Yes, a woman asked me if we sold toys for her grandchildren. No, I am not making this up.

Then right before closing, a woman drove up and came in and asked if I had seen three loose dogs. I said no and she replied that her three dogs knocked the dryer vent off of the wall in her home and chewed a big hole in the wall and they all got out. How wild!

David spent part of the day taking down a lot of hybrid seeds from the store. They will be stored in Fulfillment and as the orders come in for them, they will get shipped and then go away. Most people now want heirloom or "heritage" seeds when they come in the store. They don't want hybrids even though they are disease resistant. They want something where they can save the seeds without having to buy more seeds. I am not sure where they are hearing all of this unless they are watching YouTube gardening videos. Just a few years ago, they were happy to take disease resistant hybrids but now they think hybrid seeds are bad. They are not. You just can't save the seeds.

I added a bit of bluing into the pond today to see if that would help with algae. I read online that it does so I ordered Mrs. Stewart's Bluing to try it out. I also added a small amount to the chicken and guinea waterers to keep the algae out of them. I read online that it was safe if you mix the bluing with water first so I did.

David called me and I got the snake stick. The filthy thing then went under the Production Building...

David called me to bring the snake stick down from the pond to the dumpster area. I got there and some sort of nasty snake was there. We called Matthew but he did not show up from the back forty until after the snake went under the Production building. It was pretty scary. I hate snakes. Don't tell me they are good. They are bad.

Annabelle is not feeling well. She doesn't want to get up or drink. She does eat if we take it to her. She has been outside a few times today. She just went to the vet for her yearly shots about three weeks ago. April was a very expensive vet month. Both puppies also got their first year and rabies shots and Ethel went twice for an illness. Lucy went once for an infection just last week. I feel like we are vetted out.

I made an appointment for David to have his bloodwork done tomorrow for his doctor visit in two weeks. Wednesday he goes back to the dentist. Next week, he sees the foot doctor and will be interviewed for a radio show. The last week of the month, we are hosting the Atascosa Small Business meeting here on the farm. It promises to be a very busy month so we don't need any sick animals.

May Garden Chores

Today's May garden chores include watering, watering, and watering. As the temperature heats up, your garden will need more and more water unless you live in an amazing cool, Northern place. Down here in South Central Texas, it is freaking hot, hitting in the 100s later this week and humid. The heat just dries everything out. All of a sudden, your plants look all withered when a little while ago, they were fine. Make sure you water them. Do not deprive them.

Some more May garden chores:

Plant your squashes, pumpkins, and melons, if you have not already done so.

Sow more greens. You can never have enough greens, especially if you have chickens because they love them, too.

Tuesday, May 3, 2022 - May Garden Chores

This is our pretty red bougainvillea plant hanging on the farm store porch.

It is Tuesday morning. Nacho came out early and mowed the entire property. It is hot and humid and overcast once again. I haven't seen a sunrise in weeks. Today we are getting our septic tank pumped. It has been leaking water for months right by the chicken coop. We have lived here about two years and eight months so this should not be an issue.

David ordered another housekeeper who was supposed to be here by 9am. It is now 9:25am and no call, no show as usual. I wish he would just stop because it is very stressful to have to put away a lot of my possessions only to have another one not show up.

Annabelle is still not feeling well. She doesn't want to eat. Someone did four piles of number two in the night but I don't know who because the puppies were removed from their kennel in the night. I have a feeling it was Annabelle. There were two piles last night and some pee to clean up. Again, I think it was Annabelle, but there is no way I can know when the puppies are allowed to roam freely when I am not there.

Fraud

We shipped out a large order several weeks ago. Shopify warned us it could be fraud. We waited several days and David gave the okay to send it. Today, Shopify says the owner had the bank take his money back so we lose the money, the seeds, the shipping cost plus Shopify is charging us an additional $15. The seeds went to Florida. From now on, if Shopify says anything might be fraud, I will cancel the order right away. Dude, you got us this once but that is it.

Well, it is now 2:51pm. The maid never showed but then again, what is new? Also not showing up is the septic tank guy. He never showed or called. So where is he? Will we live forever out in the country with an overflowing septic system?

