Tuesday, August 8, 2017: Late Summer Plantings

Another really nice Summer day here in the City. It will be in the mid-80's and sunny with a gentle breeze. I have had the AC off for the last five days.

Before Treatment

After Treatment

 Last week the treatment of the east porch was completed. They had to put on a total of three coats due to the rains that did not allow the coats to penetrate properly.









Today I decided to put in some late Summer crops. In the west bed, I planted 14 Ruby Swiss Chard (7-10 days to germinate and 50-60 days to harvest) inside the boundaries of the magnolias; four more Dwarf Blue Curled Kale (5-10 days to emerge; 55 days to harvest) around the perimeter of the marigolds. In the east bed, I planted five Yolo Wonder Green Peppers (10-25 days to emerge; 50 days to harvest). I am soaking more beets to plant tomorrow, probably in a row along the previous row in the west bed. I planted all of these early this Spring. Only the beets and one kale survived. Hope to have better luck this Summer.

Yesterday I prepared my minced meat pie fillings. This year I made two batches. One using beef tenderloin and beef suet and the other using lamb tenderloin and lamb suet. I also used Calvados as the brandy instead of the St-Rémy. I used Granny Smith apples and, as I did last year, substituted barberries for one-half of the raisins and currants. Both batches are in the aging in the fridge and should be ready by Thanksgiving.