Tuesday Morning Coreopsis

And, Yes, those are lupine leaves. My coreopsis is a bit like an unwanted guest. Showing up when least expected and over staying it's welcome. It's everywhere. I think I planted it in my English Country Garden phase when I just wanted a rabble and clutter of blossoms. Well, after a few years (10) it all looks like a rat's nest. I'm more interested in a Control Freak Garden these days. Like I have the personality traits for that!!! LOL.

We had tomatoes with fresh mozzarella and a terrible, crappy French loaf of grocery bread. I am never buying that shit again. Bad bread is a sin. I tried to watch Mad Men repeats but wasn't interested. Uh, oh! Then I watched something else: two old L&O CI, when Bobby was thin, and enjoyed them very much. Missed the new Closer (TiVo saved it for me) and then watched Rizzoli. The family stuff is crap and too Sopranos. But it's summer and I watch anything vaguely entertaining. For a while. I can only fool my brain cells for so long and then they rebel. No new books to read. Sad.

Already swept the kitchen floor, folded laundry and washed the dog bed towels. Need to find a good beach towel sale so I can buy new dog towels. Wide, long and thick. Riley deserves the best. He seems to have stopped chewing holes in them. But we rarely leave him at home for hours at a time anymore, that's when he chews to calm himself. He's sleeping. As he gets older he sleeps more hours in the day. Used to be only 12 hours out of 24. Dogs. A mystery to me.

G is tired from the "summer rush" in the fast food industry. He has customer counts of 100 or more in a one hour time period. No drive thru so everyone comes to the counter. 100 in an hour is a lot. Yesterday they did three hours of 100 people each hour. Yikes!

I have 12 large bags of bark nuggets to spread on my garden paths tomorrow and I need to put hay down under the tomatoes so the leaves don't get more rain/watering backsplash. Blight has been found in Maine again so the tomato crop is in danger. Damn. Lots of fungus and insect damage coming to visit me in the greenhouse (in plastic sandwich bags). The biggest problem is Miracle Grow Potting Mix. This used to be a wonderful product but now the soil in the bag is crap and they have compensated with extra fertilizer. Burning the plant leaves and not giving the roots anywhere to grow in the bark, clumps and sticks that is being sold as "soil". And the "stuff" is heavy. Too heavy. No air.

If I have any advice for new gardeners it is this: dirt, plain top soil, loam has no nutrients. It's just brown stuff. You need to buy and add peat moss to retain water and composted manures or just good compost to the plain dirt to add nutrients. And fertilizer. If you paid less than two dollars for each bag, you bought dirt. Not soil. Gardeners start with plain dirt and add stuff every year to make the soil better and more fertile. We add peat one year. Manures the next. Cropped leaves the next. Compost or seaweed the next. We are always adding new food to the soil to enrich it and make our plants stronger enough to withstand the fungus, insects and diseases that come with gardening. And we mix in good organic slow release fertilizers like ProGro. Spend time and money on your soil!!! First.

Okay, I have to pack my lunch and visit the bank. I need to order checks and sign papers for a new CD. It will have to be quick as I will have Riley in the car and the sun is shining. Another 80 degree day here in Maine after a cooler, breezy night. Good sleeping. I needed some good sleep. I work until 6 today. It will seem endless.