Because we have only had the farm and lived in the Augusta area for 3 and a half years, we thought perhaps we were the only ones that felt the temperatures were hotter than usual. BUT when the meteorologist reported Wednesday that we had broken the old record of 104 by reaching 105 (!), and yesterday that we had broken the old record of 103 by reaching 104(!)...we knew our initial thoughts were right on!
And we are still very dry. When the rain does come, it has been very compartmentalized, meaning, it rains in the county east or south of us but does not reach our area.
We picked the last 2 squash and the final 2 cukes from the giving garden on July 18th. Since then we have been sharing what we have growing in our own garden: cukes, squash, and tomatoes. Our blueberry groves have provided approx. 4 GALLONS of sweet blueberries to Mrs. Patsy to bake muffins and cakes that became part of the lunches she gives her needy neighbors.
Our apples are coming in despite the dry heat. Their skins show the effects but the fruit is still quite tasty. That being the situation, we have decided to can the apples as applesauce and apple butter for Mrs. Patsy to give her folks. Our first jars of applesauce are pictured above!
In our final post for this season (next month), we want to give our thoughts about what we learned and hope to do better next year. We hope you'll come back then!
