Hot Hot Heat

Hi everyone!  Wow, it's hot!  34 degrees C on the deck today at 7 pm!  As we're off-grid, water is one of the basic needs for which we had to implement a backup plan last year.  Remember the well we had drilled?  We might need it soon!  I took Molly up the hill the other day to check out the creek that supplies our water, and this is what we found:



As you can see, the creek bed is bone dry.  We walked further up to the source of our household water, and luckily the pool that Paul moved it to last year is quite deep, but still, the intake is only just covered.  The forecast says 10-15 mms of rain tomorrow, so here's hoping they're right.

The garden seems to be surviving, despite the lack of rainfall.  I've had the sprinkler on sporadically, but as our own water supply is dwindling, I don't want to lavish too much on the veggie patch!  Here's an interim crop report, in pictures of course!



Pole beans, with zucchini in the background.



Proof that we can grow our own food!  A baby zucchini making an appearance. :)



My little field of corn, basking in the sun.



I planted 3 different kinds of onions: white, yellow and red ... I know I have some white and red coming up, but what happened to the yellow?!



Tomatoes, and in the back, carrots and peas.  You can see how dry the soil is in this picture ... and this was after a watering!



Of course, we have potatoes.  These are Chieftains, and we have Russetts in the other bed.



This is a spinach plant that has been allowed to go to seed.  Cut down the whole plant, dry it, then store the dry seeds in a cool, dry place.  Because this plant was grown from non-GMO seed, it produces viable seeds that can be planted next year.  We got these seeds from Mountain Valley Seeds in Utah, but Halifax Seed sells non-GMO and organic seeds, right here in Nova Scotia!

I bet you're bored with all these vegetable pics!  How about some flowers?



Roses are doing very well this year.



As usual, we have thousands of bees!  This one is having a good time on the borage flower.



And this guy is loving the mallow flower.

I'm glad to see, even in this crazy heat, there is no shortage of bees, birds and butterflies.

We're ridiculously busy here at Willow Retreat, preparing for our upcoming medieval faire, Avalon Gathering.  Signs are being painted, campsites are being cleared and costumes are being made.  I'm pretty sure I won't have time to blog until after it's done, but I'll be sure to take lots of pictures for a later post!

Until then, here's another pic of Molly (which I know is what most of you tune in for) enjoying the summer!