I made Betty's (Betty Crocker) Chocolate Chip cookies today. We had pecans so I used those instead of walnuts. The chips were something like 65% cacao.
Actually, I did like the last batch where I used chopped peanuts instead of walnuts. They are all good.
My oven needs two or three minute more than the recipes state.
The bag of flour had recipe for lemon cookies. Maybe those are next.
This is the Hardy Chicago fig tree that I gave a major workover in mid March. The final result looked like this:
I wondered if I killed it. Now most, or all, of the branches have big swelling buds.
Give it a few weeks. Fig trees are very resilient. Assuming these branches continue growing, they should be tipped at about a foot, and then at another foot. This variety bears on new growth, so maybe...
I planted more squash seedlings in their final locations.
This is a Galeux d'Eysines. The roots quickly start winding around. Squash seedlings roots are delicate, so you want to get them planted ASAP.
Fortunately they are very early in their winding around, so it just took slight untangling to point the roots outward.
Now planted outside: All three Galeux, both Costata Romanesca, and one Fordhook zucchini. Here is a Costata:
I will need to set up deer protection for the ones outside the fenced garden.
I also gave away a zucchini plant "Sure Thing", a summer squash plant "Saffron", and two Red Kuri squash seedlings. Now remaining for me to plant are three seedlings of Burgess Buttercup, three of Uncle Dave's Dakota Dessert Squash, one Saffron summer squash, and two or three Honeynut. Not sure where I'll plant them, but if Honeynut has small squashes, it might be a candidate for a trellis.
So far, the squash seeds that are growing are, Costata Romanesca, Fordhook Zucchini, Galeux d'Eysines Pumpkin, Uncle Dave's Dakota Dessert (Buttercup type), Red Kuri, Burgess Buttercup. I think there are signs of life with the Honeynut, Saffron, and Sure Thing Zucchini. Two will be given away, and I need to plan where to plant the others so I don't confuse myself.
I decided the two buttercup types will replace the massive Pink Banana and Illinois Squashes this year.
I may plant the smaller bearing Honeynut Squash against a trellis, for space conservation.
Squashes grow fast. I need to get them into the ground within a week. Here is the first of the Galeux d'Eysines, which was all I could plant before rains resumed.
I set up the irrigation system for the fresh tomato raised bed. First, I arranged the lines on top of the kraft paper mulch, so I can see if they work. The 1/4 inch lines are re-used from last year. I used new emitters because of concern they could clog from a season build-up of minerals. Plus, some broke when I took apart the lines to build the beds.
Here is a video showing the flow.
Thinking about how much to use. When I use the watering can, one full can is two gallons. I use roughly one full can for four plants, at a time. Depends on how hot and how big they are. That's about 1/2 gal per plant. That would mean let the system run for 30 minutes for a similar amount. The paper mulch will reduce evaporation and soil drying, so I may get away with watering less often. I can always check soil moisture.
After the test run, I shifted the emitters to be under the paper. Now the irrigation system is completed for this bed.
I still need to add paper mulch for the onion bed, then plant sauce tomatoes and install emitters and mulch for that bed. In a couple more weeks, I'll do the same for the chili pepper bed. Also, I'll install a branch for squashes which will be in ground. Last year I watered them by hand, which was a major effort.
It seems like a lot, but the advantages are significant. First, with about 20 tomato plants, at least 1/2 gallon per session, that's about 5 trips with the full watering can per day or every other day. I think it's actually more. For the onions and garlic, or beans when those are done, it's another approx 4 trips per bed, and 4 more for the large planter box. So that's roughly 25 watering can trips per watering session. Or the hose, which is a lot of difficult lugging the hose around and standing out in the heat (or smoke, if we get a bad fire season. Hope not.). It's also a major water savings over using a sprinkler system.
