It's Summer?

We’re already into the second full week of July and the weather is still odd. Last week was hot and dry with temperatures into the 90’s. This week we are back to the cloudy and cool weather we had up until the 4th of July. I thought we were finally going to have temperatures warm enough for our tomatoes and peppers to really get going. It was nice to be able to get out and do some gardening.

The vegetable garden is in, what there is of it. Josh and I wandered out to take a look at the garden on Sunday and I felt a real sense of accomplishment seeing all the growing things. We don’t have a garden on the scale I was hoping we would this year, but we’ll have enough for ourselves. I ended up buying a lot of already started vegetables because I couldn’t stand the thought of an empty garden. We finally have tomatoes, cucumber, peas, green beans, bell peppers, zucchini, and a jalapeño. The heirloom carrots are doing great, as are the onions, potatoes and pumpkins. We have more lettuce and salad greens than we can handle – but not enough to really sell – so I guess it is time to give some away. I don’t mind all the salads, but Josh doesn’t like to eat salad more than a few days a week. I can’t think of anything else to put in at this late date, so I guess that will be it.

We had a nice vacation from the last part of June through the 4th of July. Worked in the yard and garden a little, made a few day trips, and generally took it easy. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but good enough. We took a drive up to Leavenworth to look around and pick up a few things. Josh’s favorite pretzel dipping sauce is sold up there. It can be bought elsewhere, but it was a good excuse to go. I could have spent the entire day wandering around but with a three year old in tow, calling it a day after lunch was really necessary. We ran down to Cashmere before heading home to pick up some factory fresh Turkish delight (Aplets & Cotlets, Fruit Delights, and Chocolate Fruit Delights). It was interesting to see how little gas we used going home compared to the over half a tank we used getting there. The little Prius does not like those huge hills. Even with the little trips and shopping we did the rest of our vacation we didn’t have to fill up again.

It was also nice to have time to just work on the place and discuss some of the things we would like to accomplish. We’re not always on the same page about things or how they should be done, but we do seem to be heading in the same direction. We are looking forward to getting a small wind generator for the well house so we can cut back on our energy use and have water at times when the power goes out.

I’m certain if we really work at it we’ll have this place self supporting within ten years, if not sooner. It was nice to have Josh around all the time instead of the usual two hours we have before he heads to bed most days. Between the produce and all the other things we are able to make and do we’re hoping he’ll be able to work from home at least half of the time by then.

He has a lot of ideas for things including making soaps. We spent part of Sunday on the first step preparing a long bed for fragrant and medicinal herbs that will get planted in the spring. He is very enthusiastic about trying to distill our own essential oils. Add in my experience with herbal remedies and homeopathic medicines and I think we stand a chance to do really well.

I am looking forward to seeing how things unfold, what goes according to our plans and what has to be altered or changed completely. It will be an interesting trip, but isn’t that what the journey is all about?