Weekend

The weather here has moderated and the green beans have started producing. They pretty much shutdown when it got so hot, but now I'm getting enough to freeze.

I tried some great northern beans this year, too. They are a dried bean—great for baked beans. I picked some Saturday that I was afraid would fall off the vine. I figured I might get a cup, but once I shelled them, I ended up with almost 6 cups. They've started producing again, too. Makes me hungry for baked beans :)

The cucumbers haven't been producing as much as I wish, but I still managed to can 4 1/2 quarts of bread and butter pickles. I hope the second planting does well.

Last week, I planted more beans, peas, and carrots. Something is eating the pea seeds from underneath. Only about 30-50% are left. Anybody know what might be eating them? I didn't think moles would eat them.

Sunday saw me get two flat tires—both of them the front tire. One of the roads that desperately needed resurfacing was sealed instead. All that managed to do was disguise the holes and add pea gravel. One of the pieces of pea gravel was shaped like a tiny arrow head, just perfect to cause a flat. I was only about 5 miles into a 45 mile ride. No problem; I always carry an extra tube. Finished the ride in good shape. Later that evening, Debbie and I were going to take a 20 mile ride, so I pumped up her tires and added air to my front tire (the little hand pump on my bike only got it to about 50 lbs.). I got about 3 miles into the ride and the tire started going flat again. Apparently, I missed a stone and the 90 lbs. of pressure was enough to flat it...no extra tube, either. End of ride at 5.5 miles because I was out of patches! So, today is a trip to the bike shop for more patches. The tubes are still good, only about 3 or so patches on them.