Rain!

We received a little bit more than 2" of rain in the last 24 hours.

It looked like we were only going to get about a 1/4". A gap in the lines of storms marching through the area opened up and we only got nipped by the first wave.

Several hours later, another wave of storms came through and it looked like we were going to get missed again. The storms were lined up like so many cigars pointing northnortheast and sweeping northeast as the traveled.

The storm that looked like it was going to pass west of us did an amazing thing. On the radar it looked like a high-jumper arching over the bar with his body flowing across top like a slinky. And our little patch of heaven would have been 8" above the bar.

By my estimates, that was just a bit less than 2" and we picked up another half-inch during the night.

"Mustard Greens" report

In the race to germinate Mizuna and Buttercrunch Lettuce are leading with Mallow a nose behind. Callaloo is trailing the pack but might be a strong finisher. Jute greens were a non-starter and the Basil fizzled after coming out of the gates quick...maybe due to damping off. In the second flight, Carlton, Red Giant and Amara in the starting box, chomping at the bit with Florida Broadleaf being a last second addition. 

By now you are scratching your head and thinking..."Those are not all mustard greens?" and you would be completely right.

Handsome Hombre likes greens. There is still a language barrier. Sometimes the word(s) he comes up with are serviceable but not exactly what he wants to communicate. Maybe the kind of greens he likes best are not mustard greens but some other kind of green.

My approach to a lot of problems is to scattergun at the beginning to "span the universe" of options. Then to perform a more refined search in the most promising regions of the universe. If he likes actual mustard greens then it is a matter of figuring out "how spicy" and "which ones grow best on my plot of land".

If he likes milder greens, or a mix of mustard greens and milder greens, does he like them snotty (Mallow or Jute) or not-snotty?

Other vegetables

The first flight of radishes are in the ground (very late!!!)

Pickling cukes are germinating. My first set of seeds did not germinate but the inexpensive, Livingstone Seeds Boston Pickles exceeded expectations by a wide margin. Due to predation by rabbits I intend to plant them as seedlings with protective collars around them. Pictures to follow.

Cabbage seedlings are sizing up.

The last major planting dates are July 4 for root crops like turnips and rutabagas and seeding Chinese Cabbage.

The property I am managing

Raccoons (probably) pulled up two of the tomato plants I had planted. I replaced those.

Ed, over at River Bend Journal blog posted this image of "Donna's Trick" for keeping tomato cages from falling over. I saw some cages in the pole barn at the property and will do something similar.

Somehow a few plants of Cherokee Purple tomato ended up in my truck and were added to the ad hoc tomato plantation. At fifty-cents a plant, it is a pretty cheap itch to scratch.

Raspberries

The first raspberries are starting to turn red. It seems exceptionally early for them.