Homestead Happenings

Just trying to keep cool these days, physically and mentally. We can’t spend all day outside anymore, as we’d prefer. It’s crazy hot and dry and we’re losing the crops at a rapid clip in these unprecedented June temperatures.

Fortunately, we can spend the hot afternoons in the cool kitchen, adding to our skillsets and our supply of delicious homemade staples—such as ferments, my domain, and canning, Hubby’s expanding speciality.

Canned dill pickles on left and an array of ferments fresh from the garden—cucumbers, radishes, carrots, tomatoes, beets . … and our first ‘Noirs des Carmes’ melon of the season.

It’s so hot and dry, and generally miserable day and night, that I find myself continually amazed at how resilient some species are.

Swamp lillies on left, in part shade and getting supplemental regular watering, and poppies, so lovely and tolerant.

Also getting supplemental water and looking great, the most cheeriest of all the flowers, no contest.

We’ve lost the tomato crop prematurely. It wasn’t a total loss though, we’ve got enough for fresh salads and salsas, but not a bumper crop for canning, unfortunately.

And the fresh ones are delicious! Literally, the variety is called ’Delicious’ and they really are not fibbing. Saving those seeds for sure.

And, we’ve got a cucumber first, a volunteer! And with that another mystery with a pleasant surprise.

‘Arkansas Little Leaf’ pickling cucumber

I’ve planted this variety for several years now because it’s been such a great producer. But I’ve not planted it with any intention of seed-saving, so it’s gone in right next door to other cucumber varieties, and melons, and squash, without a second thought.

And yet, it’s produced a true-to-type volunteer, which I most certainly will be taking seed from! We regularly get cherry tomato volunteers that produce beautifully, and always get volunteer tomatillos, Luffa, cilantro, basil, but this is a first for cucumber.

Volunteer ‘Arkansas Little Leaf’ coming back over the fence

Other crops like the peppers are still producing fine, but the spaghetti squash is also starting to peter out already.

Garlic curing with spaghetti squash and just-harvested melons; the big green sea of ‘Noirs des Carmes’ cantaloupe now ripening; sweet potatoes and Black-eyed Susans, un-phased by the heat, as long as they get plenty of water.

The birds and bees and 4-legged manage much better than we do.

Though, let’s not forget, they are watered and fed and do no real work and lay around all afternoon and evening!

The milk stand has become their playstation!

There’s not nearly enough milk for cheesemaking yet, but I’m studying up!

Thankfully for the good old-fashioned snailmail I’ve gotten a divine treasure—a guide to traditional French goat cheese-making—originally published in the 1950s, in a humble effort to save the world from industrialized cheese.

Obviously, he did not succeed, not by a long shot.

But it is still a fascinating read on a sweltering Sunday.

Author: KenshoHomestead

Creatively working toward self-sufficiency on the land. View all posts by KenshoHomestead

12 thoughts on “Homestead Happenings”

Excellent link, thanks Highlander! I learned of that College of DuPage radar site from Carol at NeverLoseTruth channel and it’s really disturbing. Many countries experiencing the same and it’s so obviously not ‘climate change’ except in that ‘they’ are changing the climate deliberately.

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if you get a chance look at this site https://weather.cod.edu/satrad/?parms=continental-conus-comp_radar-200-1-100-1&checked=map&colorbar=undefined
choose mosaic radar if it doesn’t open automatically. watch texas…the blue circles that flash on and off are microwaves that move weather systems much like HAARP does. there is something new coming off of them causing intense heat from the microwave radiation. you can literally see the ripples and waves like scalar waves rippling across the beam.

texas if being pounded…so is the entire middle of the country. the massive heat taking place i believe is due to the microwave transmissions burning the farm belt in the middle of the country. creating a man made drought. using the chemicals from the airplanes and the 5g radiation they are literally setting the country to burn!

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HA! 😂

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So they originate in Washington, D.C. ?

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Ah, Georgia, for some reason I thought you lived in CA. Our climate is similar in East TX, though we used to get much more rain.

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Thanks! It’s so much easier and more fun with two.

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Thanks! We do appreciate it all, though it’s naturally disappointing when you do the work for 4 bushels, but only get 1.

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They call those ‘Swamp Lillies” around here. I bet they’d do great in your area, too.

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So that first flower, under the canning on the left, what is that?

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That looks like a pretty successful season despite the losses. You must be able to plant so much sooner than us, my cucumbers are just now only about three inches tall!

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