a little of everything

first (and only) blueberries


blueberry flower


pear shaped cherry tomatoes


amish paste tomatoes coming in


more broccoli


broccoli regrowing after being chopped off


more broccoli regrowing


calendula flower


calendula not fully open


beans and their trellis


baby watermelon


nasturtium and peas - the peas on the right have already died from the heat


cantelope vines


watermelon vines (and the hole from repairing the second leak in the soaker hose)


happy puppy


molly soaking up the sun

raspberry and strawberry jam

my mom and i made raspberry jam and strawberry jam.

raspberry:
5 generous cups of raspberry puree with its seeds strained. (started with 8 cups)
1 box surejel pectin
4 cups sugar

the day before, mom pureed the raspberries with her stick blender and strained the seeds out. then yesterday the raspberry puree was brought to a boil on the stove with pectin added. once boiling sugar was added, boiled for one minute, then removed from heat. we had the jelly jars in the canner having been brought to a boil, and the lids and rings in another pot of water having been brought to a boil. we filled the jars and let them cool. all but two sealed. we put those two in the canner for 10 minutes to force them to seal.

6 - half pint (8 oz) jelly jars
2 - quarter pint (4 OZ) jelly jars
plus 1 - half pint jelly jar from the foam. we tried putting it in the microwave to dissipate the foam according to the internet, but that didnt work well.
-total of 8 - 8 oz jars.

the raspberry jam set up too firm.


strawberry:
12 cups (3 quarts) of strawberries (picked from bauer berry farm)
1 box low sugar pectin
5 cups sugar

we put the berries in the pot and used moms stick blender to puree them. the brought to a boil with the pectin. added the sugar and boiled for a minute, then removed from heat. again we had the jars in boiling water in the canner. we filled the jars and let them cool. again two didnt seal and we put them in the canner and they sealed.

9 and 1/2 - half pint (8 oz) jelly jars
2 - quarter pint (4 oz) jelly jars
1 and 1/2 - half pint jelly jars from the foam, that again wouldnt unfoam. still tastes good though.
-total of 12 - 8 oz jars.

the strawberry jam set up just enough. still soft enough to spread.

raspberry jam


with lots of foam


when you bring the fruit to a boil, the foam starts


lids and rings in a pot of water boiling


a canner full of boiling water with the jam jars


strawberry jam


raspberry and strawberry jam


strawberry left, raspberry right. raspberry was strained for seeds.


jar full of raspberry jam foam


left raspberry foam, right strawberry foam. middle strawberry jam with leftover foam


labels

holey hose

this is the first split in the buried soaker hose that i had to repair


the section i cut out. i didnt get all of the split and had to cut a second piece.


the hose mender


the repair was complicated by how close to the root of of the plants i had to dig the hole.


this was my sign that there was something wrong with the hose


the water really sprayed out!


the hole, the plant root, and the split section

pool party!

molly splashing in the pool


licking the water off her nose that she'd splashed


always up for love and ear scritchies


a second before shakedown


puppy takes over!


chasing each other in and out of the pool


wet dogs = RUN RUN RUN


moar running


zoomies


engage biteyface with zoomies


more zoomies


in the pool and quickly back out again

inch worm and broccoli

i was sitting on the porch steps reading my kindle when lo and behold, an inch worm appeared


legs only at the head and tail ends


inching along




when it was all stretched out, there was a little bit of yellow that appeared




broccoli


i cut the head off, but no worries. it'll send up more shoots. they'll never be as big as the original head, but the dogs and the tortoise eat them.


broccoli shoots


puppy, munching on some broccoli shoots


molly munching on some broccoli shoots