Deep Hot Summer Day

Wow. What a day. I was out in the yard, watering, weeding, and just hanging with the plants at 6:45am. Spent a nice, solid 3 hours engrossed in everything Plant. Did a light cleaning of the hen house too, and realized that I could add the poopy straw to the Very Neglected Compost Heap. So the heap itself became a mini-project...hmmm...need to weed around it, straighten up the end panels...ok, so layer the goodies on with helpings from the rotting mass of veggie scraps, weeds, and Willow Oak leaves from last fall that havent really broken down much. Water it from the hose to get it all nice and damp for the microbes and macro-life to multiply and work their composting magic. Ah, I love a good heap.
The chickens got weeds and over-ripe tomatoes to nibble on. Wish I could let them run free, but they would not last a day. They've got a pretty large fenced area to roam around ina nd I try and supply interesting things for them to peck and scratch at. The 5 hens are 7 years old now and seem content to just stroll around their fenced areas and take siestas in the shade when the sun is hot. We are getting from 0-3 eggs a day at the moment.
.
Picked a bunch of Hillbilly tomatoes, a few Brandy Boys and a Mortgage Lifter. The Hillbillies are really a gorgeous tomato...brilliant streaky sunsets within. The San Marzanos look like they might be a bust...many are getting the dreaded Blossom End Rot. The first Mr. Stripey might get picked this weekend. Oh, and some extra sweet Sun Gold cherry tomatoes. The Swiss Chard plant is still doing great...I'm still picking 4-5 big leaves off of it every ten days or so. picked up a neighbor's CSA for her, since she and her family went out of town. Got to pick out peppers, tomatoes ( ! ), cucumbers, eggplant, squash, chard, peaches, and a cute little yellow rind watermelon that I dropped off at their house for them to enjoy when they get back.


It is J's Bday today. 54! For the dinner I made tacos, complete with the fried corn tortillas , guacamole, salsa and other goodies. also made a fabulous vegan Pineapple Upside Down Cake...really yummy, and the cake part of it was perfect...I'll have to remember that recipe ...from vegcooking.com. Oh, and we ate the cake with a scoop of coconut ice cream ( vegan of course ! ).
Listened to a heartbreaking podcast on Compassionate Cooks....about motherhood and maternal instincts. I cried out of pure sadness and pure frustration for the animals and for the willful blindness that perpetuates all of the unnecessary suffering imposed on the creatures we enslave and then slaughter. How did we get this deep into such a nightmare ?