Mid July 2013

On my morning walk as I watched the sun rise, I actually thought to myself," Wow, I am enjoying summer lately. How did that happen?" I still don't enjoy over 100F heat or going outside at 3PM in the sun to do chores, but evenings and mornings are really quite nice. I was talking with a friend about the special perfume of the plants this time of year. Turkey Mullein and Tarweed are especially strong and lovely smelling right now since they are in bloom. And we have a modest harvest of grapes this year. The peaches are done, only have what's in the house. We have been enjoying a no-bake peach cobbler recipe I made up. Heating up the kitchen in the summer is really not an option for us. What we need is an outdoor kitchen and/or a solar oven. But for now we try not to use the oven. It's in July that you really start to appreciate the huge difference that the smallish trees are making for the plants near them. Shade at various times of day really does help relieve heat stress and for some plants allows them to live.