Passive cooling and a beautiful jungle

It's getting truly hot. We are heading into the 90s, which means we have to be vigilant in the passive cooling efforts. What's passive cooling? Or maybe you already know what it is! But just in case you don't, passive cooling involves a few things that you can do in the hottest part of the year to control your electric bill and also do a kindness to the environment. 

Big note here: we live in a region where it still gets in the low and mid 60s at night and early mornings, even during the hottest months. We are very blessed in that regard. Depending on where you live, what we do may not work for you, particularly if you live in or near the dessert or a big, concrete city, or an area known for massive heat waves in the summer months. Safety first, always. Never do anything that could potentially cause heatstroke or heat-related deaths. But for us, we do the following:

• Turn the A/C off for at least five hours a day. I generally do this when I get up in the morning. The A/C goes off, windows go up, and fans are turned on. Takes about two minutes to do this and the savings are phenomenal.
• Use fans to move the cool air from outside to the inside. This really does work if you have at least one fan strategically located.
• On weekends, do the same for Bunny and the babies in their building. 
• Once it begins to get in the mid-70s outside, close all windows and doors. 
• Pull the blinds AND the curtains. I do have heat and light-blocking curtains in the living room and our side room, which are the two rooms that have the most light coming through at certain times of the day. I got mine years ago at a discount store, and they work really well. They wash up nicely, and if you line-dry them, they will last for years. I think I paid $15 per pair, so for $60 (there are four windows), we get several years of savings on the electric bill.
• By 10 a.m., we switch the A/C back on and set it to 74 degrees. We never go any lower UNLESS we are in a true heat wave. Then - and only then - do we turn the A/C down to 72 for one hour around 3 p.m. as we head into the hottest part of the day. It's amazing how much difference that makes in keeping the house cool the remainder of the day when we switch it back up to 74. This will only work, however, if your house is insulated well.
• We do not do run the dryer after 10 a.m. If we do laundry after 10 a.m., then we make sure it's a sunny day and we can line dry the items. Otherwise, laundry waits until the sun has gone down or is only done in the early mornings. This keeps the part of the house where the dryer is located from getting too warm and forcing the A/C to run.

That's it. It sounds like a lot, but it literally takes minutes to do these things and the savings on our electric bill is quite large. Think about it: if the A/C isn't running for 35 hours out of a week, then that's significant. If you're not running your dryer during the hottest parts of the day, then your A/C doesn't have to work nearly as hard. Plus, line drying is soooo much easier. 

The other thing: this passive cooling speaks of even better things to come. By that, I mean that, although we are in the warmest part of the year, Autumn hovers nearby. I love summer and will hate to see it go, but the silver lining is that several weeks are coming where A/C and heat aren't even used except on minimal occasions. I use these hot, summer days to watch my scary summer movies and look up Crocktober recipes and keep an eye on the pumpkin patch and corn. It's a nice transition period.

Pictures! Here we go, up first our giant zinnia patch. Be still my heart, I love this beyond words. I truly, truly do.

More zinnias alongside the garden. They're great for framing out vegetable gardens. They don't draw the wrong kind of bugs, and the pollinators that they lure will do wonders for your veggies like squash or any type of veg that has a bloom prior to the vegetable developing.

July generally looks like a jungle, plush and lovely and wild.

All right, class, what kind of flowers are these? That's right! Zinnias!

Look at my naughty, beautiful, big boy. I'm telling him it's time to go inside so that the birds can freely fly around to eat and take care of their babies. He is pointedly ignoring me. This guy is huge - almost 16 pounds - but he's completely passive. I had to go pick up the big chunk and carry him inside. He didn't put up a fuss, but he made me work to get him back inside! 

More gorgeous jungle! This is the view outside the kitchen window. It never, ever gets old.

Okay, next, let's observe the partial box of Peggy Ann glazed donuts in its natural habitat. Aren't they lovely, just lying there all glazed and gooey-looking? These were given to us Friday, a whole, beautiful dozen, super fresh and all sweet and yeasty smelling. Absolute heaven. These donuts eat like a meal, they've got real substance to them. We shared them with my folks, and we shared them with my mother-in-law this past weekend, as well. Gotta spread that goodness around. 

Time for specific garden pics. As previously promised, here is the corn/popcorn patch, and here is the messy herb garden. The popcorn has started tasseling, but it will stay on the stalk, untouched for at least eight more weeks. We've never grown this before, so I'm pretty jazzed to see how it turns out. Then, there's the herb garden. It's messy. Very, very messy, but I don't care. It gets this way in mid to later summer, but here's the thing: yesterday, it had monarchs coming and going like crazy. That's the point of the herb garden, it's for the pollinators. As long as they're happy with it, then it has turned out perfect.

The pumpkin patch has germinated, and by this time next week, the vining will have started, and the plants you see will have more than doubled in size. By mid-August, there will, most likely, not be any dirt visible and the pumpkin blooms will, hopefully, be on full display so that our pollinators can help get the ball rolling on the baby pumpkins. Pumpkin patches are the best fun to observe. I've never, ever gotten tired of this.

That's just about it. I did finally decide on my first Crocktober recipe, a corn casserole that is extremely old-school and will go great with a pot of chili. I've got to find three more, as I'd like to do one Crocktober a week during that particular month. Blessings to you on this last Tuesday in July. Where does the time go? I think our whole country is in a heat wave, so be careful out there, stay dehydrated, and don't overdo!