Enduring the heat, and preparing for winter...

July 14,  2026

This morning...  

The weird ball in the sky, a smoke obscured sun in a smoke hazed sky. The camera didn't capture how red the sun was.

We are under a heat and smoke warning. 

Every one of these hot mornings, we are up just as the grey dawn breaks, and off to check out the garden, me; and Hubby is off to the bush with chainsaw and trailer in tow. After splitting and piling all the wood we harvested in the winter, there was still a gap in the woodshed. After nine heating seasons of having sufficient stores of wood; last winter, with it's long cool spring, used up more wood than any other year since we've been here. There are some dying beech trees Hubby has scouted out, and this is the latest instalment to the wood yard, the gap they are to fill, once split, is on the right end of the woodshed. 

Giving all my garden plants a good deep soak once a week and a good layer of leaf, grass or straw mulch, has been the recipe for keeping things hydrated and growing in my gardens, even through these hot and humid days. 

Here is the last full head of broccoli from my eleven plants, and the first harvested Caraflex cabbage. The broccoli will continue to supply us with lots of side shoots.

The first cluster of cherry tomatoes are showing some colour!

Zucchinis are producing lovely little fruit. One of my favourite ways to cook them is sauteed just to 'tender-crisp', with garlic butter and a little salt.

The celery bed is doing well, sandwiched between carrots, beets and the pepper patch at the far end. Determinate tomatoes are in the next bed over. 

In the field garden, everyone is happy, squash and pumpkin are starting to crawl and climb, Glads are growing, indeterminate tomatoes are blooming, and so far....no potato bugs!

An early morning look over the 7 raised beds closest to the house. The dill in the foreground are volunteers in the onion bed, I thinned them drastically when they were small, but apparently not enough! They are co-existing with a full 4' X 8' bed of onions, my winter supply of cooking onions, plus some big sweet guys and some green onions.

I am hoping the dill will help to confuse the leek moths, which seem to be a new pest up here on the hill. Some of my garlic got hit, so plans are in the works for how to deal with that new threat next season. 

Presently the Grey catbird is serenading us with his eclectic repertoire from the lilac bush. The heat is increasing, although it has been quite delightful to spend some time out here on the verandah, with a nice morning breeze from the west keeping things bearable.