Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I Love the Summer Heat!



I love the summer time! No stiff joints complaining of the cold. No snow or ice to deal with. Once the cold gets into my bones the only way to thaw me out is to climb into a hot tub of water for an hour. Now this summer our 3 year old a/c unit has decided to give up the ghost this year. Spending lots of money on it but it's a no go so far. These 100 degree days in the north land are taking a toll. But, I can deal with the heat much better than the cold any day! I start sweating and get soaked clear to the skin, then a breeze or a fan blowing and cools me down real fast. When I know I have to go out and work during these hot days, I take a cold wet drippy towel with me. I wrap it around my neck and let it soak me. Keeps me cooled right down! I love to go dig down deep in the garden beds. I find it so very relaxing to sit on the side of a garden bed and pull weeds and loosen soil up and feed and water my plants. I love knowing where my food comes from. But of course the heat is taking a toll on my garden too! Some plants don't like the direct sunlight when it's so very hot. And the high heat has dried the beds and ground out very much. We try to water a section of the garden every day but even a good deep watering leaves the bed dried out within 2 days. We are having to decide what we want to save and what we will give up as there is no way to water everything every two days. Such is another gardening year. 2 years ago it stayed very wet and cold all summer. I count my blessing daily, that my Heavenly Father blesses me and my family so very much. We are able to survive living off our land if we have to. Lots of wild blackberries, gooseberries and plums. Hundreds of hickory nut trees and a few black walnut trees. Hickory nuts are a pain to crack shell and pick out but oh my they sure are good! We crack a bag every week during the winter months and shell them out while we watch a movie each night. We are already talking about how we can handle this summers weather better in the future. We'll make sure to get some screen covers for part of the beds and also mulch beds when we need to. Colder summers we can use the same frame work but cover with clear plastic to raise the temperatures when we need to. Every year is a learning process. We're going to lay in a 5 year supply of heirloom seeds this year and then start saving seeds as we are able to do so. A 5 year supply gives us a cushion in case we have a failure so that we can still have time to grow a good crop and save seed also. We are hoping and praying that next year we will be able to grow all the produce we need for the coming winter.

I hope you are able to survive these hot temperatures! I'm loving it and hoping to avoid the bitter cold winter's we tend to have here! Yes, I'll take 100 degree's any day over -10!

Cherlynn

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