I had to cancel David's lab appointment for today because he has to be fasting. The next fasting appointment they have is for one week from today at 7:45am. So I made that.

We have had several nice customers in here today.

May Garden Chores

Your May garden chores should include:

Every few weeks, you will need to put a small amount of nitrogen fertilizer on your tomato plants and pepper plants once they begin making fruit.
Check all of your plants for aphids. If you find some, power hose them off and spray your plants with Safer Soap or Hot Pepper Wax to protect them.
Keep watch for powdery mildew on your plants. Use a fungicide if you need to.
Replant seeds where nothing came up.
Add a nice layer of mulch to your garden beds to keep moisture in the ground.
Plant some pretty and colorful flowers to enjoy.
Plant a good variety of herbs such as catnip, basil, lemon balm, rosemary, mints, thyme and oregano.

Well, the septic tank people showed up at 4:40pm but they could not find where you pump it out so they left. It was disappointing.

Wednesday, May 4, 2022

This is a fast growing and gorgeous pink bougainvillea plant on our farm store porch. No, it is not for sale. They are for decoration only.

Happy Wednesday from the farm. Apparently, a housekeeper is coming out this morning because he already took payment from the bank account. It is supposed to be a five hour cleaning according to David. Let's hope it is because he took out a lot of money and our house sure could use it.

I have lots of asparagus to blanch and put in the freezer as well as garden strawberries this morning. There are not many store orders so hopefully, they can get a long without me for a while.

Annabelle took a few bites of food this morning and water so I think she is starting to feel better.

David is on his way to San Antonio for dental work.

Matt is outside doing some May garden chores, mainly replanting some things for me. Some of my rhubarb and some of my Golden Acre cabbage is coming up but a lot of both of them are not. I know the guy who poked holes in those beds a few months ago poked them way too deep with a stick so that is a problem. Anyway, I handed Matt about six packs of seeds to plant in the vacant holes and around the property.

Isn't this chocolate donut so pretty? Laura did a great job!

There was a pretty chocolate covered donut on my desk at the store with shiny sprinkles. Linda's sister, Laura, made donuts last night. It is pretty tasty.

The housekeeper showed up and he was very enthused. Hopefully, he will work out well. He is starting.

I am working from home today, at least until the house has been cleaned. I have laundry going and I will be working on computer things.

Matt just got the call from the mechanic who has had his car for about three weeks. It is finally ready. She bought the business from our friend from South Africa. The government would not renew his visa so they sent him home. He sold the business to this woman who told our son that he would have to pay thousands of dollars for the new engine he had put in his car. It is all under warranty. David had to call and straighten her out. We sure won't be using her again. Hopefully, the timing chain won't break again. It shouldn't have broken in the first place.

Anyway, I am going to do some social media now.

Got a call. Matt picked up his car but the auto repair shop owner told Matt that there is a hole in the radiator now and they did not fix it. That car did not have a hole in the radiator. It sat in our business parking lot for almost a week without leaking at all. In fact, Matt put radiator fluid in it in our parking lot and it never leaked out. She told him there was only water in it. Matt had to pay $700 for nothing.

Guess who is stuck on the side of the road waiting for a tow. The tow driver will bring the car back here. I think he will need to buy a newer car. Too bad we invested $3500 in a new engine that broke down several months later. Yes, a hole in the radiator. Hmmmm... I am so disappointed.

David is back from the dentist. He got a temporary crown on today but we had to pay for the permanent one. $1700! The last time I got a crown, it was about $900.00. Everything has gone way up. That is insane.

The housekeeper is still here working away so I am in my office getting a lot done. The puppies have been very good this whole time until just a few minutes ago when they started whining. I let them out so they are good now.

it is now 1:24pm and the cleaner is still here. Matt is still on the side of the road, unfortunately.

So once the cleaner left, I had to move things back around. He totally missed my dresser and headboard. No one ever dusts my headboard but me for some reason and missed the laundry room. Also, the furniture in the living room was vacuumed but not the super sandy furniture in the den so I had to do that. Even though I specifically asked that the laundry room be cleaned, he told me he never got to that.

