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July 9, 2025
Easy pickings for cucumbers

july2025
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July 8, 2025
The heat is back with a vengeance as temperature is going up to 94º today. I was able to get the lawn cut, as the grass is growing extremely fast, due to the abundance of rain that is coming along with the heat. I will try and get out and do some harvesting of tomatoes and cucumbers, but weeding will have to wait another day.

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  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Easy pickings of cucumbers
  • July 7, 2025
    July 7, 2025
    Nice morning pickings
  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Early Delight tomatoes
  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Early Delight tomatoes
  • July 5, 2025
    July 5, 2025
    Red Pontiac potatoes
  • July 4, 2025
    July 4, 2025
    Cukes, pickles and tomatoes
  • July 3, 2025
    July 3, 2025
    Peppers, potatoes, tomatoes

July 7, 2025
W decided that if I am going to keep the garden going, I will have to skip walking early in the morning and go out and weed the garden one row at a time. The weeds grow twice as fast as the crops, so I have to stay on top of cleaning out the rows almost on a daily basis. I found the video above of a hard working “younger” woman (70 years old), working the land up in Vermont. I love what advice she had to offer.

July 6, 2025
We are close to another 90º heat spell coming up this week. Maybe it is because the 4th of July and Nancy’s birthday are coming and there is heat from all the celebrating.

The garden is showing what the heat can do for growth and maturity. Tomatoes are now too many to count, along with the cucumbers, as both are producing good crops. I am waiting on green beans to mature, as I see lots of flowering going on. The new broccoli seedlings are also doing quite well, although I have to keep a close eye on those cabbage bugs.

I planted 9 okra seedlings (some already had okra fruit on them. I also planted 4 more tomato plants, a Roma, 1 Delicious and 2 Beefmaster. The Roma also already had some fruit on the seedling. Click on photo to see recent harvests.

July1, 2025
Finally, a break from the hot and humid weather, as a cold front came through with quite a bit of rain. Unlike south of us, we have not had much rain, so this is welcome for the grass and garden. It is my contention that the weather moved a month ahead this year, as April was more like May, May more like June and since the middle of June, we are seeing August type weather.

It is a good thing I have an irrigation system, as lawns are starting to turn brown on properties without water. I have been cutting the grass twice a week, sometimes three times, trying to keep up with the growth. I cut it high to keep the grass green and lush, as well as it helps keep the weeds at bay.

I had to buy a new string trimmer, a replacement for my Ego unit. I have an Ego multi-tool head, so I just added a trimmer head and all is working fine. Ego has some quality control problems, but they continue to improve their products. This new trimmer has a variable speed setup, so I can go slow and easy where needed and fast, when the weeds are tall and tough. I just hope it lasts a bit longer than 3-4 years. At $169 it wasn’t cheap.

I have lots of weeding to do in the strawberry plot, where I only did two rows, so 4 more rows to go. The bean plots are inundated with weeds, and that will also require lots of “down and dirty” work to clean up that area. The good news is that my tomato plots are pretty clean as I have been able to keep up with weeding there, due mainly to having very wide, open lanes between each of the three tomato rows.

It is amazing to me that we are already into July, having been home now for 3 months.

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july2025
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July 8, 2025
The heat is back with a vengeance as temperature is going up to 94º today. I was able to get the lawn cut, as the grass is growing extremely fast, due to the abundance of rain that is coming along with the heat. I will try and get out and do some harvesting of tomatoes and cucumbers, but weeding will have to wait another day.

Loading…
Loading…
  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Easy pickings of cucumbers
  • July 7, 2025
    July 7, 2025
    Nice morning pickings
  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Early Delight tomatoes
  • July 8, 2025
    July 8, 2025
    Early Delight tomatoes
  • July 5, 2025
    July 5, 2025
    Red Pontiac potatoes
  • July 4, 2025
    July 4, 2025
    Cukes, pickles and tomatoes
  • July 3, 2025
    July 3, 2025
    Peppers, potatoes, tomatoes

July 7, 2025
W decided that if I am going to keep the garden going, I will have to skip walking early in the morning and go out and weed the garden one row at a time. The weeds grow twice as fast as the crops, so I have to stay on top of cleaning out the rows almost on a daily basis. I found the video above of a hard working “younger” woman (70 years old), working the land up in Vermont. I love what advice she had to offer.

