Things are SO different this year. The growing season has been less than stellar, thanks to (I know I keep harping on this) the late-April hard freezes and the two-week hot spell we hit right after the freezes. This year, due to that nasty cold snap, there are no baby apples, no baby pears, no cherries. Instead, those trees have already gone somewhat dormant, and they appear to be resigned to waiting for next year to do their jobs. It looks like we may have lost one of the apple trees, thanks to that nasty April spell. Breaks my heart, it really does.
The garden is starting to yield, and we do have grapes and blackberries this year, which is surprising. The onions have grown really well, and we are starting to see tomatoes. I threw in a pretty yellow rose and a Bunny snap, as well, for fun. I never get tired of flowers or rescue kitties.
The summer solstice occurs late tonight. This is officially the longest day of the year. Funny how we start losing daylight as the days gradually grow shorter. We don't really notice it because it's in tiny increments, but then, suddenly, at some point, we realized that we had to turn on our lamps a bit sooner in the evenings and find a sweater to take out the dog. I'm not ready for that. I used to love autumn, but now, I'd prefer summer to roll on a bit longer.
Yesterday was nearly perfect, with low humidity, 83 degrees, and a good breeze up until mid-evening. We had vegan bacon, Vidalia sweet onion and Grainger county tomato sandwiches with Dukes mayo for lunch. It was the perfect accompaniment to the weather yesterday, and I never tire of that kind of a sandwich. We should have our very own tomatoes soon, and I'm so looking forward to that. Soil make s a difference, and I can honestly say that we are blessed with great soil out our way. The exceptions are radishes and green peppers. They look beautiful when we grow them, but the radishes are way too hot, and the green peppers have the consistency of thin, snappy wood. YUCK. Everything else, however, grows beautifully.
I see that we warm up for the next couple of days, then the high on Tuesday is only 70. Here's hoping that our summer doesn't get miserably hot. I have learned to love the 80s, but anything higher than that does tend to make me heat sick. We still don't have our pumpkin patch in the ground, and I'm debating on whether or not to even bother this year. I've tried to analyze what kind of time we have these days, which is not a lot. Our home project is picking up steam (that's a good thing), and will absorb us for a few weeks once the major part is done. I'm guessing that by early fall, we'll be finished, but that's several weeks away. So, we'll see about the pumpkin patch. This may be the year to skip.
Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there, and peace and love those who miss their fathers. Our yard and gardens are beautiful in the summer, thanks to the efforts of my dad. It's a ton of work and, while he enjoys it, the truth is that we are the beneficiaries of those efforts. Here's hoping summer ushers in some truly lovely things. It's time to check out the front porch a bit more in the morning hours!
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