Another hot day but this is the last one for a while.  The cold front is moving into our area and the temperatures are dropping about 20 degrees.  We should have rain for the next two days and lower temperatures.  They are calling for days in the 60’s and nights in thee 40’s.  Most of my plants will be happy but not my tomatoes and sweet potatoes – they will just have to coast for a couple days and then the warm weather will return.  Today we hilled the leeks.  I planted them in raised rows and that was a mistake.  I forgot that leeks have to be hilled to blanch them and so we have made a note to plant them in a trench next year so as they grow I can put the soil in the trench to cover them as they grow.  When they first started to grow well I pulled up about 3 inches of soil around them and today I hoed up another two inches of soil around each leek and them put about 3 inches of mulch around each so now the lower part of each will be blanched and tender.  I will hill them at least once more before they are fully mature.

Norman finished hoeing the rest of the garden and I finished the potatoes so once again the garden is weed free.  Tomorrow I will be able to have broccoli for dinner and there are three other plants starting to set their fruit.  Also the grapes are blooming.  Each bud turns into a new branch and each branch has 3 to 6 small bunches of grapes.  They grow larger and then all of a sudden each little grape gets covered with little white hairs and that is their bloom.  When the grapes are set and starting to grow I will prune the vines.  Each branch will be cut off just one bud beyond the last bunch of grapes on the branch, that way the plant can put all it’s energy into growing large grapes instead of growing longer and longer branches.

This afternoon I dug out my sewing patterns and found 8 nice patterns for little girls.  Both Gina and Dhyana want cute dresses for Christmas.  A couple of them are for play sets and those I will make and send them when I finish so they can use them this summer.   I have 5 grand daughters and 7 grand sons.  I loved making dresses and doll clothes for the girls, then when the great grand children came they were all boys for so long and at first Gina didn’t like dressing up or playing dress up and now she likes it.  She is 5 and I am so happy to have a little girl to sew for again.  Dhyana has always been a girl’s, girl and I have enjoyed making doll clothes for her and knitting for her since she was born.  This year I will sew for them both and hope they fit.  Have a great day.