July 6, 2025
We are close to another 90º heat spell coming up this week. Maybe it is because the 4th of July and Nancy’s birthday are coming and there is heat from all the celebrating.

The garden is showing what the heat can do for growth and maturity. Tomatoes are now too many to count, along with the cucumbers, as both are producing good crops. I am waiting on green beans to mature, as I see lots of flowering going on. The new broccoli seedlings are also doing quite well, although I have to keep a close eye on those cabbage bugs.

I planted 9 okra seedlings (some already had okra fruit on them. I also planted 4 more tomato plants, a Roma, 1 Delicious and 2 Beefmaster. The Roma also already had some fruit on the seedling. Click on photo to see recent harvests.

July1, 2025
Finally, a break from the hot and humid weather, as a cold front came through with quite a bit of rain. Unlike south of us, we have not had much rain, so this is welcome for the grass and garden. It is my contention that the weather moved a month ahead this year, as April was more like May, May more like June and since the middle of June, we are seeing August type weather.

It is a good thing I have an irrigation system, as lawns are starting to turn brown on properties without water. I have been cutting the grass twice a week, sometimes three times, trying to keep up with the growth. I cut it high to keep the grass green and lush, as well as it helps keep the weeds at bay.

I had to buy a new string trimmer, a replacement for my Ego unit. I have an Ego multi-tool head, so I just added a trimmer head and all is working fine. Ego has some quality control problems, but they continue to improve their products. This new trimmer has a variable speed setup, so I can go slow and easy where needed and fast, when the weeds are tall and tough. I just hope it lasts a bit longer than 3-4 years. At $169 it wasn’t cheap.

I have lots of weeding to do in the strawberry plot, where I only did two rows, so 4 more rows to go. The bean plots are inundated with weeds, and that will also require lots of “down and dirty” work to clean up that area. The good news is that my tomato plots are pretty clean as I have been able to keep up with weeding there, due mainly to having very wide, open lanes between each of the three tomato rows.

It is amazing to me that we are already into July, having been home now for 3 months.

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june2025
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Comments from the week of June 22, 2025

The wet weather from last week has turned into the first hot spell of the season this week. Temperatures have risen to just shy of 100º on multiple days, with this Thursday, June 26, being the last “hot” day this week. To keep things flowing along, I have been using the irrigation system every late afternoon to keep the grass green and the veggies content. So far, all has held up well and produce is coming along. The biggest surprise so far has been the productivity of the Yukon Gold potatoes. The harvest has been outstanding, with good sized potatoes being the norm.

After 5 days of temperatures topping out near 100º, we got a slight reprieve on Friday, June 27. I was able to clear out the pea patch and plant some more tomatoes and I also cleaned up the Yukon Gold potato area, planting 9 Ochra seedlings.

Cucumbers and weeds are the big thing now as the all day drizzle on June 27th allowed everything to spurt up. The strawberry field really needs to get cleaned out again, before the weeds totally take over.


Comments from the week of June 16, 2025

Despite the weather becoming a bit cooler and wet (over 8 inches of rain in one week), the garden has been going gangbusters. I have already harvested broccoli, tomatoes, peas, strawberries, blueberries, collards, cukes, pickles and even a potato.

I am pretty excited at how all is growing and I am trying to keep up with the weeding, so the paths are clear and neat. I need to clean out the blueberry area again and then throw down some wood chips to help keep down the weeds. The beans, which are now about a foot tall also need some “up close” weeding done, as I have neglected them since I put netting over them to keep the rabbits (I now have two bunnies coming for snacks) at bay.

In another few days I will have plenty of peas to harvest and some more broccoli to cut, along with taking some more collards to friends. The gooseberries are starting to change color, so they will be ready for picking very soon.

