One lonely gladiola

Sometimes called the sword lily. The retro look of gladiolus flowers is popular once again. These easy-to-grow bulbs bring a lot to the garden party, including a huge color palette, vertical interest, and bloom times that harmonize well with summer's most colorful perennials. Plus, they're a versatile cut flower, and the ruffled single florets can even be plucked off the stem and arranged in vases and bowls. Plant gladiolus bulbs in well-drained soil either at the back of the flower border or thickly enough so they'll self support as the foliage grows. The perfumed Abyssinian gladiola is a rare plant that deserves a place by the back door or front porch.

 Larry and David try to solve the problems of the world. While the rest of the guys took a hike up to the rock quarry.

 Loryn played her guitar for us.

 

 

Phyllis and Phyllis C. enjoying some conversation.

Once a month we get together with 5 other couples and have a night out on the town. This month I picked our place. We grilled hamburgers and everyone brought a dish. Fun was had by all.

Most importantly, keep a close eye on pests and disease, then sit back and enjoy your garden and all the efforts you put in earlier in the year to get it where it is now.

Vegetables

• Harvest daily.
• Find a Plant a Row for the Hungry program to donate to

        

• Reseed beans and lettuce
• Start fall crops of peas and cole crops
• Time to dig the garlic, onions and potatoes.
• Treat yourself to some new potatoes. Carefully loosen the soil under your plants to find a few small potatoes to harvest
• Plant a cover crop in bare spots in the vegetable garden

 Its dry here in South Central KY. I need rain on these veggies. Supposedly we are due for a 70% rain shower at 1am. My beans are blooming. 

Come on and lets do the rain dance. Potatoes are blooming too!

Everyday Americans are eating deadly poison in their food while thinking their 401K investment retirement funds are “growing wealth” because they are invested in shares of Monsanto or DuPont. They think they’re getting rich while they’re actually poisoning their world for generations to come. Meanwhile, media outlets push the poison in the name of “science,” collecting money from wealthy corporate advertisers to push more poison propaganda onto the world, claiming our growing population needs more pesticides, more glyphosate and more GMOs to “feed the world.”

 Friday we went out to our old house that we sold last Fall and collected all our garlic. All 55 bulbs. I had made arrangements with the new owner that come summer I was to come and collect my bounty. And is it beautiful! David is putting the garlic in bundles of five and stringing them in the shed for 6 weeks to dry.

The last crop to go into the garden, garlic is planted in fall and harvested the following summer. Flavorful, nutritious, and helpful for warding off vampires, garlic also is easy to grow as long as you plant varieties suited to your climate. Fertile, well-drained soils with a near-neutral pH between 6.5 and 7.0 are best for growing garlic.

My new table. Got it at Ollie's

Isn't it cute?

WHY PULL WEEDS?

Weeds block out sunlight and steal water.

Weeds compete with your food.

Weeds crowd out crop space.

Weeds hide your crop.

Weeds can create a habitat for pests.

And best of all it is therapeutic! 

Basic matzo bread

Like hardtack, matzo bread is also cracker-like. Unlike hardtack, it doesn’t need to be soaked to be eaten. It will keep for up to two years. You would need: one cup all-purpose flour, three cups water (you can add more if needed), 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt, and one teaspoon olive oil.

Preheat a heavy baking sheet in the oven; move an over rack near the oven top and preheat that as well. Use a teaspoon of flour to dust a clean work surface and a rolling pin. Set a timer for 16 minutes. Place the remaining flour into a bowl and pour in the water a teaspoon at a time. Stir the dough with a fork until a ball is formed. Move the dough ball to the work surface and knead until smooth, about 30 seconds to a minute.

Divide the dough into four pieces then halve these pieces until you get eight pieces in total. Roll each piece into a ball and then a five-inch pancake. Gradually roll these, from the center out, until you get large, thin bread rounds. Pierce the bread pieces with a fork 25 times on each side to prevent rising.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and place the rounds onto the baking sheet, which should then be placed on the rack. Bake on one side for two minutes, flip the bread, then bake for another two minutes until the matzo bread has turned crisp and light brown.

Micah holding the new cake pops. Pirates, yummy yummy in my tummy. 

We just finished putting up a pergola on the back porch. I love it!  

 

Foods that should be in your pantry

• Garlic and onions – Forget the not-so-pleasant smell and pay attention to the immense benefits of onions and garlic. Both contain bioflavonoids and allyl sulfides that may minimize the risks for cancer and heart diseases. Various studies have proven that these may have significant impact on lowering the risk of prostate cancer, minimizing the development rate of pre-cancerous tumors in the large intestines, detoxifying blood cells, fortifying blood cells’ ability to resist DNA damage, reducing calcium deposits and arterial plaque in coronary arteries, and preventing unhealthy blood clotting.

• Beans – Beans are a nutrition powerhouse. These legumes are rich in antioxidants, protein, fiber, complex carbs, copper, folate, manganese, magnesium, iron, phosphorous, zinc, potassium and other beneficial nutrients. They can assist in reducing and/or maintaining weight, keeping the heart healthy, aiding digestion, and balancing blood sugar levels.