Too Much Of A Good Thing?

As I’ve mentioned several times, we planted a bunch of perennial peanut plants along the side of our driveway, where we put in a retaining wall to stop erosion from the drainage canal. The folks at Lindley’s Nursery and Garden Center in New Smyrna Beach told us that they are hardy plants that require very little care once they get established, and to water them daily for the first few weeks.

Everything has been going fine, and I did water them daily except for a few days ago when we had two days of heavy rain in a row. Then, when I went out yesterday morning, I was surprised to see this.

My first thought was that something was eating the plants, and I called my son Travis in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, because he’s quite the gardener. I sent him several pictures of the plants, and Travis said it was possible something was eating them, but he thought it might be something else entirely. He just wasn’t sure what, but suggested a ph imbalance in the soil.

I took off several leaves and a bunch of pictures and drove to Lindley’s to show the folks there and ask for their advice. After looking at them, three different people suggested that they think I have been overwatering. They suggested I not water for a couple of days, and then if we don’t have any rain, to water every other day, but not nearly for as long as I’ve been doing. They also said they were pretty sure that the plants would rebound since they are very strong. I told Travis what they had said, and he told me it’s entirely possible and said that when he was new to growing things, he once lost his entire garden by overwatering. I didn’t know you could give plants too much water, which shows how much I know about things, right?

Speaking of things that grow, we have this big ugly tree on the corner of our property. It’s about half-dead, and it’s surrounded by these palms that we can’t get rid of. You can cut them down and dig them up, but they come right back. Lindley’s gave me the name of a couple of people who handle tree removal, and I called one and within an hour, the manager called back and said he’d come out and look at what we had going on. He came and gave us an estimate and is supposed to be here this afternoon to take the tree out and pull the stump, grinding and hauling everything away so we can get everything ready to plant some citrus trees.

With all the horticulture stuff out of the way, I decided I should probably do something to earn my keep around here. So I cranked out another 5,000 words in my new Big Lake book during the afternoon. It’s over 31,000 words now and moving right along.

For dinner, Miss. Terry marinated two salmon fillets and then pan-seared them to serve along with baked potatoes.

She also quick sautéed some vegetables for herself. She didn’t have to worry about me taking them because I don’t do veggies. I’m strictly a meat and potatoes kind of guy.

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for a new Free Drawing. This week’s prize is an autographed copy of Big Lake Lynching, the second book in my Big Lake mystery series. This is the last copy of this book I have with the original cover. To enter, click on this Free Drawing link or the tab at the top of this page and enter your name (first and last) in the comments section at the bottom of that page (not this one). Only one entry per person per drawing please, and you must enter with your real name. To prevent spam or multiple entries, the names of cartoon or movie characters are not allowed. The winner will be drawn Sunday evening.

Thought For The Day – I was so bored that I called Jake from State Farm just to talk to someone. He asked me what I was wearing.