Score!

There was a rumor going around the plant that we would be working this weekend, and honestly, I have mixed feelings about this.  As much as I love having weekends off, I also love those big, overtime checks.  That's where I get my fun money.  You know, for things like my garden...

But it turns out only a few departments are working.  Sometime back, they came up with a new line of products that use a different size of copper tubing for the adapter tubes, hairpins, and such.  We're finally starting to get some orders for those units, so they brought in a few departments to get ahead on the parts for them.  My department was not one of them.  

Since I didn't have to work, first thing I did was to lie in bed until....um...4:30.  Oh well...it's better than 3:30 at least.  I laid in bed until sometime after 5:00, when my bladder insisted that we get up.  

I somewhat reluctantly got out of bed, answered nature's call, and had a nice leisurely cup of coffee, before getting dressed and going into town to do my shopping that I didn't do yesterday.  

As is my custom, as soon as I arrived, I made a beeline to the garden center and scored big time!  I wanted to get some more marigolds for pest control, and look at what I found.  

A four pack of marigolds with different colors in it!  I really lucked out with that one, because it's usually one color per pack.   And they're all safely tucked into the garden.  They were in direct sunlight in the garden center, so I didn't really think they'd need hardening.  

We're expecting more storms early next week, so I haven't put the tomatoes back into the garden yet.  I've put them out onto the back porch for now, but I'll bring them back inside at night.  Even in the shade, they'll get better light than they will on the windowsill. 

I figured that I already had them disturbed by moving them, so I put a little more potting soil into the cups. 

A lot of the gardening channels say to do it this way, because tomatoes can develop roots all along their stems.  This helps them grow into stronger, healthier plants.  Some even suggest that when you plant them, you should lay the stem down for several inches, but I'm not going to do that.  I'll plant them pretty deeply and hope for the best. 

By the way, does anyone have any tips on how to keep fire ants out of your compost bag?  I was going to add more stuff to mine, only to discover it's slap full of fire ants.  I've dumped a good bit of diatomaceous earth into it, but so far, it hasn't seemed to help any.  The problem is that there are so many fire ants, I can't even get the top unzipped to open it up.  There is a little flap where you can add the stuff you want to compost, but even opening that got me rewarded with multiple bites. 

If you don't have to deal with these little spawns of Satan, consider yourself very fortunate.  

In other news, I started cleaning snake tanks today.  I usually do it in January and in July, and obviously, I'm pretty far behind on that chore.   On the bright side, I was able to get enough wood shavings from just two of the tanks that I was able to mulch three beds.  

By the way, I'm thrilled at how well my lemon balm is doing.  I really need to go ahead and cut some to start it drying.  On the other hand, I don't see how anyone can eat sage.  It smells like body odor to me. 

I think I'm also going to cut some of my tarragon, probably tomorrow morning.  

It seems to be struggling a bit, but then they only live 3-5 years, and this is year three.  Once it's gone, I don't think I'll buy another one.  

I almost had enough shavings to mulch this bed, too.  

I made sure to put it around the two plants, and will fill in the rest when I do the other two snake tanks.  I hope the mulch helps the little rosemary pick up a bit.  It's been struggling since I've transplanted it.  The mulch should keep the soil moisture more consistent, and maybe cooler, so it should help.  

Speaking of, we got 1.9" of rain last night -- so much so, they've lifted the burn ban!  It's still not going to be enough to relieve the drought conditions, but every little bit helps.  We're supposed to get more rain next week, too.  

The only downside to all that rain is that the yard needs to be mowed again.  Oh well, it ain't going to happen today.  Today, I'm going to watch TV and knit.

Later, peeps.