Seems like the summer just flew by this year. Where I live, there has been an unusually cold summer. All the wonderful European market varieties of vegetables I planted this spring either got hit by hail (twice), or discovered by the possum that even our dog has failed to drive off.
The herbs are doing very well, though, with the exception of the basil, which I planted from seed rather late. Which meant it wasn’t around for the hail.
It just occurred to me yesterday that I’m no longer being offered bags of zucchini or green beans by friends whose gardens were not in the path of the hailstorms that knocked all the blossoms from my own plants. Which means that farmers’ markets are not going to have any green beans or zucchini, most likely. And those markets themselves are going to be over in a few weeks.
The kids and I went to a local orchard and you-pick berry farm last Thursday. It was beautiful and baking hot; probably one of the hottest and most humid days of the summer. A true Dog Day of August. Just the one, though. The next day the temperature dropped and we actually had to get out sweaters and long pants.
But for now, I can continue to have dinner outside on our deck, near our herb garden, watching the kids catch lightening bugs and enjoying the cool of the evening.