The tomatoes are about 4-5 feet tall, with lots of tomatoes on the vines, most of which are still green, after an early crop of 10 tomatoes that turned red. I also ate my first sweet gold cherry tomato, super delicious.

Finally, I still have a couple of areas that need to be prepped for seedlings, some tomatoes and a number of okra seedlings.

It will be a challenge to keep the weeds at bay, as it seems they grow twice as fast as do the veggies and fruits.

The photos below include an early harvest of cucumber, pickles, peas and early tomatoes. The Yukon Gold potatoes, planted in early April have been harvested and are excellent in size and taste. The Walla Walla sweet onion was started from seed in February and planted into the raised bed in the middle of April. We are also coming to the end of a great crop of gooseberries and blueberries.

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may2025
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May 12, 2025
The garden work keeps right on coming as I attack one plot/job at a time. Today it was cleaning out the pea plot, despite some rain, adding fencing to keep out the rabbits. That was actually a good thing, as I planted more peas and a couple of rows of Blue Lake bush beans. I spent a half an hour picking up bean seeds, as the bag broke before I could plant the seeds. I am hoping I can finish putting together the irrigation system, as it will get up to 80º again on Sunday.

My Walking
In the meantime, I just completed 6,000 miles of walking since May 2, 2021. I guess the next goal is 10,000, which would be like walking around the world. The 6k miles is 3 round trips to Florida or walking to the west coast and back. I wore out 4 pair of running shoes.

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apr2025
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April 1, 2025
A 16.5 hour road trip back home from Florida went as planned, with little traffic and an arrival time of 5:30 am, all without incident. I make this drive to limit the amount of movement Nancy has to make in and out of the car if we were to stop and stay at a motel along the way. It is a long day (night), but once we are home, we can relax and unwind.

The house is in good shape, other than lots of weeds and the lawn needing a trim (done later in the day on April 1). Cleaning out the van went well, despite being filled to the top. The seedling I brought back home survived and nothing fell out of the van during our trip.

Maggie was very good, settling in once we got going. We made a few stops along the way for gas and the bathroom, but that is expected.

It was just good to get back home and sleep in our own beds again.

My Walking
I didn’t even miss a day of walking, as I did a mile before leaving Florida and then managed to get in another mile once I got home. It was nice to walk in the woods with temperatures similar to Florida (an early warm front coming through), but with much lower humidity and cooler evenings.

  • Early seedlings
    Early seedlings
    Brocolli, basil, cukes and Roma tomato seedlings
  • Blueberries
    Blueberries
    Cleaned out blueberry plot
  • Plants ready to travel
    Plants ready to travel
    Seedlings started in Florida
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February, 2025

Winter down here in Southern Florida was quite short this year, lasting a little over a month. By the first of February, the summer like temperatures have come back, with little rain in the forecast. There have been limited activities due to my wife’s back issues that are not getting any better, despite two months of physical therapy. We have almost come to the point where “living with this pain” is the only option left. I have become a caregiver, not the best, for certain, but I continue to try and do what is needed to keep the house running and keep Nancy safe.

We had a very funny experience a few days ago, as I thought it might be helpful for Nancy to lie on the right side of our king sized bed, since she primarily only lays on that side of her body. She had to do a lot of twisting around to get her pills, water and other items located on her side drawer.

So, I spent an hour switching things around, moving her bed support that keeps her from falling out and all that goes along with making a move. Our first night was quite difficult, as Nancy didn’t like having her back to me, I didn’t feel comfortable being on the left side (after 22+ years of sleeping on the right side.

The strangest thing was Maggie was more agitated and uncomfortable than either one of us. She really struggled not being snuggled between the two of us, either nestled by Nancy’s stomach, or sleeping next to me, as I like stop sleep on my left side.

In fact, Maggie became so distraught, she pooped in the bed for the first time in more than a year. Today, I took another hour and moved everything back to where it was and all of us were quite content again, especially Maggie. She is snuggled between the two of us, happy as can be.

