Miz Anne spent most of yesterday in the veggie garden.It appears that
all the vegetable seed is now planted. She has one tomato plant with
maters on it as big as golf balls. A Longhorn chile that survived the
winter is absolutely alive with blooms and nacent chiles. The only thing
that hasn't been planted yet is okra and that will coming soon.

About the time she finished her planting the skies opened and we got
about six inches of rain from about 5 pm until late in the night. She ad
to cancel her attendance at one of the entertainments the local
university had scheduled. That's her annual birthday/Christmas/just
because gift, tickets to a whole lot of these things. Go here for an
idea of the extent of the shows: http://www.banners.org/season2009.cfm

The peach tree is covered with tiny peaches almost the size of a pencil
eraser. As soon as they get a wee bit larger I will start thinning them
in hopes of getting a good enough crop to preserve some. We have started
noticing plums on the two plum trees, they're tiny yet but it seems we
might have plums this year. This would be the first year the Santa Rosa
plum has borne fruit if they hang in there. The pear seems to also be
loaded with tiny fruit, we could stand a good crop of canning pears as
they are a favorite with us.

Of course the Ponderosa lemon is full of a)mature fruit - ready to pick
-again; blooms; very small fruit. I think this tree has no proper season
but delights in bearing all year around. The kumquats are still holding
onto fruit and I eat a handful every time I walk by one. They will bloom
and bear this fall.

No blackberry blooms as yet and the fig tree hasn't set fruit yet. The
Japanese persimmon has many tiny fruit also, mayhap we will actually be
able to harvest some this year. And, wonder of wonders, there are blooms
on our quince tree, I've never seen quince growing so hope to harvest at
least a few.

All the fruit trees badly need shaping and pruning so I will soon begin
a pogram against crossing limbs, water sprouts, and other assorted
no-no's amongst the fruit tree population.

All in all we are hoping for a fruitful year in our backyard gardens and
many delightful preserved things going into our pantry. Now, if it will
stop raining soon I can have a crew in to form up and pour the slab for
the new garden shed. It is badly needed.

Life is good.

George