So How Hot Is It?

It's hot here! It's so hot here! I don't remember the last summer it was this hot...and it's only June. What will the temp be in August!? So, if you don't live here in Florida you now have the picture that, yes, it's really hot but, truthfully, how hot is it? It's so hot that my beehive is actually melting off the tree. It's been an interesting week in my backyard. My beehive hangs underneath a great big branch at the top of a big oak tree, and this week pieces of it area actually falling off the tree because the wax is softening due to the heat. Now the bees I'm sure are very unhappy about this but they continue to be quite docile. They even let me take the fallen pieces of hive to harvest for honey and beeswax.

From this -

To this -

Pretty cool! It took a lot of work to do this (and now I have another even bigger piece to work on) but it was such a neat experience. I waited two days for most of the honey to drip out of the honeycomb and then I melted down the wax and filtered it through a paper towel to remove all the impurities. I'm sure with proper equipment, etc., it would be much easier, but I had fun with it. I'm thinking I would enjoy being a beekeeper...but I probably don't have the time for that!

Poor little bees

your home is falling at the eaves

but can you move over please

so I can harvest what I sees?

In the Eye of the Beholder

Yes, this is my current garden. It's gotten so big that it's actually getting hard to see out the kitchen window. What a wonderful surprise! Speaking of surprises...

This is my most recent harvest of peppers and tomatoes. I thought it was really the most beautiful shades of red, orange, and yellow - like a little fruit rainbow. It's too bad I didn't have a purple eggplant in there to really make it pop! The big tomato on the right was as big as my hand - definitely the biggest I've ever grown.

I guess I owe some thanks to Mr. Edward C. Smith, author of Incredible Vegetables from Self-Watering Containers, for all that I learned this year, and to Gardener's Supply Company (the great online company that provided most of my supplies) for such a fantastic garden...and of course I always think of our great Creator from which all life in nature flows. Wow! He has made everything beautiful in its time. I may be the caretaker but He is certainly the Creator. I continually stand amazed!

In the wonder of it all

I find a calming sense of peace

Of all that is created

In my little garden space!

Lunch Anyone?

I was so excited to make a sandwich from my very own veggies and herbs. This is from a recipe I posted about a month or two ago. It consists of eggplant (from my backyard) and basil (lemon basil in my case - yes, from my own backyard). Now I didn't make my own feta cheese or make the mayo from scratch. So I guess if I really wanted to go crazy I could have baked my own bread and grown my own garlic to mix in with my own homemade mayo! Then I could have really been ecstatic (Forget making my own feta cheese. That would just be over the top now wouldn't it?).

However, I was quite proud of my little sandwich. It made a very good lunch and I was happy to have it. I really thought about adding some tomato to it but thought I would try the recipe as written the first time. Next time I'm going to add the tomato and some sea salt to make it even better. There's rarely a recipe that I don't tweak in some form or fashion. Over the years I believe I've truly developed a love for food. It has a creative vein in it that I enjoy. You can always explore, test, and create with food! Yes, it can be a chore if I'm tired or extra busy, but when it's a chosen activity, I find it most enjoyable. The garden is certainly a big part of that whole world of food. From the Earth, tended and cared for, and then to the table. Again, I never cease to be amazed by the turning of the seasons before my eyes. Oh, I know, I'm waxing nostalgic. I can actually hear Elton John singing Circle of Life in my head just now...

Lord above and us below

from springtime buds to hint of snow

multi seasons present and past

sometimes the world seems oh so vast

and yet here in my quite small world

a peace and awe amidst the whirl

Look at the Size of that Thing!

This was one massive tomato! I'm so happy about my garden this year. I have to say that I'm a firm believer in mixing one's own soil. I really believe that is why the garden has done phenomenally better this year than in previous years. I was careful to follow the soil "recipe" for proper nutrients and here are the results. My garden has had less pest problems and that fungus that was trying to take hold has been vanquished. My plants are bigger than me and the produce is amazing. Of course there's always room for improvement - my chamomile and dill will vouch for that. It seems that I'm having the most trouble with "wispy-type" plants. I think there is some small bug or some kind of disease that has been plaguing them this year. I went out and bought another dill plant but it's coming down with what the other one had, so I think I'm going to put my energy into planting some sweet potato slips and maybe root some tomato suckers for more plants/tomatoes in the fall. This is the time in the garden I work so hard for. The produce is rolling in and the only real work I do is make sure they have water (and of course daily checks for any upcoming problems). You go garden!

I'm so very happy

looking at my plants

They're not very sappy

and they resist the ants