Then, I cut up the strawberries from our garden (two batches) and froze them. After that, I blanched eight zip lock bags of asparagus from our garden. It was piling up in the fridge.

One of our team members is a mechanic so he is going to take a shot at replacing Matt's radiator which would be great.

Thursday, May 5, 2022 - May Garden Chores

Good Thursday morning. This morning, I discovered that the kitchen table was moved yesterday. I found out when I could not get out the back door this morning. So I moved the table back.

Happy Cinco de Mayo which is the anniversary of Mexico's victory over the French Empire at the Battle of Puebla in 1862 if you always wondered what it was. I know most people don't even think about it, but in Texas you hear about Cinco de Mayo every year.

I did not take a photo of the dead frog. Here are our fish. We still have eight of them.

I went out to feed the fish and found a dead leopard frog floating in the inner pond. I removed him and then fed the fish. It was nasty and I feel violated.

Annabelle is still not feeling well. She is 12 years old now. Just a few weeks ago, she was trying to eat everyone else's food and now she will barely take a few spoonfuls of her own.

This evening, Annabelle had to be carried up and down the steps to go potty and come back in. She won't eat and is barely drinking. She has lost weight. She was acting fine ten days ago.

May Garden Chores

May garden chores today should include carefully looking around plants for snakes before putting your hands into the garden. I have seen two live snakes this week out in the yard. I am a bit freaked out by it.

Wear gloves and boots to work out in the yard if you are in Texas because you don't know what is out there.

Friday, May 6, 2022 - May Garden Chores

This is a photo of Annabelle taken this morning in the den. I tried to get her to drink. Later she hobbled out to the kitchen and drank from her bowl and then just lay there.

Good morning. David had a breakfast with someone in San Antonio today. I have had a busy morning writing checks and dealing with the bank.

It is now 1pm and David and Matt are on their way to the vet with Annabelle. She will probably be put down. I think she is in a lot of pain in her tummy and back legs. She is 12 and has lived a good long life and has been a good puppy. I have cried several times over her. Life goes by way too fast. Death is a part of life. We have lost several dogs before but it always hurts.

This bonsai tree is Ginseng Ficus from my son, Matthew. What a nice surprise! Isn't it so pretty?

Here is the front of my bonsai tree. The instructions say it is for indoors with moderate light.

When I got to my desk here at the store, there was a beautiful bonsai tree with a note from Matt saying this is part one of my Mother Appreciation gift. Isn't that sweet? I have always wanted a bonsai tree but never got one.

Our team mechanic was able to change the radiator on Matt's car quickly and efficiently and the car runs great.

May Garden Chores

Look at these beautiful White Icicle Radishes! Part of May garden chores is harvesting. They have all been cleaned and the tops cut off as well.

May garden chores should include some harvesting. Today, as part of our May garden chores, Matt, Dawson, and Brendon have been harvesting white icicle radishes. I walked through the orchard on Wednesday evening and saw the white icicle radishes protruding out of the sand. They are big and hot and spicy. We will have some for sale tomorrow only in our farm store for $1 a pound. After that, they will be pickled and dehydrated and then you can buy jars of them in the store.

Our sweet Annabelle when she was healthy. She was a wonderful puppy.

Well, it is 2pm and our sweet Annabelle has left us. Her stomach had tumors in it so she could not eat. As I said, she was at the vet at the beginning of April and got all of her yearly shots and was fine. It wasn't until the middle of last week that there were any problems. She lived with us for 12 years and we gave her a pretty good life. She loved food and enjoyed eating everyone else's (the other dogs and the cat) food before they could get to it.

Annabelle after being groomed before she got sick.

A younger Annabelle who was full of energy.

They took Annabelle in the red truck up on the hill to bury her by Molly who died in December, the week of Christmas. We miss them all...

David and Matt are bringing her back to the farm and she will be laid to rest next to Molly at the top of the hill. Our other dogs are laid to rest out in Leakey at the old Schulze ranch back before they sold it all.

Annabelle has been buried with Molly. I keep thinking of her as a playful puppy. It is hard to lose a faithful friend.

Lucy is taking a nap after a fun time of stealing treats.

Lucy helped herself to a few treats out of the snack cabinet that someone left open.

