Summertime Update

Whew. It's hot.

We've been experiencing a pretty severe drought here. Actually, a lot of the area shows to be experiencing drought, but I feel like WE, right here in this spot, are having it worse than they know.

We watch the storms pop up every afternoon on the radar, and in the sky around us.

We'd hear the thunder, and it would rain within less than a mile from here.
We'd watch neighboring communities not far up/down the road report heavy rains, severe lightning, flash flooding, trees down, hail.
It got to the point I would take that, if it would only rain.

Finally, today, we got our turn. 


Not to be ungrateful, but within the hour of this storm, the drought started back up again.
How do I know?
We were notified of a Severe Thunderstorm Warning, and saw on the radar another big storm moving South towards us.
And watched it make it a few miles just to the North of us and fizzle out.

I really hope I'm wrong, and the drought has broken, because my pumpkins need a lot more water than I've been able to give them even watering three times a day.

I planted these June 29th. I think they should be a lot bigger nearly a month later.

Otherwise, the garden did surprisingly well, despite the drought conditions.

I've canned altogether about two dozen pints of stewed tomatoes, plus plenty the guys have been eating fresh.
The plants have pretty much stopped growing anymore new tomatoes, or really even growing the ones still on the plants, but they are still fairly full of tomatoes trying to ripen up.

Only about 6 cucumber vines came up, and they were really spindly and sad, but still gave me enough cukes to can up some pints of dill pickles.

There were originally 5 squash plants, but I lost two of those, to vine bore bugs, I think?

We didn't get enough squash to put up, but that's alright. I froze some a few years ago and ended up feeding those to the chickens, so.
We've enjoyed fresh fried squash for dinner a few times this summer, and that's sufficient.

The pepper plants that lived have done/are still doing well.
I made another couple of pints of Pico de Gallo, but J said he had enough of that, so now I'm slicing/seeding/freezing them.

The corn came up and did, not fabulous, but did grow a few ears. I need to harvest those.
I think I could pull the stalks, till, and plant a fall crop of corn, but, meh, I'm done. (With all except pumpkins. Really hoping to have pumpkins for Fall.)

One day I went out on the back porch to work on an art project, and somehow PO'd a couple of yeller jackets.
I didn't mess with them, I didn't even know they were around, until BAM! BAM!
They double-teamed me. Synchronized stinging.
Right between the two first knuckles of my right hand.

 Luckily I'm a quick healer and was back to normal in about 3 days.

Turned out there was a pretty large size yellow jacket nest inside an old canopy canvas I was hanging onto to....do something with. I don't even remember.

Got rid of them, but never went back to my art project.