June 16-22, 2025

Weather | 6/16, sunny, 64°, 87° | 6/17, sunny to T-storm, 0.63" rain, 63°, 87° | 6/18, 0.42" rain, 65°, 75° | 6/19, sunny, 58°, 83° | 6/20, cloudy to sunny, 67°, 87° | 6/21, sunny, 74°, 90° | 6/22, sunny, 75°, 91° |

• Monday, 6/16: Hannibal Trip & Snow Peas
  • We decided we aren't planting melons, pumpkins, or corn this year, so a drive to tame the far far garden isn't so urgent. It's overgrown with tall weeds, grass and head-high persimmon saplings that need removal by September, when garlic goes in that area a couple months later.
  • I checked online and called Tractor Supply in Hannibal to located chick grit, which they have on hand. So, I drove to Hannibal. I got the wrong spark plugs for the riding mower's engine when we were last in Quincy, so I exchanged them for the right plugs at the Farm & Home store in Hannibal. It's a much better store than the one in Quincy, which is odd, since their headquarters is in Quincy. I picked up oranges, lemons, and ginger, ingredients for pea pod wine, at Walmart (it's better than the Quincy Walmart store) and bought gas for 2.56 a gallon. I grabbed chick grit and then I picked up two foot-long subs at Subway. On the drive home, I noticed a lot of traffic on Highway 61.
  • Mary picked snow peas and strawberries while I was gone. She also mowed part of the west yard and started mulching another row in the near far garden. 
  • I changed the spark plugs on the riding mower.
  • After dark, I picked stems and flowers off the snow peas Mary picked today. It came to just under three pounds. I need four pounds to make a gallon of pea pod wine.
  • Each evening we hear the call of a wood thrush in the north woods. It has such a wonderful multi-note sound. HERE is their call.

• Tuesday, 6/17: Rain Stops Outside Work
  • The house wren is back stuffing branches on top of our fencer unit. I removed sticks two times today.
  • Mary mowed more in the west yard and mulched into the far garden until an approaching thunderstorm halted outside activities.
  • I disassembled an air conditioner for the upstairs north bedroom and was in the middle of cleaning it out when the same thunderstorm forced me to stuff all parts into the back of the pickup and quit for the day.
  • We received another good rain. Blackberries ought to thrive this year. 
  • A quick text to the local welder in LaBelle, MO, revealed that he can weld the crack in the riding mower deck and I can take it to him anytime.
  • After our rain, bees were busy visiting the motherwart blossoms in the chicken yard. They must hide under the leaves during a rain, then flip to the top as soon as the rain drops stop falling. 
  • The Florida Panthers won the Stanley Cup for the second consecutive year beating the Edmonton Oilers, 5-1, in Game 6. Professional hockey is over for another season.

• Wednesday, 6/18: Rain & Two Wines
  • We had rain throughout most of today, but the stars were shining when we walked Plato on his final outing.
  • Mary picked strawberries and several blueberries (see photo, below). We'll enjoy them tomorrow on top of waffles.
  • Mary picked the last of the snow peas. This year's snow pea crop was the best, ever, due to cooler temperatures and plenty of rain.
  • I took stems and flowers off enough snow peas to get 4.18 pounds of pods, which is enough for making a gallon of pea pod wine. 
  • I racked the dandelion wine for the third time. The pH was 3.2 and the specific gravity was 0.994, which is about the same as a month ago during its second racking. By using a narrow 1/4-inch hose, I was able to leave just a trace of liquid and put the remaining must into exactly the same size containers (see photo, below). The leftover fines were minimal.
  • I started a gallon batch of pea pod wine. I zested two oranges and two lemons. Afterwards, I juiced the fruit. I thinly sliced 1.7 ounces of ginger root after peeling it. I washed four pounds of snow pea pods in the sink, brought a gallon of water to a boil, then added the pea pods and the fruit zest to the pot and maintained a low boil for 30 minutes. Mary helped me scoop out mushy pea pods that became compost fodder. Mary held a mesh bag open while I poured the pea pod liquid through it to catch more pea pods, peas, and fruit peels. Added to the bucket was another quart of water, a one pound, 12 ounces of sugar, the fruit juice, 1.5 teaspoons of acid blend, and 0.2 grams of Kmeta. I put the sliced ginger in a mesh bag and added that to the brew bucket. The specific gravity was 1.085 and the pH was 3.1. A weird odor of peas and fruit filled the house. I hope the final product tastes better than that smell! But, the parsnip wine also smells weird while making the must, yet parsnip wine is really good. After covering the bucket with a flour sack towel, it sits in the pantry for 12 hours.

Strawberries & blueberries picked today.

Fines (left) & newly racked dandelion wine (right).

