Tag: Beans

Georgia day tour to Mtskheta, Jvari, Gori and Uplistsikhe

Jvari Monastery

It is raining and gloomy in Tblisi this morning but luckily the bad weather doesn’t follow us to the cave city of Uplistsikhe. We walk along stone paths through this settlement which is thought to be the oldest in Georgia and imagine how life must have been living in the ancient kingdom of Kartli. Dogs follow us along during parts of our tour. This cave town was abandoned and hidden and was re-discovered many years later.

We are touring today with a larger group consisting of tourists from various different countries – including two other people from USA which I am finding rare when I travel to Eastern Europe. Because we are a larger group I enjoy an amazing spread of Georgian food at lunch time. Group meals such as these are ideal since I always find it challenging to getting a sample of local foods.

Our next stop is Gori and the Stalin museum. I was looking forward to this stop because I have been really interested in history lately but it turns out to be more of a memorial to the guy. Luckily our guide is able to fill in all the details that are left out of the museum.

Joseph Stalin is from Georgia but later went on to be the leader of the Soviet Union after Lenin died. Like I said the museum was mostly missing many of of the horrific details of his life but you do get a slice of information of how his early life was. There is a model of the house he lived in where tunnels where dug below to hold a secret area for political dissidents to meet and distribute communist propaganda.

We stop at Mtskheta and visit both the Svetitskhoveli Cathedral and Jvari monastery. Svetitskhoveli Cathedral is an UNESCO site where the original church was built on the site in the 4th century. Its claim to fame is that it has a piece of Jesus’s robe buried with a woman here. There’s a whole lore about it.

Our last stop is Jvari Monastery, a 6th century medieval church, with its breathtaking views of the rivers below. This UNESCO church designated a style of church development, Jvari style. We have missed the opening hours of the church but we are told there is not much to see inside anyway.

After our tour guide drops us off in Tbilisi we look for places nearby for dinner and end up stopping in shops on the way. After getting yelled at for taking pictures at a place I am about to sample wines from I get invited by the lady who runs the shop next door to sample her wines. This family owned store had homemade wines, fruit and grape, and chacha. The angry shop owner adjacent probably really boosts their neighbor’s sales. We sample wines and buy souvenirs plus wines to drink later.

Walking closer to our hotel we find a beautiful street filled with restaurants with outdoor seating. We have a nice meal to finish our day of sightseeing.

We detour to a nearby park during our walk back to our hotel. We hear a 90’s cover band doing a sound check for the evening. We pop in for drink or two, singing along until we can’t stay awake anymore.

Much of our travel this trip is staying in two cities for a good number of days and scheduling day tours to things not easily reached. It seems like a good idea but leads to long exhausting days of travel. Today’s tour of Mtskheta, Jvari, Gori and Uplistsikhe isn’t too bad though, we get back into town at a decent hour. Our next day tour is not so lucky. Tomorrow we have a free day in Tbilisi. I hope the weather holds out.

Elevated gas pipes
Cold War architecture

Early June Garden

I know the post is late since it is almost July but I wanted to show what has been up with the garden earlier this month.

Watermelon plant is starting to flower.

Roma tomatoes start to ripen.

We have a grapefruit that has not fallen from the tree!!!!

Key limes are ready to grow again this season

Starting some baby dills that I hope will make it through the summer.

New collard is getting some shade action by the palm frond.

This might be the first year the corn makes it….only time will tell.

Beans are hanging in there.

Harvest and Death

I am going to rename my garden the okra and tomato garden since that is all that will grow right now and the tomato part is a stretch since they have yet to fully ripe. The garden overall is not doing well. Problem number one is the nasty Florida heat. Plants burn to death during the day in the direct sun. Problem number two is lack of or too much water. I can’t seem to get the watering correct, things either dry out or get too much water which leads to a moldy death. Problem number three is I went away to California last week and wasn’t keeping a close eye on things. I had my husband looking over the garden but it isn’t the same and to his defense, much was already dead before I left.
I had high hopes of a late summer of zucchini and summer squash, but they have all died. I think their demise is the result of mold and possibly a pest such as the vine borer. The garden has produced one summer squash and one spaghetti squash (see pic above) before the collapse of the squash empire. Next season I plan to use insecticidal soap or the equivalent and see if I get different results (I used nothing this time).
The bean empire is also slowly collapsing. I attribute their death to lack of sun due to the okra shading the whole bean square and the lack of timely harvesting. To keep beans in constant production, you are supposed to harvest frequently. I have been neglecting them. The harvest you see in the picture above is probably the part of the last group unless I am lucky.
Okra on the other hand is doing magnificently. This figures since I don’t really care for okra and didnt really care if it grew. I did learn today that the extremely large okra that I harvested is practically inedible. It is supposed to be harvested while young or it gets woody.
On a positive note, there is still hope for the cherry and juliet tomatoes. I have seemed to keep the catepillars and other pests at bay. I will keep you posted on those.
My visit to California reinforced my envy of their climate. They have half the problems we have here, at least in the San Diego area. The only downfall is the dryness and the fact that they are still waiting for tomatoes because of the unusually cold summer.
In the future, I have a trip planned to Provence. I cannot wait to view to lovely bounty produced there. My only hope is that my garden does not die while I am gone. My timing is pretty lousey for all this traveling if I wanted to produce a bountiful fall season. Wish me the best!

Happy July!

My dog Anastasia gives my garden one nose up. So if she approves it must be good. She likes wandering around the yard while I am checking on my garden.
Here is the latest full shot of the garden. You will probably notice first the huge Okra plant on the right. It is growing fast but still yet to produce any flowers. The beans in the center are nice and bushy but the pods are not growing large enough to use at this time.


The “unidentified” squash still has not been fully identified. Signs point to it being a spaghetti squash. There is one large squash growing. All other female flowers have died rotting deaths before they get to ripe. I suspect I need to do more research on what is happening. I think I will be happy if I can just get the one squash to ripen.
Here is a view of the tomatoes and you can see the squash in the distance.
Found this guy hanging out on my beans the other day. I wanted to kill him but then I realized he is a parasitic wasp (I think it is a paper wasp). He kills all the little buggers that like to destroy my plants. He is my friend – as long as he doesn’t sting me.