August Is Upon Us

Well, we survived the recent high temperatures. We had to keep checking the animals' water and use lots of water for the plants. Some of the young alders and cottonwoods on the property look a little fried. The kids spent more time than usual indoors and lots of time in their little pool. Some wonderful friends came over to help with hanging sheet-rock and plastering the house, and we had a great dinner together. The heat seemed to really ripen up the garden, and now we have loads of cucumbers, squash, zucchini and tomatoes coming in. My daughter and I picked lots of blueberries and planned to put up lots of blueberry jam, but I didn't want to heat up the house by canning so we ending up eating them fresh. Eventually we want to have an outdoor kitchen under our covered porch, so I can cook and can on hot days without roasting us. We will pick more when it is cooler and try again. Also, the blackberries are getting closer to being ripe and we hope to pick a bunch for jam. I also will be making some sauerkraut in the next week or two. We had a great market Saturday; it was fun for Brian to see repeat customers as well as meeting new ones. We should have the usual produce next week as well as more lemon cucumbers, cherry tomatoes and eggplant. We have been making soap to keep up with demand, and we are working on a new rose scented soap. Look for it in a few weeks!