July 2012 Homesteading and Gardening

[blue gecko]

With so many people dealing with drought conditions this will be an interesting month.

There have been some pop up storms here but we haven't had the blessing of rain. Max was looking at raindances this morning...I'd LOL but he's quite serious. The sound of drumming may be in our near future. We did some traveling yesterday and our area is definitely the worst hit that we saw. It looks like fall with all the brown leaves and dying trees. I guess there will be a lot of firewood available...

In spite of the heat the main garden is hanging in there. The mulch and shade cloth has been a big help for the more tender things. We've moved our focus to vegetables that can take the heat and they are all doing quite well. The lower garden is showing signs of stress in-spite of watering. Leaves are dropping from the berry bushes, grape leaves are browning from sun scald and the fruit trees wilt with the heat then perk up when it cools. We deep water when possible and are looking at other tactics to improve that process.

Some of the shrubs around the house are probably not going to make it. Their leaves are curled up and crisp. The River Birch and shedding their leaves and the ground around them is covered. Its very sad to see.

We watch the news of the fires in Colorado and know that it can happen here just as easily. There have been some fires in the area and everyone keeps their nose in the wind smelling for any hint of smoke. Everyone is on edge about the situation.

On our trip yesterday we saw acres and acres of brown fields. Hay fields that are not making a second cutting. Cattle with very little to eat. The rivers are drying up and there's very little flow. There were pools of water here and there but that's about it.