Dispatch From The Hinterlands.

Out on our walk in the boonies, we happened past an old baby buggy with a little dog inside. The dog popped up a minute later, following us, and then a woman appeared. She's living back there, I guess, and she probably burned up the missing firewood that I wanted.

I'm going to pick tomatoes this morning, before it gets too hot. They are doing well, but I have a hard time estimating the size of the crop. I would like to equal last year's massive crop (which I'm still eating), but I'll settle for 36 quarts. I know I'll have lots of butternut squash. There are already some large ones turning golden brown, but I'll still wait until first frost to pick the squash.

In a few days, when it cools down, I'll start another batch of hard cider. The optimum fermenting temperature is 65F, and even if I wait for cooler weather, it will be more like 85F.

End of Summer

I'm picking Roma tomatoes and the Butternut squash is turning from mottled green to golden brown. We're still having 100F days, with cooler weather by Tuesday.



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