That's Mrs. Paco, puttering around among the sunflowers and the vegetables - which, as you can see, are in protective custody, to save them from the depredations of rabbits and deer.
My four cotton plants produced several cotton balls this year; I've now got enough, I think, to make the toe section of a sock.
We hope to harvest the sweet potatoes in a few weeks, and maybe get another crop of green beans.
The extreme heat and humidity has led to a proliferation of mealy bugs, which I have combatted all summer. They don't move very fast, so sometimes I just put on latex gloves and run my fingers down the stalks of infected plants or squeeze the leaves, sending them immediately to the bug hereafter.
Cheers to Mrs.Paco. We've had so much rain and high humidity here, my tomatoes are rotting on the vine.
ReplyDeleteShe's a natural farmer. The heat and humidity this summer have really been unbelievable: highs in the 90s, heat index well over a hundred. And a drought that lasted for weeks. I'm thinking of moving to someplace with less severe temperatures - like Death Valley.
DeleteI respect gardeners, I have a black thumb though. I can kill a cactus. The only plant I did not kill was bougainvillea, you just leave them alone.
ReplyDeleteMy neighbor's guinea fowl patrol my yard every day, eating ticks, beetles, and other stuff like that.
If I gardened I'd probably love it.
Except for when they freak out and start screeching VERY LOUDLY!!!!, that part is eh.
Ditto, Veeshir. The house I moved into a couple years ago came with a fantastic garden. I didn't even try to keep it, and I am in process of replacing it with grass -- which I can kinda sorta keep green.
Deletemmmmm .... fresh green beans! Do you boil or fry them?
ReplyDeleteWorking as an exterminator suits you, Paco!
Bernardita cooks the beans in an Instant Pot pressure cooker, with either bacon grease or chicken bouillon (whatever's handy). Delicious!
DeleteI saw a recipe not long ago about what the lady doing the video called "granny beans". She took green beans from a can and fried them briefly, adding a little sugar. They looked like they tasted pretty good.
I buy my veggies frozen, including the green beans. My niece introduced me to frying uncut beans in butter, and they were great! I plan to fry a batch with bacon grease (a supply of which is always on hand) to see how they work.
DeleteBut pressure cooking them? Hmmmm!
Same as boiling them, just a lot faster. We use frozen beans most of the time, fresh beans when we manage to salvage some from the bugs.
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