Saturday, June 25, 2011

"Pharaoh, Let My People Go."

…OR  
The Perils of Gardening    (in LIVE WRITER)
Grasshopper plagueWhat would my blog be if I didn't show both sides of the proverbial coin? 
You've seen the pictures.
The luscious greenness of my broccoli and potato beds.
pickled beets; 1st broccoli; morning garden 5-12-11 006 
garden -easter- ET center 04-23-11 036
The juicy red tomatoes perched so delicately in my kitchen window.  
tomatoes on my windowsill-front yard summertime 005
You've seen the 'experimental mound' (ie: hugelbeet) smack dabbed in the middle of my Potager (puh-teh-jay).
pickled beets; 1st broccoli; morning garden 5-12-11 042
You've read how everything was growing so wonderfully. 
 
But these are the dog- days of SUMMER- where the rubber meets the road, …when gardening gets tough!
Grasshopper plague2
I might have mentioned the grasshoppers before. This is what they did…
dead corn  First they ate the corn.  That was before the dry hot winds blew.
Perils of Gardening 007 Then they started eating the lettuce…then it bolted and looks like this.  I had let it flower and harvested the seeds.  The grasshoppers didn’t care. They munched, munched, munched on all of it.
tomato plants all but eaten
Now they’re eating my tomatoes!  No surprise there. 
We’ve also had CRAZY STONG WINDS…..BLOWING ACROSS THE PASTURE.after the rain- still dry
The trees have dried out. The grass has dried out. Grasshopper plague3
Did I mention the grasshoppers?  Since the fields are cut short and dried out… they’ve no place to go except the garden—at least it gets watered every other day.
windblown squash
This Squash plant  has been whipped to death by the winds and because everything is so dry—we’ve got severe drought conditions and A Burn Ban is in effect. NO OUTDOOR BURNING.  (yes, I know it’s blurry—it’s windy outside)
No FIRECRACKERS this year on the 4th of July too.
cool temps-Garlic
I’d like to end on a high note—yesterday we woke up to cooler temps than we’ve seen in a while.  It was about 70° – on the official first day Summer. 
finally some rain
We had an early morning shower – heavy enough to leave puddles in the yard!

This is a lone tomato. It is all that is leftnew tomato plant in the front bed; where broccoli, lettuce and beets once thrived- before this…
Grasshopper plague
…it’s  a plague I’m sure!
the last okra
This is the last of the okra too.  But they’re being over come with ants! 
Oh and did you see my Elephant Garlic?  Hanging next to the outside thermometer?  YES!  That grows whether I do anything to it or not.  I’ve got more hanging across the porch, too. It’s great for cooking.  Use it just like regular garlic.
This has been a fun garden to grow.  We’ve learned a lot.  I’m so looking forward to growing again next year.  One thing I’ve learned is—gardening isn’t over just because you have a few set backs. 
The growing season continues all year long.  When you’re not planting – there is still dirt to be turned,  compost to be filled and gathered, mulch to be added, and plants to be grown that otherwise might not grow during other months. Whatever month it is—there is something to do in the garden; even if it is a little research.Before next season I’ll be learning more about
Grasshopper plague3  
…Pests in the GARDEN and  DE (or Diatomaceous Earth)
I added some.  But it just didn’t do it for us. Need more research!
God bless you and Thanks for reading.


 Posting Late here:
and HERE

***PS-- this was done with LIVE WRITER,  what'd you think?
I know some of my pictures were  blurry, but that isn't because of LW...it's because I'm not a photographer-- Y'all know that!  But as for the photos-- they don't have the little blogger frame, and they look like they are just laying on the page, and they are all over.  Can they be moved?  Is it better to hit publish?  Or is it better to do a draft first?

Any tips?  I know Gail from My REpurposed Life uses it... tell me what you think, Gail!

10 comments:

The Boston Lady said...

Darn those grasshoppers! Your gardening adventure was a successful one, complete with the whole spectrum of the experience. Hope the winds stop and you get your much needed rain. I like how the pictures lay on the blog post, but I know nothing about LiveWriter. Ann

Unknown said...

Oh dear...It's so true... there is always two sides to gardening... the lovely and the ugly!
It's all part of the experience...You'll forge ahead with true farmgirl spirit cuz that's what we farmgirls do! Now, about those grasshoppers... Where did they come from and how do you get rid of them?
Deb

Mel's Cabin Designs said...

Awe...the joys of gardening...duh...cough, cough, it should be the perils of gardening and we love it so....don't we? Keep moving on and enjoying the spirit of gardening. There must be a good reason God made Grasshoppers...but I fail to see it myself...lol...thanks for commenting at Mel's Cabin Designs...I just let it all go at the Cabin...lol...happy summer!

Unknown said...

I use live writer every day and totally love it! You can enlarge your pics and put them anywhere!
Thanks for stopping by my blog and following.
I can't believe your drought and the grasshoppers...reminesenct of the depression...ugh. Glad you finally got some rain.
Well, I am off to check on the chickens in the Mansion.

michelle said...

Ugh, I am so sorry about the drought and those nasty little grasshoppers eating your garden. At least it rained a bit and is cooler and I pray that more rain is headed your way. You are so right though, gardening is a process that we continually learn about every day.
Enjoy your week!
xo

Prior said...

my nephew manages a huge ranch in New York, Texas and he asked for prayer yesterday for the grass hoppers. Sorry about your corn...Our garden is so small we can water it easily....but would love some more rain.

Lezlee

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

ohhh, the challenges of gardening! Probably why I don't have one! :)
Okay, a small lesson on Windows Live Writer.
Upload 3 pictures,
size them,
justify them (either left, right or center)
watermark them if you choose

After you get them looking like you want them to look, click a picture to turn it on (put the little boxes around it)
Up at the top, click on PICTURE TOOLS
look for the words-SAVE AS DEFAULT (click that)

Now each time you upload pics (upload them ALL at one time)
Choose INLINE

Put your cursor to the left of your second picture.
Hit enter 3 times
Do that to the left of each picture.

That will give you good spacing. Then start writing your "story" Above or Below your pictures.

That should help with the text and the pictures being jumbled up.

When I write my posts, I make sure to hit "save" ever so often. (that saves a copy to your hard drive NOT your blog)

After I get finished writing everything up, I go to the top and choose my "labels" or "tags"
Then I choose the time for publishing. Generally 3 am for the next morning.

Then I hit publish. It then sends it to your blog for automatic publishing for the date and time you chose.
Gee... this might be the longest comment I've ever left!
I'm here if you ever have any more questions. :)
gail

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

ps
If you want to move a picture around, just turn it on-hold your ctrl key and hit the X key.
Put your cursor where you want the picture to be, and hold your ctrl key, then hit the C key.

Manuela@A Cultivated Nest said...

I always wrote my posts on LiveWriter when I had blogspot blog. It just made the whole things so much easier.

Sorry about the grasshopper invasion! Glad I don't have those although I had to pull some pumpkin and squash plants today due to squash vine borers. The delights of growing your own food!

Lowry517 said...

Pat, I am so sorry about your garden. I agree...I believe it is pestilence & should be praying against it even though it might sound silly to others. You should totally look into getting some guinea keets. You want to raise them at your place so they never leave. They can be allowed to run in your garden space. They eats tons of bug and even snakes, but will not eat your plants. Just an idea for ya!