The Garden in July

I'm not going to have a Soapy Friday post this week, as I'm waiting to see how some of my latest samples perform, so it's back to our regularly, scheduled broadcast. :-)

This has been the driest summer that we've had to date. Even 2015, as bloody hot as it was, had more rain than this summer (according to my records). And with temperatures regularly in the 90's with the heat index into the 100's, everything is suffering. My rain barrels have only filled up once, and have been completely drained. This has never happened. I've never been able to completely drain my rain barrels before a rain shower comes along and refills.

Even the turtles, which we spot on our property every year, have retreated to the cooler, damper areas of the woods. We haven't seen a turtle on our property at all this year.

And so it goes.

I've managed to keep the flower beds, hosta beds, and vegetable garden watered and alive. I've started installing Mister Landscaper micro-irrigation around the property where I can and it's made a big impact on my watering chores.

The lawn has only been cut once in the past 6 weeks as well. We found that keeping the grass taller has helped preserve it during hot-spells like this, as we don't have an irrigation system, nor do we water.

The tomatoes are starting to come in heavy. We had our first BLT last night for dinner, and I'm canning crushed tomatoes in the kitchen as I type. :-)

The back perennial bed is filling-out. I'm still getting used to the whole "The 1st year they sleep, the 2nd year they creep, and the 3rd year they leap" gardening concept up here. In Florida, it was growing season ALL year-long, so plants matured and filled-out quicker.

Even the perennial beds in the front of the house look dreamy. I need to thin and divide much of these plants over this fall.

I was mentioning to my friend Mary, how summer bums me out. I just can't wait for it to be over and I hate the heat, although I love the fresh produce! I live for the fall, winter, and spring.