This and that
gardenchat@hort.net
  • Subject: This and that
  • From: A*@aol.com
  • Date: Fri, 9 Jul 2010 09:18:08 EDT
Two very trivial matters:
    Is anyone else an addict of crossword puzzles as I am? There is research
to indicate that regular crosswords can delay mental deterioration, and 
since
I always have enjoyed them, I make a practice of beginning each day with a
crossword.  For a long time I have gone to The Daily Crossword Index at
_http://puzzles.about.com/library/features/blxwdind.htm_ 
(http://puzzles.about.com/library/features/blxwdind.htm)   I have found that 
sometimes the Saturday puzzle would be a repeat of a previous one, but
this week the whole week's selection have been repeats.  Annoying!
 
  On a more garden-related issue, I have been told at a recent garden club
meeting that one person controls moles, woodchucks, and other boring
pests by pouring bleach into the holes.  Have any of you heard of this?
Chipmunks are driving me nuts - they have made holes everywhere and
are nibbling everything.  I bought a big bottle of Clorox yesterday, and 
will
go out and pour it in some holes - see what will happen.
 
  This has been a disastrous garden season for me.  I had very modest
success with peas, but early heat put an end to them.  Lettuce started
out well.  I always mix radish seed with my lettuce seed when I plant
them - thin the lettuce by taking out the radishes as they grow.  When
the lettuce got up enough to start taking small ones for "mesclun" someone,
probably chipmunks because the vegetable garden is fenced, first ate
all the lettuce, leaving the radishes.  Next day they took the radishes.
My beans were looking great, and I thought at least they were too big
for the chippies to eat, but someone else, must have been a woodchuck,
got in and in one day finished all the beans, just as they were beginning
to bloom. 
 
 Normally I would have pulled out the peas after they finished, and put
Kentucky Wonder beans along the fence, but I was deterred by an extra
heavy work load, combined with the crashed computer. By the time I got
those things sorta under control, the extreme heat made me feel it was
unwise to spend time working in the garden.  And now that the beans
have been eaten, I wonder if it's worth the effort.  The heat has abated
somewhat - high yesterday was only 91, and today's high is predicted
to be in the upper 80s, but it's drier than ever.  I can only haul so much
water, and don't dare run the hose any length of time since we are on a
well.  Lots of things are just turning brown, and not just mine - I see it
everywhere.  The weather this year has been insane!
 
Sorry for the long rant - just needed toget it off my chest.
Auralie

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