Garden news. Crime blotter update.

It has been a little bit since I droned on and on about the garden plot. Here's a picture of what it looked like about a month ago. You can see the Black Seed Simpson lettuce I have been eating lots and lots of, as well as the potatoes, the carrots, the onions and broccoli that was moving toward ripeness at the time. Since this is a community garden plot, often someone else with the space adjacent to yours will making inappropriate plantings, such as the cucumber vines that are planted next to and among the potatoes. Or the squash that is next to the spinach and radishes in the upper left corner. Fortunately, the radishes had plenty of time to finish before getting overrun.
In the onion patch about in between the rows of lettuce was a very successful bulb growing. It was about the size of a baseball on Tuesday night, when I saw it last, poking above the ground. On the other end of its row was another beauty starting to call out as well.
This morning when I arrived to harvest and tend to the plantings, both were gone! Alas, another peril of the community garden has been shown. In some ways I am a bit perturbed. But on the other hand, I am pretty happy that the work I put into getting the ground ready and then tending to the plants was recognized by someone else. I am also glad that the produce was taken and consumed, rather than forgotten to rot in the dirt like much of the strawberries in the space to the south (left) of mine.
Anyway, the lettuce has been a bit bitter for a week or so. A fellow grower and good friend suggests cutting the plants to the ground and seeing if the new growth is also bitter. Glen suggests that perhaps the plants are a bit "mature" and hence are not as flavorful as before.
I have removed the inside most row completely. I had some carrots and the rest of those should be wonderful. The potatoes will come out next weekend as new potatoes, I think. There are only eight plants there, so that is only about 25 spuds. I may let them go 3 more weekends.
The remaining 2 onions will come out by next weekend, the carrots are about ready as well. I have some bell pepper transplants to get in their place but it may be too late for those to set fruit for the early crop. They may do better in the fall.
The are nine cantaloupe vines looking like they are setting fruit. We will have more cucumbers than we can eat and the zucchini, squash and beans look like the Fourth of July will have plenty of fresh vegetables! Okra is growing well, as is the basil and tomato plants.
This is WAY more fun than growing and cutting grass.

A Affordable Pool & Spa, dba The Backyard Place

It was either 7 or 8 springs ago, I don't remember which, that we discovered our pool surface was falling apart and needed replacement. I am pretty sure it was after our first winter here but it might have been the second.
I tried to be a good shopper and make certain I was going to get value for such a large expenditure of the family's meager finances. I called three different companies that advertised such services. I met with representatives from each of the outfits. It was late April/early May, so we were just heading into peak pool installation and service season in North Texas. One bid was quite low compared to the other two and he could start tomorrow. Um, no, thank you very much.
The second was a bit higher than the third and he also said his crew could be there in the next day or so.
The third man, when we met poolside, surveyed the ugly mess that non-circulating water begins to look like. He hadn't measured anything yet, although he had a tape measure handy, although with his metal notebook. John looked me straight in the eye and said, "I'll give you a bid to resurface your pool. Our crew is running flat out right now, so we won't be able to schedule in until probably sometime next week. But I won't do the job now. You realize your pool has a leak somewhere?"
I had known this, but operating from ignorance, I had assumed I would be able to locate it a patch it up on my own later, after the wife and kids were lazing in the water. In the meantime, I would continue to add an inch or two of water every couple days and call it the cost of doing business.
John continued, "If you have your pool redone and then learn the leak is in the main drain line, then you will be looking at having to resurface it again after that is dug up and repaired. It would be better for you to find the leak, fix it and then have the plaster finished."
He measured the pool and gave me the bid for the job the others would not get. His price for that was a few hundred dollars below the highest estimate I had received. He also provided me an estimate on what the leak repair cost could be, depending on where they found it. His company, A Affordable Pool & Spa, got the job. John also spent time with me, instructing me on the operation of the filter equipment after they repaired the below ground leak and some above ground leaks near the pumps. He was able to demonstrate how the breaks above ground were the result of freeze damage and coached me in the way I presented this evidence to my homeowners insurance company so it would be covered. Initially, they had denied the claim. After I used John's magic words and method, they covered it and more.
Fast forward to last weekend, when we returned from our beach vacation. The pool pump was no longer running. Ugh. I spent last Sunday taking it apart, along with the timer mechanisms for the pump and pool sweep. Both timers have been in need of replacement for a couple years. After I had the pump disconnected, I loaded into the back of my truck and headed to the chain-store pool supply place. My friend Kevin calls it "The $20 Store," since nothing there costs less than $20. Their diagnosis was that the pump and impeller needed replacing. Cost of $390 plus tax.
"It'll be about $420 total. I think I can get my manager to let me put the impeller on the pump right now, although we have lots of other bench labor in front of you," the clerk said as he headed toward the rear of the store with my pump. "You do want to get it, right?"
Cool your pipes, Turbo.
I felt as though I was being hustled again (after having it done to you so many times, you sort of begin to sense it). "I need to wait until next weekend," I said. I left with the pump. I knew there had to be a cheaper solution.
While driving home from dinner a few night later, Stephanie pointed out a pool store. I recognized the name as the company that had fixed us up before, and now it appeared they had a retail outlet. When I looked online, I was sure it was the same people.
Yesterday, I took my pump in. Jeff, John's boyhood friend and business partner, tested it and pronounced it dead. Replacement cost for a new pump? $329. What about an impeller? "There is nothing to go wrong with those. You don't need one, unless you just want to spend another $40. Leave the old one with me and I'll swap it onto the new pump. We don't charge for bench labor."
I bought the pump and a couple other pieces I needed from them. I also received good information on the installation of it. When I went to pick it up, there was just enough silicone adhesive to apply to an O-ring gasket Jeff had told me about. He had said the tube of adhesive was $13 but that tube would have been enough to replace fifty motors. Instead it was squeezed into a plastic bag and tied off. I cut the corner of the bag and applied it like a cake decorator.
The pump and time box installs finished just as dark came on last night. The pump ran overnight and it appears there are no leaks. Swimming season is hours away.
And if you live in North Dallas, visit these guys for your pool supplies. They do business the right way.