Saturday, May 27, 2017: Rhubarb

I believe it was back in 2012 that we planted two rhubarb plants along our west fence line. The first year, one grew nicely and the other one appeared to die. The following year, the one that apparently died did well and the one that did well the preceding year, appeared to die. This went on for the next couple of years before we started our backyard project. To my knowledge, we never harvested any rhubarb from these plants. When the project started, I dug both of them up and stored them in the basement, pretty much ignoring them for the next 18 months. Once the raised beds were installed in 2015, T had me transplant them to the east bed. One appeared to die and the other did well. The one that appeared to die, actually did so this time. The other one grew each Spring and wilted by early Summer. Today, I decided to actually harvest some. I found a roasted rhubarb recipe and hope that by harvesting some of the well formed sprouts, new growth will be encouraged.

Before harvesting

After harvesting

Got just over 5 ounces of stalks

Roasted rhubarb

 Very tart, but very tasty.

Wednesday, May 24, 2017: Carp

The new koi seem to be happy in their new environment. I fed them for the first time this afternoon. The koi are relatively easy to pick out from the goldfish. They are very "light" colored but this may change as they grow. I've named them based on their appearance.

Tuesday, May 23, 2017: Busy day, new carp

I knew this was going to be a busy day. I had an appointment for scheduled maintenance on the Audi at 9:00 am. The dealership is WAY out is West County, about a 30-35 minute drive with favorable traffic. Being so far away, we normally would drop off the car, take a loaner and get errands accomplished out in that area.

Today, my plan was to drop off the car, take a loaner and visit our favorite liquor store, Costco, grocery store and, finally, the Aqua World pond place where we bought our goldfish last Spring. We bought 10 goldfish and only seven are still with us. The other three croaked soon after we got them into the pond. The other seven made it through the winter and appear healthy. I expect they will be with us for a long time.

This time, after viewing what they had to offer, I decided to get three koi instead of goldfish. We went with the goldfish last year to test out the pond. Goldfish are much...much cheaper than koi. I selected three koi that had different coloration. They guy at the pond shop put them in a plastic bag with an air cap. He said that they should be OK for 30-45 minutes. He suggested letting them acclimate to the pond water temperature at least 30 minutes and preferably, an hour. I decided to go ahead and head back home in the loaner so that I could get them acclimating in the pond. I got them home and remembered all my keys were with the car dealer. I was still able to get their plastic bag secured in the pond and opened so they could get air.

When I got home, about two hours later, I released them into the pond. They are about the same length as the goldfish that have been in there for the past year. I see that it is recommended not to feed them for at least 24 hours after introducing them to the pond. I fed the existing fish before I turned the new ones loose and will not feed them again until tomorrow afternoon.

About 30 minutes after releasing them, we had a gully washer which dropped over an inch of rain in about 15 minutes.

Monday, May 22, 2017: Mazda

Today I took Kermit over the Maaco for body work and a paint job. I had procured replacement front and rear bumper covers. All of the body work needed is a result of the two years I lived in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Essentially all the street parking was parallel parking, and sooner or later, that is going to take a toll. The car is mechanically in great shape for a 24 year old vehicle. No rust. The car has just over 160,000 miles on it and I have no doubt it is good for another 100,000 miles. Once I get the exterior in good shape, I need to address the leather interior.

They said the body work would take a couple of weeks.

Sunday, May 21, 2017: Pruning, fertilizing, snakes, Snapshot

Today is the six month anniversary of T's passing. I miss her so much.

It is a bright, cool Spring day. I deadheading dozens and dozens of spent rose blooms.

I pruned back the Azaleas in the front yard. I cut out the dead branches of the Sky Pencil holy in the front yard. I cut out the dead branches on both the Dogwoods in the front yard.

The hollyhock on the east end of the rose bed is getting so tall, with so many blooms, it cannot support its own weight and is falling across the walkway. I staked it to hold it upright.

I also fertilized all the Azaleas (front and back), the Junipers and the three holy in the back yard. I did not fertilize the Sky Pencil in front. I bought an eight pound bag of the fertilizer and used it all.

Not sure if the fertilizer will help the three or four sad-looking Azaleas in the back, but, I cannot hurt them either.

Finally, I noticed a 1" diameter hole right beside one of the hollyhocks along the west fence line. I don't know if this is T's garter snake or not, but let's hope so. The story of T's garter snake is, back in the fall of 2015, when the landscaper was working in the back, they came across a 2' long garter snake. These big beefy guys went berserk and were going to beat it to death with a shovel. T was out there and scolded them. She went over and picked up the snake. The landscaping guys were humiliated. T put the snake out in the new Azalea bed in the front yard, but we never saw it again. Maybe I have found its new home. T would be so happy.

Update on peace lily. I thought I might have killed it when it did not get watered over the past week. It appears it is going to recover.

Finally, I applied another dose of Snapshot to the mulched and raised beds. This is the germination preventer.