Garden

I scored an entire carload of mulch today for $6! It was at the Coffin Butte site where they turn yard debris into mulch and sell it back to the public. A whole pickup load would have been $12.

It's such a great deal!

I already am eating mustard spinach from my garden, although it got loose on me last year, went to seed and the seeds are growing. Everywhere! I don't mind. I like it. It is very tangy and when steamed with garlic powder and other greens, is extremely tasty. My two Sungold cherry tomato plants are thriving also, but not much else, except one pepper plant. The Basil went to seed last year too, and is now growing everywhere. I pulled most out today and just left a few to grow to maturity.

I like making my own Salsa, so I can't wait until tomatos hit maturity although I need to get some plants of a variety suited for salsa making. I also like to make salsa out of alternative materials, like pears, even mangos. This year, I plan to freeze as many blueberries as my small freezer can hold. I go to Blueberry Meadows, the Upick place on highway 20 for those. I love this time of year with all the fresh grown local vegetables and berries about to hit the roadside markets and stands. There are lots of locals also who provide honey that is delicious.

Last year, the cherry tree went haywire, producing lots and lots of tiny cherries that matured very late. I pruned some of the tree back last fall, but not the branches I needed to, the middle ones that head straight to the sky. That's because the battery powered Sawzall battery went dead for good. No more capacity to hold a charge. Nobody ever pruned that tree right, so it would not grow straight up, but branch to the side, so you could actually reach the cherries.

I am now trying to do that, little by little without sacrificing the old tree. I read about how to do it online. I ate as many cherries as I could last year, then made juice out of a whole lot more and tried to get anybody to come pick the rest who might want them, so they would not be wasted. Lots of people promised but nobody came.

Anyhow, I have at least mustard spinach growing like a weed all over the place now and I don't mind one bit.