Living In Wellies

Rain is definitely a mixed blessing.
Without it, nothing grows.
With too much, however, certain things grow like crazy,
and others drown.


Right now, it feels as though the farm is located somewhere in the tropics.
Perhaps at some point in late July I went to bed
and some sort of cosmic magic happened... changing the earth's axis so that
we are now spinning around the sun somewhere near the equator.


Normally, by this time of summer, we are watering profusely,
and mowing duties have ceased.


This year it is just the opposite.


Early morning hours are the most pleasant, with the thermometer hanging right around
the seventy degree mark.
It doesn't take long for the sun to send the mercury speeding higher up that tube, however.


In spite of all the rain and torrential storms,
Mrs. Guinea remains glued to her nest...
looking more and more bedraggled by the day.
I sure hope she has some babies as a reward for her faithfulness,
at the end of all this weather torture.


And although she wasn't thrilled with it, I reached around her to pick 
these two patty pan squashes.


Much of my garden fence is now covered in vines...
trumpet vines, grape vines, and loads and loads of morning glories.


I love how morning glories climb and wrap themselves around anything in their way.


And this variety, that blossoms in every possible combination of purple and white...


The giant zinnias are profuse...


and the profusion zinnias are giant!


There's nothing like zinnias to fill a garden with cheer!
(and a house with fresh cut blooms!)

This year I planted beans on my wire tunnel, hoping they would cover
the entire trellis.


I cannot wait to harvest these colorful beans and dry them for winter usage.


It's ratatouille time, apparently...


time to harvest the eggplant and combine it with all of the other garden
veggies for a hearty stew.

The "down" side to all this rain, though, are the tomatoes.
Our vines are starting to rot.
I believe it's going to be a rather short season this year.


Happily... all of the rest of the goat herd is doing fine (knock on wood.)
Dr. Becky feels that Stella may have had an ovarian tumor.
She has always weirdly acted more like a buck than a doe... and that behavior
can be caused by an ovarian tumor.


Comments

Lynne said…
Gorgeous bounty wherever you look . . .
Keeping you very busy, I am sure, since vacation week.
Love the “Bean Arbor!”
Interesting doc thoughts about Stella . . .
Colleen said…
The reward of your hard work sure pays off Not only for you but for us that follow along with you💕 How much longer do you think it will be before Mrs.Guinea's eggs should hatch?
jaz@octoberfarm said…
our grass is just starting to turn green again from the little bit of rain we got. i had to pull most of my tomatoes already, the humidity did them in this year. your place looks gorgeous as usual!
GeorgiaHoneyBee said…
We are water logged too - not as much as you but enough to impact the garden. My tomatoes are splitting, some vines have died, and my first every successful watermelon patch is under attack. Four melons have split due to all of the rain. Rain can certainly be a mixed blessing...
Those morning glories are magnificent!
This N That said…
Lot's of vines with lovely flowers..I hope they don't pull anything down!! It has been nice to have all this rain and not have to water..Sorry about your tomatoes..I must get some soon ..I'm hungry for tomato and Swiss cheese on rye bread..An old staple of mine..Beautiful Zinnias! Enjoy this day!!