Summer Drought

Things have been pretty quiet and hot at the farm. My silence may have some wondering if my blog efforts have dried up. No such luck ;-) but the surrounding farmland certainly has. We are in the middle of the worse drought in 25 years for this area. Corn yields will be very low with some farmers considering aborting the corn harvest and turning the stalks into silage. The soy still has a chance, but only if we get some rain pretty soon.
 

Deep cracks in the earth from lack of rain.

 Being from Nevada, I'm accustomed to triple digit temperatures, but 108 is oppressive with the humidity factor in the Midwest. I didn't like the dry heat either, so I guess I'll whine anytime the thermometer hits over 95.

My zucchini plants have died off one after another. That might be considered a blessing in disguise as I had planted eight plants! Cucumbers have produced well and cantaloupe are looking good.


Tomatoes and fresh basil ready for the oven
Sun Gold, Sugary, & Black Pearl varieties

Tomatoes are hanging in there. I found an area this year with afternoon shade and that seems to really have helped them. I planted two plants each of ten varieties, which is a lot of tomatoes!
The small yellow and red cherry size plants are going full swing right now. Larger varieties are starting to ripen. The grandbaby is a tomato eating machine. When she helps me pick them; most wind up in her mouth. We eat them chilled and marinated in olive oil with fresh basil or roasted. This was dinner the other night.

Much happier now with a constant drip

 We tried to reside in the house without air conditioning since we usually have a good cross breeze and I love having the windows open for the fresh air. However, when the heat hit, the breezes disappeared. Although the electrical wiring is a tad scary, we opted to install a couple of window units. We are learning to turn off the A/C in the dining room when we use the electric fry pan in the kitchen outlet or it will require a trip to the basement to reset the circuit breaker. Humans are not the only ones that can benefit from an A/C unit. After noticing a large continuous puddle under our unit, I realized one of my planters might enjoy sitting under the constant drip. That is an antique baby wash tub full of fresh basil, oregano, and thyme. 

James has spent the better part of this week trying to install a new mailbox. We were anxious to celebrate ownership of the farm with a new larger box as the existing one was very rusted and leaked. Easier said than done. The old post was planted to last 100 years! After digging down two feet, he found the post was in a large footing of cement. After using a very large crowbar and brute strength, he managed to wrestle the post out of the ground. The new post fit down into the old hole and with the addition of cement, it is now standing proud with a new box atop it.


Plastic tent stakes hold them in place

As I previously stated, I planted 20 tomato plants. I never found the cone shaped tomato cages to work very well, although the concept of being able to stack them for storage was a good thought. I now have a barn to store them, so we made our own. I purchased fencing and commenced to lasso Jim and James into helping me cut and construct them. Other than having to watch for the sharp ends where they hook together, I am very pleased with how they are working.


Another thing I have tried before is to plant Borage with my tomatoes. This is a plant with a pretty - and edible - blue flower. There seems to be something about this plant that repels the moth that lays the eggs that develop into the tomato or tobacco worm. Most of you that have grown tomatoes know what those large, ravenous, green horn worms look like that can devour the foliage very quickly on your plants. So far, not a caterpillar in sight. One variety, "Amish Paste" is having blossom end rot. That seems to have subsided now that the tempertures have dropped a bit. We have had so many cherry tomatoes and cucumbers this week, I have resorted to sending a large bowl of them with Jim when he visits the senior center three days a week. They have requested more for next week, so they must like my recipes. The cucumbers get sliced with onion and mixed with vinegar, a small bit of sugar and salt, and fresh dill from the garden.

Being a Jersey Girl, I know that tomatoes prefer a sandy acidic soil. As the limestone in this area creates a much more neutral or basic soil, it is Starbucks to the rescue. Whenever I can score a large bag of used coffee grounds from my favorite (and only) Starbucks in the area, I drag it home to spread on the ground around my acid loving tomatoes. So, maybe for dinner tomorrow we will have fresh sliced tomatoes and mozzarella cheese with chopped basil and a drizzle of EVOO  (Extra Virgin Olive Oil for non- Rachel Ray fans.)

This is the assortment I picked tonight. I love the names of some of the varieties which are Sugary, Black Krim, La Roma, Amish Paste. Bush Early Girl, Green Zebra, Sun Sugar, Pink Brandywine, Patio, and Tumbling Tiger. Everytime I pick the Black Pearls, I get this irresistable urge to prance about like Captain Jack Sparrow saying "Arrrggghhhh", although I'm sure Johnny Depp would come up with something more clever.

So, how do we cool off in the country with these ridiculously high temperatures? A Country Bath, of course. Lizelle finds a shower with the hose after watering the garden very refreshing. Add soap and shampoo, sans clothing, and there is no bathroom mess to clean up for the night. But for even more fun, it is hard to beat a bubble bath in a water trough!

Stay cool where ever you live for the next several weeks. Fall will be here before you know it!