• Thursday, 6/19: Bunny 1, Robin 0
  • Mary watched a rabbit run over a robin on the lane while we were walking Plato this morning. The poor robin was literally flattened!
  • I added a half teaspoon of pectic enzyme and 0.8 grams of diammonium phosphate (DAP) to the pea pod wine after eating breakfast. Through the day, I worked up a starter batch of Red Star Premier Classique, or Montrachet, yeast. When I pitched the yeast at night, the specific gravity of the wine was 1.082 and the pH was 3.3. The yeast gave off an instant aroma, so I think this will be a very fast acting fermentation. It smells very nice.
  • We ate wonderful tasting waffles covered with strawberries and blueberries for our midday meal.
  • I finished cleaning the air conditioner for the upstairs north bedroom and assembled it. I'll install the AC in the room's window tomorrow.
  • Mary mowed most of the rest of the west yard and mulched more in the near far garden.

• Friday, 6/20: Heat Increases With Start of Summer
  • On the first day of summer, we saw an increase in outside temperatures. Summer is here right on schedule.
  • I installed the air conditioner in the upstairs north bedroom, packing taped the inside, installed pieces of vinyl siding on the outside sill and flexible foam board on the outside on both sides of the unit to shed rain water. I noticed moisture condensing on the side and underneath the outside of the AC. In past years, I covered the outside bottom of the housing with aluminum tape to keep bugs out. With moisture condensing in that area, it's a poor idea, so I left it open. Instead, I covered gaps where you see light around the unit through clear packing tape from the inside with masking tape. Hopefully, blocking light from blasting through clear tape will keep nighttime bugs away. A second AC running upstairs keeps that level nice and cool.
  • I also put flexible foam board into both sides on the outside of the AC in our bedroom and masking taped the inside to block light and keep nighttime bugs away. 
  • While I had the extension ladder up, I chopped off Virginia creeper and hops vines that were starting to cover both windows to our bedroom. Our house is starting to look like a hobbit home with all of the green vines growing up the east side (see photo, below).
  • Mary started sweet potato slips that will soon be ready to plant.
  • She also picked strawberries, which are slowing down, and a meal's worth of snow peas to add to tomorrow's General Tso dish. Temperatures in the 90s predicted for this week ought to halt snow pea production and make all lettuce bolt. We might wilt, too! Thank goodness for air conditioning.

  

  Our vine-covered Hobbit house.
  

• Saturday, 6/21: First Racking of Pea Pod Wine
  • While doing our morning chores, a hackberry butterfly landed on Mary and took a ride to inside the house. She first noticed it in the kitchen and escorted the butterfly outside, where it continued to land of either Mary or me. The Missouri butterfly book indicates that this is a very friendly butterfly.
  • I checked the pea pod wine to discover that the fermentation was faster than I thought. It took only 36 hours for the yeast to run a full cycle. The specific gravity was at 0.998, so I racked the wine into a gallon jug and a wine bottle, leaving a good 3-4 inches for head room, since the must was fizzing and developing foam. This wine has an unexpected smell of grape Kool-Aid. I'm sure I'll be racking this wine for a second time real soon, since it seems to be moving along very quickly.
  • I removed all plastic and rubber parts off the mower deck of the riding lawnmower, getting it ready for welding. The push cap holding the front roller in place was very hard to remove and I damaged it while taking it off the roller pin. I'll just drill a hole in the roller pin and use a cotter pin in front of a washer, instead of a useless push cap. Once I removed the belt, I noticed I have another broken spindle. So, I need to order one more spindle assembly. Damn!
  • A strong south wind and the outside high temperature of 90° really dried out the wet ground from recent rains, forcing Mary to water several garden plants.

• Sunday, 6/22: Fixing Mowers & Mowing
  • Mary complained about a dull blade on her push mower. It was sharp. I looked under the oldest push mower with a shot engine. That blade is in better shape. So, I took it off, sharpened it, and replaced the blade on Mary's mower with that blade. It did a much better job. The old blade was just whipping grass, instead of cutting.
  • I removed the three blades off the riding mower deck. At first I used a two-foot cheater bar pipe on the socket wrench, but nothing budged. I added Liquid Wrench and used a five-foot pipe on the end of the wrench and finally broke the nuts. Paint from the blades came up on these nuts, which proves that these blades were never removed to be sharpened. It's not hard to imagine, since they look like they were used to mow a rock quarry. I removed the spindles. When I compared the third spindle, or the best one, to a spindle I recently bought, I noticed it had a distinct rubbing sound, compared to the new one. So, I'm replacing all spindles on this deck.
  • Before I got the blade nuts to budge on the deck, a small 2x4, blocking the blade from turning, gave way and I gashed skin off the top of my right hand. Immediately, I thought, "You stupid idiot," as I looked at my leather gloves sitting in plain sight, but not on my hands. A trip inside to apply some cayenne powder to the wound, then some antibiotic ointment, and a bandage, and all was fine.
  • Mary mowed more of the north yard and put mulch on the near far garden.
  • We saw a bright green dragonfly while walking Plato this evening. It was startling how well it blended in with the green background. Mary identified it as a young male common pondhawk dragonfly. HERE is a photo of one.
  • While I was cleaning chicken waterers, I had lightening bugs dancing all around me in the shadow of the house before sunset. Wind was blowing hard out of the south and they were staying within three feet of the lawn. It was quite a sight to see.
  • I ordered two more spindles and eight bolts to install them. These self-tapping bolts are famous for breaking off when removed. Of the 12 bolts I removed, only three didn't break.