Whatcha Up To???

[w_r_ranch]

Watered everything this morning (trees, flowerbeds, garden, hanging baskets, etc.) as the temps are in the high 90s & we haven't had any rain.

Trimmed up the ferns in the hanging baskets.

Harvested some cucumbers, spaghetti squash & a couple more 'Ogen' melons (Mrs. Ranch & the dogs have already eaten the smaller one, LOL!!!). It's hard to believe that the 'Sweet Success' cucumbers are still producing... it is an amazing cultivar!!! The spaghetti squash are almost done, there are 3 left to ripen & then I can rip them out.

Picked some flowers for my bride, just to see a big smile!!!

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[Mr_Yan]

Got hit by a strong T-Storm this morning. Oddly enough the weather radio went off before the weather dog did at about 5:15 am. We got about 1.5" of rain in less than 90 minutes.

My new flat of broccoli was sitting right where the garage eve over flowed and got swamped. I don't know how many of the pots and seeds got washed out.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Harvested the first watermelon this morning & it sweet, sweet, sweet!!!

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Smoked a smallish (7.5 lb) pork butt for supper. I don't know what the side dishes will be, but I know what dessert is, LOL!!!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Cut the grass.

Rebuilt the 3rd spot sprayer... New pump, new hoses & clamps & new filter.

 

[w_r_ranch]

One of our hot water heaters died last night (water all over the floor of the garage). It seems like it's always something... Made a call first thing this morning & the new one was installed by 1100 hours.

Sprayed RoundUp on the fence line & then started spraying the cross-fencing as well.

 

[Ibtsoom]

Jealous of your watermelon Sam! Beautiful! Seems like I can neither buy nor grow a sweet one anymore. When I was a kid I remember buying black diamond melons that were so sweet they almost hurt your teeth. No such luck nowadays for me though.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Thanks, that baby was darn near perfect. When I start getting a bunch ripening at the same time, I going to take one & reduce it down, then I'm going to try making watermelon ice cream.

Sprayed 'RM43' on the barn's parking area/turnaround. It was hot today in the sun...94 degrees & the heat index was 107 degrees.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Got about 1.5" of rain yesterday afternoon. Got another inch or so this afternoon. Both time rain was coming down at more than an inch an hour. Temps in the upper 80s F.

Don't know if there was hail here but I was being pinged by nickel to quarter sized hail waiting at a red light about a quarter mile from home.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked jalapenos that will be stuffed for supper.

Cleaned & filled the 'redneck swimming pool'.

Made bread.

 

[Ibtsoom]

Well I'm off on vacation for the next week. Taking the kids to Universal Studios in Florida. Got everything I could picked and canned / frozen and told my mom she could have whatever she picked while I was gone. Still getting some tomatoes and lots of peppers. Okra is going crazy as well.

Last year I had the misfortune of losing my best friend in a tragic accident - awful thing to try and have to deal with. His mom called me a few weeks back and said for me to come get his smokehouse because she couldn't stand to see it sitting there unused anymore. I gave her 500 bucks for it just to help with bills and it took 6 of us to get it loaded on a trailer and over to my place. It's large enough to smoke about 500 lbs of sausage at one time and will hold temperature within 2 degrees for hours at a time. He built it right for sure. I've gotten together with a couple buddies several times since then and we've made sausage and jerky. Here's the list so far:
100 lbs Venison / pork
100 lbs Venison/pork with Jalapeno and Cheese
35 lbs Venison and pork with Poblano and Cheese
30 lbs Pork Boudin
10 lbs Beef Jerky

It actually feels great to have such a special part of my friend - I'm reminded of him every time I walk out in the yard and see the smokehouse sitting there. His mom and sisters also enjoy seeing all of the pictures of us using it..
Here's a few pics of the last batches:

 

[Mr_Yan]

My mom came to town for a few days and brought a norovirus with her. She's holed up in our guest room now but this house only has one bathroom. Have to say I've never cleaned a bathroom six times in two days before. Right now the only thing between my kids sick for the next few days is a bunch of bleach, constant hand washing, and a prayer. I really don't want my 4 week old getting this. A potentially restful weekend turned into continued exhaustion.

Yesterday I went to my community garden for the bi-weekly weeding. I've had a hard time getting seeds to germinate up there this year. The beets didn't really come in and only half the kohl-rabi came in. I planted some green beans in hopes of salvaging that space but am not looking forward to the harvest time.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked another watermelon. It was at peak of sweetness!!!

Getting hotter by the day & the melons are starting to split, so I threw the split ones out into the pasture for the deer & coyotes to eat.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Watered everything this morning (trees, flowerbeds, garden, hanging baskets, etc.) as it is so hot even the fish are sweating...

Feed cattle.

Made bread.

Replaced flag at entry gate.

Clean bird feeders & bath before refilling them.

Fixed a leaking shower head after cleaning it.

This morning I picked another big honeydew melon & got it cut up. God I love sweet juicy melons!!!

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked more jalapenos that will be stuffed for supper.

Also picked one of each melon types (watermelon, honeydew & an 'Ogen') for the mail lady.

 

[w_r_ranch]

This morning I decided to work on a new recipe so I picked another watermelon & started reducing it down in 2 big pots to concentrate the flavor/sugars. I hope to achieve a 50% reduction today & then reduce is some more tomorrow...

You may be wondering 'What the heck is WR cooking up this time???'... Why Watermelon Ice Cream of course!!!

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[w_r_ranch]

Continued reducing the watermelon down... While that was going on, I figured this would be a good time to start polishing our cowboy/cowgirl boots. Half done.

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Update on the watermelon recipe... after the reduction I did a taste test & it sucked, so I pour it down the drain. It didn't taste like I hoped it would (not even close), so I will need to come up with another way... At least I now know what doesn't work...

 

[Mr_Yan]

Ripped out my pea vines on two trellises. Mixed more compost in to the space and seeded some green beans.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Watered everything.

Made bread & German Rouladen for supper.

Did the computer maintenance & backups on 4 of them.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Picked the last 4 spaghetti squash, the last of the cucumbers & 2 big watermelons (I didn't want them to split).

Then started cleaning up the garden in preparation for the fall planting. It's going to take a while because of the heat.​

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[Mr_Yan]

Sent two kids to Grandma & Grandpa's for the week.

Trapped one chipmunk that has been digging around in my large raised bed. Rat traps generally work well for this. My terrier does not wok well for this.

Made a batch of pesto - didn't clear cut the basil but it is kind of close. Generally I can't grow enough basil to satisfy my family's pesto intake. This year I have six plants growing. This harvest only had 450 grams (1 pound) of cleaned basil leaves.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Spent the day washing the shutters on the house (11 windows done, 3 to go).

 

[w_r_ranch]

Continue cleaning shutters, one left to do

Ran numerous passes of the harrow rake over the roads to redistribute the gravel & level it out.

Worked on cleaning up the garden some more...

Fed the cattle & moved them to the front pasture.

Water trees & flowerbeds.

Made bread.

 

[Mr_Yan]

Noticed my garden is being visited by a spicebush swallowtail butterfly as I was walking in from work today.

Harvested a couple summer squash.

Need to water.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Neighbor just stopped by, so I gave him a couple watermelon & a couple honeydew melons ( I got watermelons coming out of my ears, LOL!!!). There are still 68 of them out there.

 

[w_r_ranch]

Finished polishing the last of Mrs Ranch's cowgirl boots.

Picked the last of the jalapenos. I got 13 big ones set aside to stuff & the rest I turned into 'Essence of Jalapeno' aka jap sauce. Got another 3 1/2 pints.

Picked 2 more honeydews.