July already!

Wow, I can't believe it's July already! I've got almost everything planted in the garden, and my beans, squash, and corn are looking good. I do have a flat of lettuce and a flat of leeks waiting for me, but that's it. I got the peppers in (hot and sweet, several varieties of each), and my 45 tomato plants are thriving as much as they can considering that we've been averaging 3 thunderstorms per week lately, complete with downpours. Rain is good for the garden, but an inch in a few minutes can take its toll. Lots of my plants have holes in their bottom leaves from the violent splashback. I haven't noticed any hail but it's not impossible that we had it.

Last week I was in the grocery store when a thunderstorm rolled through. It rained very hard for about half an hour, and when I got out my car was in an eight-inch deep puddle. I had to wade to it - luckily my pants were easy to roll up, and I was wearing waterproof sandals. Here is a (cell phone) picture of the maelstrom at the drain in the parking lot.







We're sure not lacking for rain this summer!

Last Saturday it was barely misting, so I went to a local strawberry farm and picked 25 pounds of berries. Many went into the freezer, but some will be used for strawberry shortcake, and I'm also going to make some nice strawberry jam. It is a good feeling to have lots of strawberries put away for the winter, and having a taste of summer in February is very pleasant indeed.

I hope that everyone has a wonderful Fourth!! I think I'll be buying my peas this year, since things are behind in my own garden. Thankfully there are lots of farms in central Maine, so I'll just take advantage of what they've grown.