I rushed to get most of the veggie gardens planted yesterday before the rains moved in that evening. I managed to beat the rain but barely, as I was finishing up panting the courgette (zucchini) a steady rain was falling. I encountered brief showers during the day but this was the edge of the massive rain that was forecast to move through the area. I ran out of time and left a four pack of yellow banana peppers and my Hale's Best cantaloupe that will need to be planted later.

I had a four pack of courgettes and decided to plant them at the end of some of the rows. As I started to plant the first one my spade hit the stone that the plough hits as I come out of the garden. I decided to dig it up and get it out of the way once and for all. As I started digging, the stone got bigger and bigger. I finally manage to get a place on an edge of the stone cleared and used a two and a half meter (eight feet) long 4X4 post as a lever. Once the stone was loose, I rolled it out of the hole. With the stone removed, I returned to plant my courgette only to find another stone in the way. I continued to eventually remove five large stones and one small one. They were originally one large stone that had broken into segments.

Large stones removed from garden (Click For Larger Image)

It is hard to tell how large the stones are above without a frame of reference. They are huge stones and it was a job getting them removed. The largest are 40.5 - 46 cm (16 - 18 inches) in length. I will clean up the stones and used them in the gardens, perhaps adding them to some of the unfinished borders.

I was disappointed to find my three year old Tractor Supply battery with a two-year warranty would not charge up to capacity. I tried charging the battery a few times but all I would get was errruh, click click click. So I looked online for a six volt battery at a good price. It seems that all were the same price, around $80.00 including a new one from Tractor Supply; of course there was no way I was going back to Tractor Supply to buy a new battery when mine hardly made it a year pass the warranty. However, I found that Advance Auto had a coupon good for $30.00 off of $75.00 or more. I ended up paying $55.24 with sales tax.

The Old Girl, A Good Friend

I installed the new battery in the Old Girl and check the spark; a fairly hot spark jumped the test spark plug I used instead of removing a spark plug from the engine. I filled the tank with fuel, climbed aboard, turn the ignition on, pulled the choke, hit the starter switch and after only a couple of spins the Old Girl came to life. A lot of people convert their 8N tractors to 12 volt systems; however, that means making a lot of other changes including installing a new 12 volt alternator and new wiring. As long as the six volt system is working and the tractor starts easily, there really is no need to covert to a 12 volt system unless you just want to share a battery from another vehicle. They probably won't quit making six volt batteries any time soon.

The Back Veggie Garden

The Garden In The Little Valley

With the Old Girl back to life, I set to work ploughing the veggie gardens to get them ready for planting. It is a job keeping the plants in the flats watered with the high heat we have had lately; especially the tomato plants as they really take up the water. I would hate to think about trying to get the gardens ready by hand; a tractor really does make a difference. The photos above are from last year; the gardens look the same this year ploughed as they did last year so I saw no need to take a new photo for this article.

On Saturday my sisters and I travelled to a couple of plant nurseries in the area as well as a stop at a retail shop that had some plants for sale. I ended up spending more money than I had intended; I have to be careful, being at a plant nursery for me is like a kid being in a candy shop.

Bedding Plants 1

Bedding Plants 2

Bedding Plants 3

I ended up buying a variety of flowers and veggies for the gardens. On the flower side there was two different colours of vincas; I place them around the bird bath in the front garden, zinnias, red salvias, a couple of angelonias, portulaca, a pineapple sage, three different colours of impatiens, a lantana, a fan flower, a red purslane (I need to buy a yellow one as well), some marigolds, and an unknown that I love the flowers it had. On the veggie side there was celebrity tomatoes, roma tomatoes, green (bell) peppers, sweet banana peppers, jalapeño peppers, pimento pepprs, and eggplants; some of my veggies I sow seeds instead of plants. The cost of bedding plants have gone up this year. I am contemplating building a small greenhouse and starting my own seedlings instead of buying from the nurseries.

Now I need to put the carburettor kit in the tractor; the needle valve is letting the fuel bowl overflow, so I can get the veggie garden ready for planting.