I’ve watched shows on TV where people get organizers to come in and clean up their houses.  Usually they’re successful, and the people love their neat, new home.  I’ve wondered what happens after the organizers leave, though.

Today I saw a show for the first time called Hoarders.  It’s on A&E.  These people are the ones who would have failed a “normal” cleanup.  They’ve lived with stuff and garbage piled high for years.  The reasons vary.  One woman took in stray cats.  She felt a real need to feed them.  When the animal control people came in, they found 37 live cats and more dead ones.  Some were just skeletons.  They didn’t do anything to the rest of the junk.  One couple was going to lose both homes if they couldn’t get one cleaned up to sell.  One girl was losing her boyfriend and her relationship with her parents over her junk.  One kid lived with his alcoholic father, who never threw away any of his wine bottles.

I am a lousy housekeeper, even on my best day.  But I cannot imagine living like those people did/do.  Two of them, the kid with the alcoholic dad, and the girl who was losing her boyfriend, seemed seriously depressed to me.  The girl was sleeping 12 hours a day, had a completely flat affect, and had lost her job as an office manager because of her disorganization.  Depression can certainly affect your ability to get up and clean up.  And I understand wanting to take care of animals, although the lady in the show really couldn’t take care of all the cats she had.

But the couple who were going to lose their houses – that is totally incomprehensible to me.  Would you rather be homeless, or throw away your crap?  And a lot of the stuff she was holding on to was crap.  She was completely neurotic.  I just don’t get it.  I sympathize with the first three, but not with her.  I just wanted to reach into the TV and shake her.

It makes me want to go through everything I own and throw most of it away.  I’d rather live in an empty house than one where you can’t walk through the rooms.

I found out what’s wrong with my apple tree.  It’s called fire blight.  The name makes sense, because the leaves look like they’ve been burned.  It’s a bacterial infection, and it can be treated with either streptomycin or a copper solution.

I went to Lowes and they had the copper stuff.  I mixed it up and sprayed it on yesterday, and it started to rain about 45 minutes later.  I don’t know if the stuff had any chance to work or not.  Fortunately a small amount of solution gets mixed in a lot of water, and I had a good bit left over.  So I think I’m going to treat it again today.

It may be too late.  A lot of the leaves are involved, and the shoots at the top of the branches don’t look too good.

I’ve heard and read from several sources that apple trees don’t do well in Florida.  This one was rated for zone 9, but…maybe this fire blight thrives in hot, wet weather.  Maybe that’s why apple trees don’t work here.

Rats.  I was really looking forward to apples in a few years.

I haven’t looked into the compost bin in quite a while.  I’ve lifted the lid just a little to toss some scraps in there, but I haven’t examined it or turned it.  The reason?  The rogue tomato plant is growing up out of the base of the bin, and I have the plant tied up to the slats in the bin and the fence behind the bin for support.  Some of the twine is stretched right over the lid of the bin, so it hasn’t been very convenient to get in there.

Once the tomato plant is done, I’m going to move the compost bin to a new location, right beside its old location.  I’m going to use whatever compost is in there to work in to a small plot that I plan to use later.  Then I’ll start the compost bin over.

It’s amazing how much material I’ve put in there, and how much it’s compacted.  I can see through the slots that there’s only a few inches of compost in there.  Very interesting!  The soil right under the bin should be pretty fertile by now.

But, the bin moving is going to have to wait, until I’m sure these tomatoes are done.  None of them are showing any signs of getting red yet, except for the two I’ve already picked.  We’ll see.

Labor Day is the traditional end of summer, even though it’s not when the season changes.  Here, there’s no change in the weather either.  It’s still as hot as ever.  In another week or so, the air may begin to feel a little different, but it will still be hot until the beginning of October.

However, it’s a good time to assess what’s going on in the garden.  We’ve still been getting plenty of rain.  The broccoli sprouts are doing very well, in spite of getting flattened by rain last week.  They’ve perked up and are looking healthy.  The Brussels sprouts, on the other hand, are a wash.  I’ll probably use that pot to transplant broccoli into, since so many of those sprouts are doing well.

The tomatoes I picked last week were a mixed bag.  The one that looked better on the outside was actually all black inside and had some kind of worm or larva living in it.  Argh.  A revolting development, to be sure. The other one, though, was perfect inside and delicious.  These were definitely descendants of a tomato from the farm, not the grocery store.  There was no hint of hard yellow center inside.  Yum.  There are a lot more on the plant, but none are turning red yet.

The apple tree, almond tree and blackberry bush are all growing well.  The almond and blackberry leaves are in good shape, but something is really chewing on the apple tree leaves.  I’m really going to have to get some bug killer for it.

I have a couple of red potatoes from the grocery store that are actually sprouting from the eyes, so I may have some seed potatoes after all.  None of the ones from the farm ever sprouted.  I’d love to be able to grow my own potatoes.

After it gets cooler, I can plant a little lettuce, so I’ll have until I start going back to the farm again.

I’ve picked my first two tomatoes!  For plum tomatoes, they’re a  nice size, and they’re almost completely red.  No worm holes either.  They’re on the kitchen windowsill, continuing to ripen.

