Got Thrips?

The garden path is finished, and I weedwhacked out front. If I can weedwhack the back this evening, everything will look pretty nice and neat, for one hot second!

I’ve been picking lettuce to use here and there to use on sandwiches, etc. One morning I picked sage and oregano and dried it in the oven. The backyard smells like honeysuckle and it’s lovely to sit out there.

But one big garden bummer: my onions have thrips. Ugh, so annoying. This happened in 2023, and if I taken the time to review my 2023 gardening notes (since last year was a non-event), I would have known to be on the lookout. I started spraying neem oil on them, but it’s probably too late. The thrips won’t necessarily kill them, but the bulbs will be smaller. All the onions appear to be affected, even though they are in multiple spots with all different companions. Grrrrrr.

My notes also reveal that it’s better to harvest oregano when it’s closer to flowering. I need to learn from Past Me!

Another fail this week was that I had to throw away meatball mix (pork, beef, veal) that went bad after I defrosted it. So frustrating. Don’t know what went wrong.

We did have a decent week of meals.

Monday: bacon, eggs, pancakes, “potatoes O’Brien”

Tuesday: Hamburgers and hotdogs

Wednesday: Ravioli with gravy (no meatballs…)

Thursday: Nick and Joe’s pizza

Friday: Leftovers

Lunches: bought twice ($9.99, $6.99) and brought tuna once.

Friday night, Tom said he wanted to take me to someplace in the city on Saturday morning, a surprise. Well, he rarely feels like going in the city anymore and especially not on a weekend morning. I was intrigued. It turned out to be the Italian Festival in South Philly and we had a great time, walking around and sampling various foods. We bought some Father’s Day gifts as well. I almost bought sunglasses with arms made from skateboard wood, and I might yet order them online. Super cute (and my current sunglasses are falling apart and scratched to hell).

Then we picked up F. and headed to Ocean City for some beach, boardwalk and fishing time. A bit windy but still nice. So it was like a 9,000-step day for me and him.

All told I spent $68 on Saturday (food and gifts). I’m getting a little nervous about senior year expenses. I ordered T’s yearbook yesterday ($98), and he needs to get his prom attire and flowers ordered stat. Still on the fence about what kind of party to have, if at all. Meanwhile F. is graduating 8th grade too. And then T’s first year of college looming. I was thinking how I don’t have a single memento left from high school. I held onto them for a long time, but over the years things got lost or abandoned. No yearbook, no class ring, just a handful of photos. And all the memories. So while I feel kind of meh buying the yearbook, knowing it will probably end up god knows where eventually, I don’t want him to feel left out. Emotional purchases, the worst kind.

So today I stuck close to home and tried not to spend. I shopped at Acme and Sprouts this morning with a written-out meal plan and did pretty well (by leaving F. at home). Then I baked a loaf of banana strawberry bread, using up freezer bananas and the end of last week’s berries. Remembered to use a long skewer to check for doneness. Also did some decluttering and cleaning.

I wish I had it in me to really comparison shop for groceries and go to different places, but I don’t, lately. I almost went to Costco this morning but just couldn’t bear the thought of the crowds. I got fruit, veggies, fresh ground coffee, and meats at Sprouts and the rest at Acme. I’ve got to keep my weekends enjoyable since uh… they are what I live for.

And nothing more enjoyable than whiling away an hour listening to music and making that bread, which smelled amazing

Couple good NYT articles this week:

This story about grandparents raising their grandkids made me tear up.

This one about “farm stops” made me wish we could have one here! How awesome that would be. If I had the money to start a business that would be it.

And finally I enjoyed this interview with Rutger Bregman about trying to get smart, driven people to get involved in working for good. “If people desperately want to work for McKinsey and their main goal in life is to go skiing and have that cottage on the beach, fine. People have the right to be boring.” Heh.

I certainly get value out of my NYT subscription.

The Bregman interview reminds me that lately I’ve had this burst of good feeling towards gardening lately, beyond the typical “glad it’s spring” feeling. I’ve had thoughts like “absolutely nothing makes me happier than this.” I had a dream that I had gone back to college, was living at a college somewhere, and quit and came home because I was worried no one was watering my plants. All in all, the kind of thoughts that make me think I should pursue gardening on a larger scale. The past several years I’ve gone back to the theory that I should keep it as a hobby — that the reason I enjoy it is because it’s not my job. But maybe not?

For dinner tonight I made grilled chicken and roasted carrots, and Tom made some potatoes roasted with butter and parm. I made a lemon garlic tahini sauce for the carrots, which I used on the chicken too. I got N. to taste it and received dagger eyes in return. But I liked it.

So we are in pretty good shape for meals this week. It’s going to be a busy one, with various appointments.

One last thought: a reminder to myself that next time I am Goodwill I should look for things like trays that I can use for starting seeds next year.