It didn’t rain, and continued to not do so, until suddenly it did. It was very exciting, I must admit, watching the radar and rooting for rain … and then winning! One and a third inch, almost doubling our July total.

Before the rain crashed the drought though, we finally ran the field irrigation for the first time this year. And so of course we also had our annual well-trouble-anxiety. Pretty sure the problem isn’t urgent and can be fixed without much ado or adollars, In the meantime, it works fine for our purposes.

We had a waspy week. Kristin got stung a couple of times inside the little greenhouse, where she must water the microgreen trays and where they build nests and are generally peaceful until some angry defensive phase of their nest building kicks them into asshole little monster modes. So then I went to knock down their nests, and stumbled backwards in my non-OSHA-approved flipflops as I retreated from the ensuing buzzswarm and thusly deeply sliced into my big toe with a switchblade of a hose clamp. And then yesterday Otis, doing Otis things back behind the outhouse somehow drew the pointy ire of a solitary wasp that nailed his hand, causing it to swell up exactly like the hand of a hammer-smashed cartoon hand.

Living with nature is like that sometimes. We’ll take it.

Before the rain the weather was ridiculously beautiful, and after the rain it’s been pretty much more of the same except hotter. It’s not bad. Like winter, you adapt habits and coping mechanisms to suit the changes. It’s pleasant not paying an air conditioning electric bill.

Otis has been working on Scooby Doo style traps in his quest to capture and hold the free-ranging chicks. Jasper stayed busy doing Jasper things.

inside the box

• a Red Cabbage – Have you tried snacking on cabbage leaves with peanut butter? It’s a thing and it turns out it’s quite tasty. We were skeptical too, but they were right … “you’ve eaten peanut butter on celery, right?” But Grandma Deb makes a delicious recipe = a cabbage slaw with raisins and pecans.
• Beans Beans Beans – Dragon Tongue, Purple, Yellow, Green
• Radish Micro Greens – popular at the farmer’s market due to their transformative potential. They make good stuff better.
• Cherry Tomatoes – these have been taking their time.
• Tomato Tomatoes
• Zucchini – I bet you’re familiar, and hope you’re a fan.
• Onions:

• Broccoli Side Shoots – choice edible flower buds
• Basil (Lettuce Leaf” variety) – That salad thing with tomatoes and basil and maybe mozaerella cheese? Pesto. BLT lettuce substitute? Or, do like most folks do and wear it in a fabric bag around your neck or waist.
• Dill – Time to make fridge pickles? Or …. just sell or gift it to the pickle hungry ghosts that haunt your local Marketplace and Buy Nothing pages, or make an offering to the compost gods.
• Cucumbers (pickling & slicers) – crunchy hydration snack packs