I am back in Houston for a few days to check up on the garden among other things. My son has taken good care of it. Weeds are under control; peas and okra have done well. Peas are almost finished. Okra is just now coming on. I got a late start on the okra; the first batch of seeds had gone bad. I don’t plant okra until space opens up from the spring garden, usually I am following green beans with okra. We will still get 2 or 3 months of okra which is enough. A lot of people dislike okra probably because they have never had it prepared properly. We steam it for just a few minutes until it is barely tender and serve it with a little vinegar on it.
The blackberries needed their summer trimming. Removing the old canes is a necessary but not too pleasant job. I took precautions but still got a few thorns to extract. The crop from the Kiowas was outstanding–great quality and quantity and a long season for ripening.
I will plant some corn before I return to Montana. It should be ready by October if it doesn’t get fried first. I added an additional drip line and will plants the seeds near the emitters. Until the seeds come up I will set the system to drip a few minutes every day and then revert to longer periods every third day.
I may try to get my son to plant some beans in early September. Otherwise planting will resume in October. I will start some seeds in the coolness of Montana in September and bring the plants back with me. More on that later.