Harvested Back Yard Black Krim and Zhezha!

This morning's harvest includes 10 Cherokee Chocolates, 6 Black Plum Pastes, 6 Red Currants, 4 Piccolos, 4 Salisaw Cafes, 3 Kimberlys, 2 Green Grapes, Stupice, Prairie Fire, Black From Tula (6 ounces), Thessaloniki (6 ounces), Husky Cherry Red, Lime Green Salad, Red Robin and two new ones – Black Krim (back yard) and Zhezha (back yard)!

Again out back yard numbers are higher than the front yard numbers – 26 to 18.

Thessaloniki had pulled to the west during the day, so I staked it up against a long thin green pole. In the morning I noticed that one of the main stems had broken. This is probably due to the initial leaning and not due to my repair work.

I have to say that I'm still surprised at these low harvest numbers.

I had to rescue our poodle when I got home last night. He has a bad habit of trying to chew through his collar and yesterday it cost him. He had tried to chew through the leather collar and couldn't do it. Meanwhile, he had the collar with the metal clasp and id tag in his mouth for several hours. The sides of his jaw and parts of his gums were worn. It took me about five minutes to maneuver the metal out of his mouth and then remove it.

Last night I noticed our Manchester Terrier showing an interest in the ripening Aker's Plum. I shooed him away. Later on, my wife had caught him with the Aker's Plum next to him on the grass – he had filched it. Fortunately he didn't break the skin so it is still good and sitting on a plate to continue ripening.

This morning I caught him sticking his nose in Pierce's Pride. I immediately tied him up.

Because of last night's incident, I picked the back yard Zhezha about a day earlier than I would have liked. As you may remember, I almost lost the back yard Zhezha plant in April. It has come back to life but is only a couple feet tall, within easy reach of our Manchester Terrier. The harvested Black Krim was ready.

Also last night, our feral cat in the front yard was jumping around when we came home after dinner and errands (new collar for the poodle!). Turns out he had caught a mouse and was playing with it. The mouse got away for a bit when we accidentally distracted the cat, but not far enough away. Our neighbor across the street came out and was talking to us when we heard CRACK! -- no more live mouse. Both my wife and I chuckled a bit as we knew what it meant but our neighbor was too far away to hear. She came by, saw the cat tearing up the mouse and, well, she didn't hang around very long.