My sister and brother and law will come down to Florida to visit friends and then come and spend some time with us. They will take the car-train again, driving to Virginia and then spending the night on the train before getting off in Sanford, Fl. Last year they did the same trip only to have my sister get really sick with bronchitis and spending most of her time in our second bedroom. Hopefully, it will be a lot better this time around.
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It must be hunting season down here, as gun shots (rifle shots mostly) can be heard on occasion. Squirrels and wild boar are probably the main targets. Otherwise, the daily activity is back to normal, with schools back in session, the roads filled to the maximum almost all hours of the day. Living out in the "sticks" does have the advantage of less traffic to contend with, although the constant hum of traffic on Route 95 permeates the community all day and all night long. One gets used to that pretty quickly and can't be heard much when inside the cottage. Click grid to return back to main page.

As the end of January is fast approaching, it feels more like Delaware than Florida, as the weather has been pretty miserable (in Florida terms) down here. This morning I saw two of my acquaintances down here, one from Canada and the other from Western Massachusetts, doing their morning walk, wearing a thick, winter coat, gloves and hats. You would think 52º isn’t so bad compared to the teens up north, but when your body is used to low 80º temps, 50º is COLD!

No frost, so the lettuce, broccoli and tomatoes are surviving just fine, although the tomatoes are taking a very long time to ripen. I suppose once it gets back to being warmer, I will have lots of tomatoes to harvest. Right now I have picked 40 tomatoes so far this season.
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The holiday season down here in Golden Ponds is a mixture of "back home" warmth and a bit of sadness, due to missing seeing family and friends.  The community goes full force in putting up Christmas decorations along all the common areas, the main clubhouse and most of the 450 homes on campus.  Some of the decorations are outstanding, while others seem to add just the minimum.  The annual tour of local cars and trucks was a bit off this year as it was very rainy and window.  The usual count is around 500, while this year the number was down to 350.  

The decorations slowly started coming down near the end of the week, with most back in their storage boxes prior to January 1.  

The weather has been seasonably cool and wet with just a few days of 80º plus degrees and night temperatures dipping into the mid to low 60's at times.  

My walking took a real hit, as the hip continued to bother me quite a bit, so I hardly was able to walk the total mileage of a week, during the entire month.  I went back up on my anti-inflammatory medicine and that seems to be helping a bit.

We talked to family and friends on Christmas and New Year's Eve and had a nice ham dinner for Christmas, followed by a turkey dinner on New Year's Day.  For the most part the days were low key, yet went by at a very fast pace.

The raised bed garden has been producing lots of lettuce over the month and 18 golf sized tomatoes were also harvested.  This is the earliest I have been able to get tomatoes down here, due to the fact that I had started seedling back in Delaware in the middle of October and brought them along for planting.  Broccoli took its sweet time getting going and still will need some time before a head will appear.
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This year's trip down to Florida was a few days later, due to appointments having come right at the end of October. The drive down was pretty much routine, 15.5 hours with a few stops for gas and relief. The cottage managed to stay strong during the tornadoes and hurricanes that hit in early October, but many areas close by were hit hard, with devastating results. Six people died as their homes were destroyed by tornadoes (17 tornadoes came through the area) and huge warehouses crumbled under the powerful winds.

The rest of the month went along fairly smoothly, although the walking needed to be cut back as my left hip was hurting. I have tried to figure out if new pain is due to an IT band injury, a bursa bruise or the reduction in my anti-inflammatory drug I take. The end result is that my miles per week have taken a major hit.

There were no major projects on the docket as daily events seemed to take precedence and all projects were put on the back burner. Most consist of finishing up detail work left over from projects I did last season.

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Just a quick update on my walking schedule. In May of 2025, I completed 6,000 miles of walking since May 2, 2021. I guess the next goal is 10,000, which would be like walking around the world. The 6k miles is 3 round trips to Florida or walking to the west coast and back. I wore out 4 pair of running shoes.

I am happy with the progress I have made, as the walking provides me with some health benefits, but more importantly, I am being very consistent in going out almost every day, as I enjoy the walks, but I also realize if I miss a day, pretty quickly I will miss two days and then a week, etc.
MAGNOLIA WEATHER