Spring Time Again

I have not posted in a while. Dad passed away back in October and the winter months were filled with sickness (2008 is the year of the germ) and coaching two Upwards basketball teams at the church. But time heals and spring renews hope.
I got out "The Grill" a couple of weekends ago and grilled some nice T-Bone steaks my wife picked up from a butcher in Hawkinsville. The first grillin' of 2008 and those steaks were good! However, when I started to roll out the grill, the front wheel came off. Seems that the plastic wheel center broke. I grilled with the grill on blocks (nice neighborhood...haha). Well, SunBeam stopped making grills back in 2003, so I found a place on-line in Chicago that sells OEM SunBeam Grillmaster Wheels (no chrome or spinners...sorry). So, I will keep repairing the 10 year old GrillMaster for as long as I can and keep using it.
My tomatoes went into the ground last Saturday. I crushed some eggshells into the planting hole to provide calcium to try and prevent blossom-end rot....we will see if it helps.
Planted some ornamental grasses in the Trellis area and I used the leafblower to clean off the Trellis patio and I put out the ceramic plates onto the table and got out the seat coushions....it is officially open!
My Japanese Snowball bushs do not like living in the Pine Island, so I moved one across the yard with the Forsythia and see how it does there. I replaced it with a dark purple Elephant Ear plant. One of my shrubs in back of the house died over the winter and this may be a blessing is disguise. It would grow and block my view from the Sunroom....constant overtrimming probably did it in. I removed the corpse, er, dead shrub and I have a nice area I am going to plant some colorful (low growing) annuals (this is another weekend). Not to mention the new Geraniums at the front door (Red) and back door (pink). New patio plants, mailbox plant, and a new lantana at the sidewalk patio entrance, shrub trimming, and waalaa, nice plants and a sore back! Last weekend, I did the spring mowing, trimming, and edging. It is not the 18th hole at Augusta, but it isn't bad.
Here's to your garden and grillin"!!!

The Grill

I don't have a "name" for my grill. It is just called "The Grill". It is a Sunbeam Model 520 GrillMaster. They do not make them anymore. I, or I should say, "we" received the grill as a wedding gift when my wife and I got married back in November 1998. It was a combined gift from the Doub Family and they should be happy to know that it is still in use today and it has grilled many a meal to this point. The Doub family actually grilled/smoked BBQ chicken halves for our wedding reception. That's right, I said BBQ chicken. We did not have a "traditional" wedding. We had a private ceremony with only immediate family in the church, but we invited EVERYBODY to the BBQ chicken dinner reception in the church fellowship hall. There was a BIG turnout and everybody had a GREAT time! It was like a big family get together! So you could say that our marriage is founded on BBQ! LOL! And a grill is the perfect symbol of that! Maybe not the most romantic symbol, but I did marry the most wonderful woman in the world, so there is nothing else to compare to her anyway.

I keep it in the garage when it is not in use, so it does not sit out in the weather. I did have to replace the burner last summer though. I found an on-line parts supplier for Sunbeam grills and bought two stainless steel burner assemblies. I know, one should last the rest of the life of the grill, but who knows.....I may be still using this grill 30 years from now and I needed a spare burner assembly! My marriage should outlast the grill easily (that death do you part thing...), but I would like the grill to give a run for it's money!

I want a charcoal/wood burning smoker grill next to really do BBQ right, but the Sunbeam Grillmaster will always be there for burgers, dogs, brats, chicken, pork chops, steaks, chicken, etc.

This is the reason for the Garden of Grillin'....

And to my good friend Lee...."Smells Good!"

Seeing Red.

Happy 4th of July! Independance Day means red, white, and blue. So what better day to celebrate the first ripe red tomato picked from my garden. There are several tomatoes turning, but they are not quite ready yet. Soon though. Tomato sandwiches will be coming soon!



Later this evening, it will be sliced and paired with a juicy burger from the grill. No warm weather holiday event is complete without something from the grill. Tonight, it will be juicy cheeseburgers and Brats. Mmmmm, I can taste them now....

I hope your garden is growing, your grill is lit, and you are enjoying your freedom.

Does it really "Mater"?

The answer is yes, when it comes to gardening, it does "mater". Of course in this case, "mater" is the short slang for Tomato. An example would be a Tomato Sandwich would be called a mater samich. Didn't know this blog would be entertaining AND educational, did you?

The tomato plantation is doing nicely. The two Goliah tomatos are growing well and producing several tomatoes. None are ripe yet, but it will not be much longer. The remaining three Better Boys are producing, but it looks like another one has gotten the black wilt. The Goliath's seem to be better resistant to disease to this point.

The fence in the background is six feet tall to give you some reference to the size of the plants so far.

While May set a record for ZERO rainfall, June is at least producing the occasional afternoon thunderstorm. However, the drip irrigation is in use every evening for 1 to 2 hours.

Two green peppers have already been picked and consumed with two more developing. They have a very good and clean green pepper taste. They are great cut up on a cool summer salad.

Hope your garden is green & growing!

Rain!

Finally! Although we are still over 10 inches below normal rainfall, we received a rainy day yesterday! I gladly posponed my Saturday yard chores to allow every precious drop of water to hit the ground. Finally got my car & truck rinsed off. Local watering bans prohibit washing of cars, rinsing of driveways, etc. I only water my yard during the days allowed under the ban, although there are neighbors who do not honor the bans and water daily. I did not water the Tomato garden yesterday or today, but alas, I will probably have to continue my ritual starting tomorrow.

I picked my green pepper this afternoon and will cut up half of it to go with a nice cool salad with supper this evening and use the other half in a spaghetti sauce later this week.

The weeds and "nut" grass have seemingly exploded in growth overnight due to the rain. I will have to launch a counter-offensive later this week. Along with feeding the tomatoes, the yard will now need mowing and with that goes the trimwork. Next Saturday is now booked.

The grill remained cool this weekend, but be not afeared, it will return to action soon! The history of my grill will be an interesting story sometime later this summer.....

"KeKe"

Tomato Update - 05/27/2007

Well, the "massive" vegatable garden is doing well so far, despite a lack of rain so far this summer. The plants are surviving entirely on drip irrigation to this point. I tried two Goliath tomato plants this year and they are doing very well, living up to their name. I lost one of my four Better Boys to the Black Wilt and had to pull it before the virus spread. So far, the rest remain healthy. My two sweet bell pepper plants are doing good, but not growing as tall as I thought. I will have a fresh pepper soon, if I choose to pick it as a green bell pepper.