July 13, 2025
Yesterday (Saturday, July 12), we went into town to pick up Bruce’s high blood pressure medication.
When we got back, I checked the garden while Bruce headed out to mow. He finished up mowing.
The pumpkin is orangier than it was yesterday.
In the evening, I sprayed soapy water on the Eastern Leaf-footed bugs. They were on a couple of my tomato plants. I also found some armyworms on my tomato plants.
Nox needed to go out at 3:30 AM this morning (Sunday, July 13). I saw Venus in the sky and tried to take a picture. I really liked the effect I got. It reminds me of an impressionist painting.
While we worked on the assembly of the garden bed this morning, I spotted this dragonfly on the gone-to-seed arugula.
I am all caught up with my garden activities right now.
Blackberry Homestead 
What is arugula like? I’ve never had it?
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It has a texture between lettuce and spinach. It isn’t gritty like spinach, but smooth like lettuce. The leaves are thicker than lettuce. It has a sharp, spicy flavor, think radish but with a greener flavor. If you like radishes, I think you would like arugula.
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I’m pretty sure it’s in the Composite family, so I can’t eat it. It sounds delicious, though!
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It is in the Brassicaceae family commonly known as the mustard or cabbage family.
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Woo hoo! If I ever see it, I’ll have to give it a try. 😊
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I have never thought of spinach being gritty. Perhaps you are using the term in a different manner than gritty like sand or sandpaper? I did note in South Africa that spinach (which is one of the staple foods along with butternut squash) is much larger, with larger veins than spinach here. You had to devein the spinach leaves prior to cooking as they were tough. We ate a lot of spinach and butternut squash while there, usually with feta. We (my research assistant) made a lot of delicious, mostly plant based meals in our kitchenette with a microwave and electric skillet! We had chicken or fish occasionally, and I even made a pineapple upside down cake in the electric skillet. I like arugula best in a spring mix of greens. It is always so fun to see all the things growing in your garden! What will you do with the pumpkins (besides make a pumpkin pie and jack-o-lantern, of course!)?
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I did mean gritty like sand. Spinach can have a high level of oxalic acid. Oxalic acid makes crystals that will stick to your teeth as you chew on spinach, making it feel gritty. Freshly harvested spinach can have these crystals on the back of the leaves and needs to be cleaned carefully.
Your time in South Africa sounds like an adventure!
I was planning on seeing if Nox would enjoy the pumpkins. Lesley from “The Adventures of a Bitey Dog”, feeds her dog pumpkins and I thought, I bet Nox would enjoy pumpkin. Bruce does not like pumpkins in general. I might find a recipe he likes.
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Cooking spinach with lemon will help dissolve the oxalic acid.
Boiling spinach will help dissolve the oxalic acid.
You may also not be sensitive to it.
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Apparently, I am not sensitive to it, as I have never felt it or noted anything out of the ordinary. I generally sauté spinach, and of course, always wash it. Odd how I have never heard of this before–guess we just keep learning new things if we are paying attention!
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I enjoy learning new things as well. Your blog often has some very interesting posts that contain history that I knew nothing about.
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