July

July is a month, like February, that you just want to get through -- preferably in one piece.

We're expecting temperatures up near 100 F. this week. I don't even care much about temperature. Just give me the humidity forecast. There is no chance of rain for many days.

My husband was getting in as much of the neglected hay as possible this past weekend. His round baler could not make bales because the hay was too dry. Picking up square bales and putting them in a hay wagon is not something to look forward to in the heat.

I found one lone sunflower out in a field when looking for nearly nonexistent blackberries. Every year has its own unique agricultural yield. This is the first year that blackberries have been scarce on our farm.

Beans, on the other hand, have been extremely prolific. The freezer is full of them and some are in the dehydrator, cut up small, for vegetable soup in the winter.

The wasps are as mad as hornets! I've been bitten twice so far and travel with a can of spray in the cup holder of my UTV. I even had to spray inside the mailbox, as wasps were building a nest inside.

So, I'm up early. The daylight is already full out. I must drag myself down to tend to the animals while I can still breathe. The vegetable garden needs a little bit of water so that it can get through the heat of the day. I can hear the bulls in neighboring fields getting their daily rage out of the way before the heat builds.