Lots of rain

We don't need to struggle to catch any rain these days. I have never seen so much rain. Normally, we have scattered thundershowers, but the last few days has been a torrential downpour. It makes me wonder if I didn't move to the Amazon! It has been beautiful. My lovely daughter has been excited, because it "makes the plants feel better" when it rains. I am in awe of how wonderful her perspective is on the rain. I hear the thunder and rain outside and am looking forward to how green everything is going to be.

I start back to work tomorrow. I am commited to providing good food for my family, so I will continue my bread baking, however, it won't be with the same regularity as before.

We are still waiting to start our new garden.

Something we have learned, though, is to not plant so many hot pepper plants. We had so many seeds and we planted a bunch of habanero plants. Well, I don't need to tell you that the peppers are still on the vine. What do I need with 20 habanero peppers?

Until next harvest.

Sadness

When we returned from our time in Arizona, we were greeted by sadness in the garden. We finally had time to get dirty, but mother nature had other plans. Shortly after we left, there was a heavy storm and then immense heat, which killed off most everything we had in the garden. Before we left, I was excited about the prospect of canning tomatoes and okra, but my dream could not be realized this season. My eyes were wide open to the realization that we don't, in any way, control the final outcome of the garden. So many factors are involved, importantly the weather. We can only do the best we can to temper all of the influences that want to destroy what we create.

It is still blazes hot here and so we will wait a few more weeks before we plant our fall crops. What I don't understand is that originally, the summer break was meant to free children to help with the harvest, but right when we are going to get started in the garden again, I have to back to work. Next year, we are not going on vacation until August! We don't want to miss a thing.

In other news, my adventures in baking bread have developed nicely. I have experimented some and have had some failures. My family has greatly enjoyed my ambitions. :) As I have worked with dough, I have realized how much I love baking! Desserts are my thing and I might have a pastry chef career in the future.

Until next harvest.