Despite the heat and wildfire smoke, we’re keeping busy

I went out and tilled the sections between the pumpkin rows and where the corn had not come up from the second planting. (Hey, we’re in drought and it’s pretty heavy clay out there!), then did the outside path, all around the North Garden.

Today, I went out and mowed the pigweed in the Wolf Garden, between the onion and potato rows plus between the beans, where I could get down the rows. I also went in between the rows of tomatoes where Will hadn’t gotten mulch on the soil yet. There’s a huge difference in the weeds. No weeds where there is mulch and heavy weeds where there is no mulch. Yea! Mulch wins!

Yesterday, Will went in the Sand Garden and first mowed between the corn rows then tilled. Then, around the Porcupine and Costata Romanesco squash, he put heavy hay mulch as the squash is starting to vine heavily. He also spread manure around the pepper plants, muskmelon, and watermelon out there. Yep, his shirt was dripping with sweat. I sure hope this heat lets up soon. Today there’s quite a wind, which is not good for the poor firefighters, fighting six wildfires in the general area, but not near us, thank God.

Today Will’s out cutting hay as, yep, it’s hot and windy. Good for drying hay. We did get a couple of very light rains in the past two days. But they didn’t even total ¼ inch. It did help the plants in the gardens though. I got a text from my son, Bill, saying he had cut a 6-acre hayfield and hadn’t broken down. I wish Will had that luck. He blew a bearing on the sickle bar of our haybine and came home to get our backup. Hopefully, the rest of the day will go better!

— Jackie