Gayfeather just starting to bloom.
The fierce heat that only mid July can bring, seems to be our constant companion now. The lawn gets left to grow longer to hold the water in and I switch off watering in the morning or eve, depending on how fast the day warms up. The other night I was out at 10pm attempting to spend some time moon-bathing, but the temps were still sky-high and the swarms of mosquitoes were deadly.
The garden time starts at about 5am to beat the heat, but this morning I noticed that it wasn't quite as bright as it had been at that time of day during the last week. The light is waning. Even in the midst of hot days and warm nights, thousands of tourists, abundant fruit ripening, festivals and full beaches - the light is slowly losing its hold.
I love the growing season, and am happiest in the garden (during the cool hours,) but my nose would grow if I said that I wasn't a slight bit excited about cooler days and less yard work. Today was weeding, harvesting carrots and rhubarb, watering and deadheading the perennial bed, mowing the back yard and fussing with the compost - and it's only 10am.
Last week I travelled over to the neighbouring valley to hit the farm stands. I found some apricots, early peaches, lovely sweet onions and a nice bit of Russian red garlic. And I found some early apples that were perfect for my lazy-girl tarts! (Recipe here.) They didn't last long!
This weekend marks my first summer vacation this year. I'd like to say that I'm putting my feet up, but I'll be driving ten hours to attend a festival (which will be a blast - so don't feel bad for me!) Next month though, I've got a five-day camping trip to enjoy. I can finally find some time to sit and read!
I hope your summer is cruising along well. Have you vacationed or are you a slave to your garden like I am?
Cheers and cool breezes!
7 comments:
Such a wonderful garden. Those tarts look so yummy !!!
I hope you have a wonderful time on your trip, Have fun !!!
Such a lovely post. Congratulations on your pumpkin babies :) No room & not enough sun where there is room inside for a garden in this small place :( So hot/muggy that I am still trying to ward sufficiently to protect against my daughter's negative (self centered as always) scattered energy.
Have fun at the festival! I hope you'll fill us in on which one it is when you get back. Now I'm off to check out your recipe for Lazy Girl Tarts. Anything that promises to reward laziness is grist to my mill.
i can't wait for fall! we are having our first cool night tonight so i will be building a fire outside. it doesn't turn light here now until about 6:00am.
Pumpkins are nice surprises, aren't they? Last week, I found a pumpkin vine growing in our garden. I had never seen a young pumpkin plant, and I didn't know what it was. I thought it may have been burdock, and I started yanking on it with all my spindly might. When that failed, I called to my husband to find out whether or not the trespasser was indeed burdock. After looking at it, my husband announced it was a pumpkin -- which surprised me because it had been years since we planted pumpkin seeds.
Those tarts look so yummy!! It has been very hot here in Oregon also!
What a funny coincidence. I, too, have a pumpkin plant growing out of the base of my compost. I'm so excited as I just love pumpkins. They remind me of Fall and childhood in Vermont. I found you thru Octoberfarm and will be back!
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