Last of the Spring Produce

As we near the longest day of the year here in our corner of the Northern Hemisphere, we are also having our 37^th day over 100 degrees F (only three and a half more months of this!). It’s time to hide, hibernate, or go somewhere else, until conditions improve. At least that’s the survival strategy of the desert flora and fauna.

Another useful adaptation: carry your own water. (source)

There’s not much wildlife activity except nighttime rustlings and the irrepressible notes of the mockingbird. The desert plants have lost their leaves and will simply endure as they’ve evolved to do.

At the other end of the gardening spectrum, our precious vegetables will require some support from me. This will mainly take the form of water, shade, and pest control. The tomato plants are in suspended animation – not dead, not growing – and if I can somehow keep them alive until October we may get another flush of flowers and fruit for winter salads. The squash have temporarily given up sprouting plate-sized leaves, but are still producing flowers at the rate of approximately 750 males to every female.

The grapes started to ripen all at once, and I harvested all of them, including the unripe ones, to make sure the dogs didn’t get into them. (No grapes for dogs! They can be toxic!) I tossed the greenest ones over the fence for the birds, and ripened the rest on our kitchen counter.

Very nice color. Variety unknown.

It was A LOT of grapes.

 I should have weighed them, but I didn’t think of it at the time.

We ate about half, until we were tired of picking the tiny stems off. The rest I put through the juicer and we had two quarts of very sweet, delicious grape juice.

That will be it for home grown veggies, other than the rare squash, until mid-Fall. Fortunately we’ll have the herbs going for a while, and can console ourselves with herb breads, pesto, fresh leaves in salad dressings, and anything else we can think of.

How are your gardens growing?

Katrina