I went in the house just a few minutes ago. Lucy is napping on the couch in the living room. Sweet, right? Then I saw this mess on the floor. Someone left the treat cabinet open and she pulled out four bags. She finished off two and left the other two bags for when she wakes up I guess. I cleaned it all up. She is the big, crafty dog.

It was a difficult evening but we got through it and we both finally fell asleep on the couch watching Mission Impossible, Season Four of the original TV show.

Saturday, May 7, 2022 - May Garden Chores

Selling produce can be one of the May garden chores you need to complete if you have ripened produce at this time.

It is now 3pm and the day is almost over. It has been a busy one. I got up and fed the indoor animals and then the outdoor ones. David made eggs. I cut up yesterday's strawberry harvest and asparagus harvest. I changed sheets and started laundry.

I got ready and came to the store. Right off the bat, we had four families all in the store at one time. After that, one family at a time for the rest of the day until now. I sold six plants, one coffee, a lot of pecan treats, and seeds.

Our white icicle radishes were on sale in the store for $1 a pound and we sold them to several of our visitors. On Monday, they will be pickled.

A couple who came to our first canning class came in to see David today. He inspired them to buy land out of the city and they just closed on 11 acres not far from here. They are so excited.

We had a lot of nice families, many telling me they were bringing their mom or mother in law out for the day which included coming here to David's Garden Seeds®.They are all going home with lots of May garden chores to accomplish. Everyone who comes into the store gets one of our business cards and that includes the url to David's Garden Seeds® and also to this website so they can be sure to get a lot of good gardening tips.

I made a roast this evening for Svengoolie. It was a pretty good movie with Vincent Price, House Of Wax.

Sunday, May 8, 2022 - May Garden Chores

This disgusting snake scared me this morning as I was minding my own business going out to feed the animals. I screamed. No one came to rescue me. Then I snapped this photo and ran.

Happy Mother's Day! David made me breakfast, an omelet and biscuits.

This morning, I went out back to take care of the animals and I was greeted with a nasty snake, at least 18 inches long. I screamed and, of course, no one came to my rescue. Then I snapped a photo. The nasty thing kept flicking his red tongue out at me. I ran and took care of the animals and everyone was fine.

We went to church. It was long. At the end, they gave bouquets of roses to all of the mothers. Then we went to Walmart to get some groceries. The place was packed and a lot of people were in there buying flowers and things for Mom. It was so hot. It hit 105° today.

So we finally got in all the groceries from the truck and I put them away. By the way, it is great to have the truck back. Matthew had to borrow it when his car was in the shop and even when it was picked up because they did not return it fixed. So we did not have to shop with a tiny Toyota car.

We had leftover roast for lunch which was so good. We watched some stuff on TV, but mostly I slept because I had a lousy night last night. I kept waking up because my nose was so clogged up.

At 4pm we started getting ready to go in the pool. David brought in all the dogs, one at a time. I checked on the hot tub to make sure it was good on chlorine. I climbed in and it was super hot but the pain in my leg went away when I soaked in it for a few minutes. I took three different pain relievers today and none of them took the horrible hip and leg pain away.

I changed and went out to take care of all of the animals. Everything seemed fine until I hit up the rabbit cage. The man bunny was lying still with a bloody nose. He is dead. We have no idea what happened. All of the other rabbits are fine.

I also noticed that one of the two large jasmine plants that we bought a few weeks ago is now totally dead. Someone planted them in our backyard. One is thriving and the other was dying. I have been watering it personally. Today, it is gone...

Matt came over and took care of the dead bunny. Now David will have to choose a new father rabbit from what we have out there.

May Garden Chores

Lettuce growing in the garden is already bolting as it is so hot! Part of May garden chores is removing plants that are bolting unless you want to keep some for seeds.

This week we have gone over a lot of May garden chores. The heat is sky high here, hitting 104° today. But no matter how hot it gets, May garden chores must be done. Check your plants every day.

For instance, the plants in my greenhouse were just watered earlier this weekend, but I went in the greenhouse this evening and they were wilting, even with the door open and the fan vents on. So I had to water everything again. Make sure your May garden chores are getting done so you don't lose plants.

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