August Garden Update

 

Kiwi plant

I've been getting a plant here and there. I have so many things I want to grow!
   I planted a kiwi plant in mid-June, which is crawling along our south fence. A basil, bee balm, and sage will be part of my medicine/herb garden. I also put an echinacea and a lavender plant on the north end of the garden at the the end of July.
  My peppers like it out there, I have already picked two small orange ones and a large red (they were yummy).  Also liking where they are planted are the cucumbers (I've picked two and have several more growing) and some of the marigolds I planted to keep the tomatoes safe from bugs.  The tomatoes, on the other hand...  They aren't doing anything but growing very slowly and NOT putting out flowers and tomatoes!  Maybe next time I'll listen to my mother and bury some water bottles with holes in them to help deep-water the tomatoes. Yes, Mom, I should have listened to you. Don't expect me to say that again.
  The okra has finally started producing some beautiful flowers and okra!  Can you tell that they are related to hibiscus?

   Also, the snap beans never got more than a foot tall and where putting out beans less than an inch long and not worth eating.  I tilled them back into the dirt.  I'm preparing the soil for the fall garden!
   I have direct-composted an area where I will probably plant my root crops; carrots, beets, and sweet onions.  I will also be planting broccoli (Baby Girl LOOOVES broccoli),  and cabbage.
  I have already started the onions, cabbage, and broccoli seeds inside and have had the same amount of success with them as I usually have.
  That is to say, very little.
  They sprout, they grow a couple of tiny leaves, and they fall over and die.
   I need some growing lights.
   I think a trip to the ReStore to look for fluorescent light fixtures and cheap metal shelves is on the agenda for tomorrow.

One of the cukes

Changing the Ratchets and Pawls on the Kromski Harp

  When I got my Kromski Harp rigid heddle loom, the ratchets and pawls, which keep the warp from moving when you don't want it to, were plastic. On the first use, I realized that they weren't sturdy enough when they let my entire warp fall and become unwound!  Then, while I was looking for weaving-related presents for myself for Christmas, I saw a kit being sold to replace those plastic parts with metal, so I got it.  I had a new project to weave, so I decided it was time to do the job.
   I have always been very proud of how I can figure out how to do something by reading.  That is how I learned to weave, knit, spin, and put my looms, spinning wheel, and various pieces of furniture together.  Changing the ratchets and pawls wasn't any different.

   First, I had to make a copy of the template in the instructions. If I had just cut it out, I would have cut out the instructions on the other side.  The template shows where to put a screw in where there isn't one already. The screw is to hold a magnet, the magnet holds the ratchet, the ratchet is to hold the pawl.  

   But I'm getting ahead of myself.
   The right side of the loom is the side you have to work on so that was the side to take off.  I used the template to place the screw for the magnet, took off the old ratchets and  pawls, and attached the new ones. An extra washer to make everything fit a little more snug at each end, and then it is put back together.
  It works much better now that the teeth on the pawl don't bend.

 I have started a new project involving this loom. I don't want to say too much about it right now.  Gotta keep an air of mystery or something, donchaknow.