It’s been raining hard on and off for three days, and my broccoli sprouts are suffering.  They get flattened and I have to prop them up.  I hope I can nurse them through this.  I’m going to move them under the eaves so they won’t get pounded quite so much.  They have plenty of water on board and don’t need any more rain right now!

There are a lot more tomatoes, but none are turning red yet.  I’m keeping my eye on the plant; no more hornworms yet.

The Brussels sprouts are not doing much.  One sprout looks healthy, but it’s having trouble standing up to the rain also.

The next bell pepper is growing nicely.  It’s going to be smallish like the last one was, I think.

As my pants size has increased over the past three years, so has my belt size.  I only had one belt that fit.  Fortunately it was my black one, which is the one I wear the most.  My brown one was always a little small, and it’s way too small now.  So I had to get a new one.

I found one online, on a website called Natural Reflections.  They make all kinds of leather goods, not just belts.  (They have a couple of purses I really like!  But I don’t need one right now.)  I had an excellent experience with them.  I ordered on a Sunday, and immediately got an email that said, “If you don’t receive your order by Friday, respond to this email and let us know!”  That never happened before.  It came on that Wednesday.  It’s very well made and I like it a lot.  I probably won’t need another brown belt in my working career.

I have spent more money on the toy recycling truck and on this belt than I would have if I wasn’t determined to buy Made in USA items.  However, I’ve also saved money, because I haven’t gone to Target to look for toys and belts and ended up coming home with a lot more stuff than I intended to buy.  I also haven’t spent any time or gas money driving around town looking (in vain, I’ll bet) for Made in USA goods.  I think that offsets any increased price.  And the prices are not increased that much.  It’s worth it to me to save the time, get exactly what I want, and support a US manufacturer.

So far, so good. 

According to the mainstream media, there are signs that the housing market has bottomed out.  Maybe, but you’d never know it from around here.  Houses aren’t moving.  One result is that there are more and more rentals in my neighborhood.  Some houses have five and six cars parked around them.

I got my own property tax estimate for the coming year in the mail this week.  The estimated value of my house for tax purposes has dropped $25,000 in the past year!  Fortunately, I’m still not upside-down.  My house would have to lose another $15,000 in value to be worth only what I paid for it.  Even though I refinanced for $20,000 more than I paid for the house (it was worth a LOT more then, in 2005), my mortgage is at the point where the principal amount in each payment is starting to climb pretty quickly, and I don’t think I’ll be upside down anyway.

It doesn’t really matter for me.  I’ll have the house paid off in 11+ years, and I plan to live in it for at least a few years more after that.  Even if the value drops to zero, I’ll still have a roof over my head.

I’m so fortunate to be able to say that.

My rogue tomato plant is still thriving.  The bigger tomatoes are finally starting to turn red.  I think they’re plum tomatoes.  I don’t know if the seeds came from the grocery store or from the farm, but these tomatoes are much bigger than any I got at the farm.

I went out yesterday morning and, to my horror, discovered a HUGE tomato hornworm on one of the branches.  The leaves were stripped on three branches – it had been busy.  I cut that whole branch off and threw it in the dumpster, in with the doggie doo.  There was also a small tomato that had something in it – it looked like the thing in the movie Alien, busting out of this poor invaded tomato.  It had to have something to do with the hornworm.  There was also one tomato with some hornworm-sized bitemarks in it, so I pulled that one off too.

I think I’m going to have to get some insecticide of some sort.  The apple tree’s leaves are being munched too, by some small, very white bugs.  I pulled all of them I could find off last night.  Ack.

I didn’t plant this tomato, but I sure am looking forward to eating tomatoes.  I don’t want to share with any nasty worms.

It’s hot and humid and we’re still getting a good amount of rain.  I am wilting, but the plants are doing well.

There is another pepper growing on the bell pepper plant.  That plant has grown pepper slowly, but consistently!

The broccoli sprouts are coming along nicely, and I now have two small Brussels sprouts sprouting.  They’ll probably be happier when it gets cooler.  I know I will.

The trees and bushes are still growing and looking good.

There is a little boy in my family who has a 4th birthday coming up.  The occasion gave me a chance to put my resolution to only buy Made in USA products to the test.

On the website www.madeinusaforever.com, I found the perfect present.  The little guy loves trucks, and his parents are very “green.”  I found a toy recycling truck, made out of 100% recycled plastic milk bottles.  I ordered it on the 16th, and it came yesterday – five days.  It’s a nice size, about 8″ tall, and seems very sturdy.  The back end lifts up like a dump truck, and there are real slots on the sides so he can “recycle” small items and then dump them out.  It’s very cute.  It’s packaged in cardboard only – no plastic, cellophane, etc.

There was a handwritten note inside from Todd, the founder and president of www.madeinusaforever.com, thanking me personally for my order!  That has never happened before.  The company is in San Clemente, CA.

So, my first Made in USA experience has been an excellent one.  Now I can recommend www.madeinusaforever.com.  The site has everything – not just toys, but clothing, housewares, linens, etc.  Check it out!