We made it through another Steele Picnic, actually this was the 20^th Picnic. I shouldn’t say made it through, because we really enjoy hosting this each year. It’s great to see so many who try to make it every year.  As Jillian says, it’s almost a better time to visit with everyone than at Easter, Thanksgiving or Christmas. The Picnic itself has been so much easier to prepare for these last two years since we have our new building, the “Dance Hall” as Aaron and Kalie call it.  In years past Ken would clean out the garage and I mean really clean it out and then haul tables and chairs in to be setup.  He is a detail person, no surprise there since he is or was a computer programmer.  Most people would be content to just sweep out the garage, put a few tools away and call it good.  Not Ken, he would sweep the floor and then vacuum.  He would vacuum the dirt from cracks in the floor, vacuum the window sills (which really needed it because of all the spider webs and dead bugs) and vacuum along the outer edges just to make sure everything looked good. I really appreciated his meticulous cleaning because then all who came wouldn’t wonder if there was a bug, dog hair or dust bunnies hiding in their food somewhere. Now with the new building everything is ready to go, we just have to setup the tables and chairs that we think we will need and that are stored right there for easy access, get out the plates and cups, turn up the water heater and get our food made.  The down side to all of this is that the garage really could use a good cleaning after two years. J

Anyway, I digress. My point about the Steele Picnic being over is that now it’s time to think about cleaning up the gardens . . . and my gardens really need cleaning.  Last year we were so busy both the flower and vegetable gardens were pretty much ignored and I’m paying for it this year. Some weeds have taken over in the flower garden on the south side of the house  and they were taller than me. The rose bushes looked awful. You could hardly see any of the other flowers so I decided to completely renovate this garden.  With working full time, having a beautiful granddaughter that I want to spend more time with, wanting to sew and quilt more, wanting to do some amateur interior decorating in our house and having a horse that needs to be ridden I decided to cover and mulch the majority of the garden area to keep the weeds out. I l worked around the lilies and the purple cone flowers that were established. Then I thought I would look for some unusual containers at the Junk Jaunt this year so I could do some container gardening. The bad part to this plan is that I covered up most of my tulips since I’m not sure where they all are right now.  I guess we’ll see what happens next spring.

For some reason this year, the pampas grass is doing better than ever.  It looks so nice and green behind the horse shoe cross that Jim Gragg made for us and the pile of rocks we have.

I always think that each year is different for plants depending on the weather.  This year was the year for cantaloupe and watermelon in the vegetable garden. They took over the whole west side of the garden. They covered some of the peppers and onions, intertwined with the cucumbers, and grew up inside one of the tomato cages. Needless to say, we have a bumper crop.  Last Saturday we picked 19 watermelons and we had already picked six or seven prior to that plus there are still a few more out there yet. Early in the year the cantaloupe were attacked by voles from underneath. They did get a number of them when they first started to ripen, but now we can hardly keep up with the ones we pick. We give them to friends, family and neighbors.

The potatoes have been great. I can’t believe the flavor difference between ours and the ones I buy at the grocery store. We planted a variety, russet, red and Yukon gold and they have all been great.  Ken did an experiment this year.  He planted potatoes in the bottom of a tub and as the plants grew he added dirt.  The theory is that as they grow up they will produce potatoes along the way and when they are done you should be able to tip the tub over and have lots of potatoes.   When he did tip it over there were some potatoes but probably not many more than the ones that are in the garden.  I’m not sure if he will try that again next year.

The tomatoes are ripening very slowly.  Usually by September I have already canned a batch or two, but not this year.  I’ve only been able to pick a bowlful every couple of weeks right now, which is not enough to can.  I’m hoping there will be lots more later this week.  We use a lot of canned tomatoes and we like to send some to Aaron and Kalie too. They make very good chili.

Well, Junk Jaunt is next week and we just received our shopping guide.  Ken has already been perusing the book looking for places to eat and unusual things to look for.  I have to say this is one of the most pleasant trips we take.  Driving through Nebraska, talking with people from other parts of the State and the locals and trying some local food and drinks, maybe finding a bargain and sometimes finding something we weren’t even looking for but would look good or work great at our place. Then top it off by spending a couple of evenings with Ken’s brothers and sister and, of course, Ryli makes for some awesome memories.

Hopefully that adventure will be covered in a future post.