This week we realized that we’re past the Summer Tipping Point.

First thoughts of winter’s coming, first morning chores with chilly feet, and an absolute mob of hummingbirds have descended upon the feeders … Canucks, having embarked upon their sugar-fueled journey toward Central America.

Another sign of the seasonal change – the surviving weeds of the field have changed gears from towering growth to seed production … which meant a couple days of epic weeding missions.

Very satisfying work. The family that weeds together … bleeds together? Hmm grim. Feed together? Whatever anyway the boys were great helpers, and we all wished we’d gotten a before/after set of pics. But this will have to do:

The drought continues. Our microclimate is a harsh mistress. Some people are into that kind of thing, though. .

Regardless, we abide, we humans, hummingbirds, and varied vegetable-producing, fruiting plants. And thus from the Barrens to your table come:

• Islander Purple Bell Peppers – not spicy.
• Melon (Cantaloupe or some other kind of musk melon)
• Norland Red Potatoes – you might get little roasters or big ones, but either way you’ve got about 3 lbs to work with
• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Cucumbers
• Onions
• Zucchini
• Eggplant – pretty damn good breaded and fried. Do it.

The coming of Autumn sounds just lovely doesn’t it? And on the way there, a less … abrasive session of summer sure does, too.

Here for it.

In bulletpoints:

• Ranger’s rescued little friend Bobby McGee learned that chickens are made of meat
• We took Ranger’s rescued little friend Bobby McGee to a wildlife rehab place for his next adventure
• For a few hours this morning we thought it was still Box Seven.
• Our van got destroyed
• We bought a new one
• My birthday happened
• The drought continues – just 2.46 inches total since July 1st.
• But the heat broke, which has been just lovely for existing.

Inside Box 8

• Tomatoes
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Beets – Kristin fought a significant portion of the Greek pantheon to bring these into the boxes. Also, we had to apply boron, which we are deficient in, and which beets are very very needy of.
• Beans (green, yellow, & dragon tongue)
• a Cabbage
• maybe Tomatillo (local pick-ups only this week)
• Italian Basil
• Melons (musk & Golden Giant)
• A few hot peppers – if you don’t like hot peppers, do not eat.
• zucchini & summer squash
• varied cucumbers
• onions

In today’s news, the farm laptop is doing this thing where it shan’t be powered up. Therefore, it’s a phone-drafted newsletter week!

Less words. But ooh let’s do videos:

X Zucchini 

X Cucumbers 

X Beans – wax(yellow) green and dragon tongue 

X Kale lancinato and curly blue

X Eggplant

X Tomatoes + tomatillo (@Kristin route) or x Melons (p/u + deb/jim route)

X Onions

X Holy basil

X Hot peppers jalapeño and havasu 

Well then. The main message of last week’s newsletter was basically “it sure is great that it’s not smoky out.” Three hours later I saw the forecast of coming smoke. And then we spent a few days in this:

And of course, it was also a steam cooker. We were quickly reminded how much we’d been taking for granted the pleasure of casually breathing air that doesn’t hurt. It was … bad.

But we’ve gone through this before (albeit to a lesser extent), a few years ago, and it didn’t take us too long to remember how we could adapt. We found the n95 masks for when outdoors was necessary, and we battened down the hatches so we could shelter indoors – with the HEPA air purifier and portable AC that we’d picked up the last time we were living in the wildfire miasma. We worked out methods for timing the use of our air quality devices to preserve our solar battery. I remembered that forecasting the smoke, and getting accurate readings of current conditions, were problematic – and re-worked out which apps and maps and settings actually worked. (Purple Air online map for current AQI readings by location, and the Near-Surface Smoke map on the NOAA Air Quality app for the smoke forecast)

And so, after an initial panic and scramble, we were again … dealing with it. Habits adjust, coping mechanisms evolve. Quickly, the psyche builds callus over the uncomfortable parts, as we create new ways of living our days to deal with new factors we have no control over.

And then the smoke faded. And the heat dome released us.

Sure, they will be back. Probably worse, and probably for the rests of our lives. But we can deal with it. We are learning, adapting, evolving.

And even better – it makes me appreciate a cool breeze, allows us to savor the first deep outside breath of the day on a smokeless morning.

It’s beautiful out today. Breathe it in, and pay attention.

It sure made for a lovely harvest day:

Inside Box 6

• New Potatoes – with the very tender skin that doesn’t need peeling.
• a Cabbage
• Peas – sugar snap or snow. And one of you got a mixed bag. We are coming to the end of pea season.
• Eggplant – either the little ball ones, or an O.G. white one.
• Cucumbers – slicers & picklers. And there’s a white variety of this too.
• Zucchini & Summer Squash
• Red Onions
• Summer Savory herb – will go well with the the potatoes – or it dries easily to enjoy later.

Heat Dome Week!

Really, it’s not been that bad. Because it’s just really hot, not scorching heat combined with wildfire smoke, or on top of a prolonged drought. We’ve been through some of those, so now this isn’t demoralizing.

We hydro-cool our veggies and our selves: wet shorts and hats, trips to the rivers, cooling showers. We plan outdoor efforts around the sun’s power, spend time in the rivers, and do town errands to air-conditioned spaces during sunpeak.

That same abundant solar energy charges our array of batteries by day, so we can run fans on blast throughout the nights. And in the field, Kristin has simply … adapted without having to sacrifice any functional hours from her days. It’s impressive. And sort of scary. I reckon I married well.

Pro Tip From Kristin: “When you weed the corn, you weed in the shade.”

Inside Box 5

• Fresh Garlic – uncured garlic – no papery wrapping, a fleshy wrap instead. still has cloves inside to use. You can let it dry on the counter for later, too.
• Peas – most of the year, we can’t have delicious fresh peas. But today is not then.
• Italian Basil
• Zucchini & Summer Squash
• Cucumbers

• Napa Cabbage – can be eaten raw or sauteeded.
• Curly Kale
• Radishes – It’s been hot, so these are likely extra zippy. If that’s not your thing, they could be cooked into submission.