Farmers Worry

Farmers only worry during the growing season, but towns people worry all the time. ~ Edgar Watson Howe

I don't know if I believe that.  I think farmers worry all the time, weather, finances, crops, birthing etc.  Right now my worry has been the weather.  So far we rank as the second hottest July on record, coming in with an average of 88 degrees per day.  They saw August will follow suit.  I can't stand it.  It is not normal for this area and is sparking even worse weather.

After several tornado warnings last Wednesday and then a couple of heavy down pours I thought it would have helped the garden.  However Thursday while I was digging holes in the lawn for the 8 foot arbovitaes that the man brought home, I was shaking the dirt out of the grass roots like it was sand.

And then came Friday.  We had a nice steady rain in the morning and temps were wonderful.  I made blueberry jam and blackberry jam..  Later in the evening as we were on our way out to dinner, tornado warnings were once again flashing across the TV screen.  We came home to no electric because while we were gone a tornado did hit the area.  We were spared but across the river wasn't.

We got our electric back early Saturday morning.  We had a wedding to go to that day.  I called the mother of the bride (that lives on the other side of the river).  They had no electric nor did the facilities the reception was to be held at.  But everyone came together, generators were put to use and the wedding went on without a hitch.  It was beautiful.  They finally got electric that night.

Sunday we went shopping and bought all the lumber for a front deck.  The man started working on that while I worked in the garden a little bit. 

Monday was spent making three batches of bread & butter pickles, a batch of apple/blackberry jelly, strawberry jam, apple/blackberry/currant jelly and I did a batch of green beans. 

Tuesday it was still cool in the morning so I baked two cream puff cakes and started painting my bathroom.  It was not the best day to paint.  The temperature might have been lower but it was still very humid. 

Wednesday, #2 daughter left to go to Hershey and will return tonight.  I got to work on the deluge of summer squash.  I made ranch flavored zucchini chips which aren't bad but next time I will take the skins off.  I have twelve zcchini to deal with today.  I have to shred some for bread this winter and I am going to try more chips.

With help from the hose, the garden keeps producing.  Part of me wants to say it is a good gardening year because so far everything looks okay.  Hopefully the recent rains won't make the tomatoes or cabbages split.  I have lots of plans for all the tomatoes, I just need them to ripen.  I have planted some seeds for  fall crops which I normally don't do so we are ignoring the leaves changing color already.  I am blaming that on the lack of rain instead of an early fall and hope that the seeds I planted will produce.

Even while knitting or spinning my mind is on the weather, gardening or canning.  I guess I haven't gone over the ledge yet though since I don't have the Weather Channel on continously.