The weeds of summer are outrunning me

Yesterday turned into a recovery day. I only did two things of note after the Paul the tree-guy left. 

I went to the gym and asked the trainer about options when the dead-lift platform was occupied. There have been a few times when other lifters are using it and I am not willing to wait. Darius suggested that I lower the bars on the squat-rack to the lowest position and use that. While I was fiddle-frogging with that Darius and Vlad volunteered to critique my form. Apparently, I am using too much of my knees and not hinging enough at the waist. Who knew?

The other productive thing I did was I tied and dropped lengths of twine between the bamboo poles that extend the height cattle panels I am using to support my tomato vines. That effectively results in a vertical support every 12 inches for 24 feet.

 

Because I goofed off yesterday, I have a very long list for today. To slightly paraphrase a farmer saying: One advantage of having an enormous pile of fertilizer to shovel is that you get to choose the side you shovel from.

• Run the hose to the drip irrigation in the (Eaton Rapids) orchard and turn it on.
• Mow the orchard
• Dig one hill of potatoes for the kitchen, pick peppers and eggplant 
• Pick Yamhill hazelnuts before the squirrels get all of them 
• Mow the weeds in the fenced garden and till*
• Pull or cut weeds in potato patch, 200 feet of row
• Start cutting, splitting and stacking the Honey Locust logs littering the yard
• Move the impulse sprinkler head for watering a different portion of the garden tonight. The MSU IPM site shows 12.3 inches of evaporation potential since May 1, 2026 versus 6.8 inches of rain for a deficit of 5.5". Very little rain is predicted for the next ten days.

*My plan is to have a horse-race between three varieties of spinach: Space, Flamingo Improved and Red Tabby. Mrs ERJ enjoys eating spinach.

The internet suggests that for my area, the prime time to plant spinach is between August 10 and August 20. It also informs me that keeping the soil moist is critical, probably because the seeds don't germinate well when they are warmer than 75 degrees F. I have twenty days to prepare the seed-bed for the 2026, Eaton Rapids spinach trials.

Guardian Angels

I recently learned that Matthew 18 is the basis for our concept of Guardian Angels. Matt 18:1-6, 10

At that time the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.  

See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.