Mulch

 We got a little rain again last night.

So this morning instead of watering,

I started moving that big pile of cut grass

(hay) from the back of the garden onto

the rows.

And while I was working, there was a big ol' fat

bumblebee doing his job pollinating the squash blooms.

We have lots of flowers.

And now there is some hay around each

of these plants to help hold in the moisture.

I still need to do the cucumbers as well

as the beans and okra, but it was a LOT of work.

I pitchforked (that's a technical term) from

the pile (which was not loose but well packed

and kind of all stuck together and also had a LOT

of dirt in it) into a wagon and then 

dragged it over to the row I was working on

and then picked it up by hand and tucked it around

the base of each plant.

(I sprayed REALLY well for ticks first!)

After about 5 hours I had all the squash done.

And then I loaded up the gas cans and

went to the service station in town and got

some gas for the generator and diesel for

the tractor (neither are OUT, but I want to

have some on hand...) and then I went

to the house and took a nice cool shower

and took a NAP.

(I have been taking a lunch in my little

insulated lunch bag - today I had a ham and

cheese sandwich, some baby carrots and

a fruit snack.)

Anyhow.

I just finished teaching tonight's class.

Half way through I forgot I raised up my

chair and when I went to stand up,

my armrest got caught under the desk

and flipped my 2nd computer monitor onto the floor.

I got it all hooked up again, but it wouldn't

show my presentation, so I had to sort of

fumble my way through the final 2 hours.

Grrrrrrrrr.

But we got it done.

And everybody was nice about it.

And now....

I'm off to bed.

Tomorrow it's back to watering again,

but I'll probably keep moving hay while

the water  is going on a different part of the garden.

Gotta get it all done, since they aren't

predicting any rain again until the weekend.

And even then, its hit or miss.

July and Aug are NOT big rain event months usually.

(Unlike you AZ guys who are mid-monsoon season...)