Thursday, May 21, 2009

Down From The Trees... Fruits Of My Labor


Here's why the two trees had to go.
The earliest of my blueberry varieties are ripening finally after teasing me with green for weeks. They are delicious as the cardinals and squirrels can attest. I have rehung the big rubber snakes among the branches to deter the blueberry thieves.
Doesn't seem to deter Emma, but I would share them with her anyway. Yesterday, she told me she picked some blueberries, but they "didn't make it back to the house."
I understand that completely, I can't count the number of rain-washed blueberries I've eaten while picking.
Speaking of rain, this low pressure system has dropped copious amounts of the wonderful stuff over north Florida this week and we sure appreciate it. Mom and Dad have already measured over 7 inches and that was yesterday's news.
Hurricane season begins in about 10 days! Yes!
Fill my pond, storms, fill my pond.
Time to redo the emergency food box. I recently cleaned it out by giving last year's supplies to my baby Katie who is working, colleging, and supporting herself ... mostly.
So, now I need to sit down, think about what we need, and hit the store.
... And last year's plastic barrel of potable water needs emptying and refilling with fresh water and just a few drops of bleach.
School is winding down.
Summer is winding up.

12 comments:

MinorcanMeteorolgist said...

Unfortunately, this rain has been too much too fast over here in St. Johns County. The fields are flooded and potatoes are rotting in the ground. Many farmers are experiencing big losses, including some of our family. We need to keep them in our prayers. What a shame. What was first seen as a blessing is now a curse.

Anonymous said...

I'm ready for a break. Five straight days is a long time. I had white caps in my driveway. The coolness has been a nice relief though.

I went to the Bostwick Blueberry festival last weekend! The blueberries were wonderful. I finally got there early enough to have their blueberry pancakes. Yum!
With all the samples by fingers were blue!

What do you have in your hurricane kit?

Patti

h said...

Even Troll County got a bit of the wet stuff this week. Although not nearly as much as you Northerners and not nearly enough.

I'm guessing your Hurricane Strategy is to hunker down at PFHQ?

If so, it might make an interesting post and might teach folks a few things they don't know or have forgotten.

robin andrea said...

Seven inches is a lot of rain. That kind of rainfall would flood California. We just don't see amounts like that in a short period of time. A lot of places in the south don't see that for a whole year.

Blueberries are meant to be eaten right there in the field, like strawberries and raspberries. I think those are the berry rules.

I bet your pond is starting to look really good.

Kittikity said...

It's rained here in Polk county for almost 5 straight days.. I don't mind our usual afternoon rains.. But I need some sunshine too.. My goats are not happy at all.. Goats hate getting wet so have been spending most of their time in their shelter.. I had to put boards down for them to stand on since it was getting really mucky in there..

lisa said...

The blueberries look very good. I am glad that I don't live in the hurricane states. I do feel for the ones that do though.

Ericka said...

yum! blueberries!

raspberries were on sale at the store this week - i snarfed down an entire package as a tv snack last night. so yummy...

Doug Taron said...

Mmm, blueberries. I'm lamenting the fact that my upcoming New England trip does not coincide with blueberry season. Stay dry!

Bill said...

FC,
The rubber snakes have not done a thing to keep the squirrels off of my tomatoes. They are picking me clean. Hunting season may come early if I can't come up with a good clean solution. I want to eat them not just grow them. Still raining Friday morning over here...

Billy

threecollie said...

Holding good thoughts for the refilling of the pond.Ours is almost empty too, oddly enough since we have had lots of rain, including two inches the other night.
Blueberries look wonderful.

R.Powers said...

HT,
I hate to think of good Hastings potatoes rotting.

Patti,
I went to a blueberry festival around Ocala once and the blueberry ice cream had fake blueberries in it. That was depressing!
My box has lots of nonperishable staples that are easy to make over a gas stove... beans, rice, pasta, some canned goods, peanut butter, protein bars, tang,tuna, batteries, a radio, to name a few things.
I may post about it when I redo it.

Troll,
We hunker due to our reasonable distance from the coast and the fact that Mrs. FC is on duty running shelters during hurricanes. We aren't leaving her behind.

Robin,
I like your berry philosophy!

Kitty,
I bet it's fragrant too!!

Lisa,
You tough out a long cold winter and we tough out a long dramatic hurricane season. Each of us thinks the other has it rough.
:)

Ericka,
I can relate! I like to dump blueberries in yogurt.

Doug,
This begins a month or so of good blueberries from my garden.

Billy,
You have to move them alot. I think they work okay, but are not perfect.

3C,
Let's hope both our ponds refill. Never enough blueberries.

Kittikity said...

Actually, I can't tell how fragrant it is.. I've got a stuffed up nose.. = )

Here's a little video I took to show how high the canals are and of our local gator.. This street is just off of our street and you can hear how busy it is with big trucks and such.. Gator has been here about 6 months or more so he/she is apparently smart enough to stay out of the road..

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm73/Kittikity/?action=view&current=DSCN2597.flv