Hot, hot, hot

The patio at Township Road Farm

July

July was a great month, hot but great. I don’t know if it was record setting. It felt as if it was over 100 every day, I know it wasn’t but it sure felt like it. One day it reached 111, that is hot. The plants don’t like that much heat and neither Junior or I do. We start working a little before sunrise and work outside till early afternoon. We then come inside and do inside chores, catching up on all the things we have been putting off all year.

The heat almost makes me happy that we didn’t have any fruit this year. If we had had fruit this year, we would have been out picking in the cool of the morning and doing our other chores in the afternoon. When we have fruit, I typically work outside until 3:30 or 4 then call it a day. Most years I am weeding in the heat of the afternoon. Neither the weeds nor I enjoy it. Me, because it is hot and I’m a fat old guy. The plants because they are heat stressed when pulled or hoed out of the ground. When I weed in the afternoon, almost all of the weeds die right away, the heat dries them out and they die. When I weed in the cool of the morning some of the weeds will re-root before they dry out, and I have to hoe them again.

July was great for many reasons, it is summer and summer is always wonderful. We had friends from Colorado stop in and visit for several days. We saw sights in the morning and visited and played games in the afternoon and evenings. It was wonderful having them stay with us even for a short time.

 Next, we recorded a pod cast with Talk’n Dirt. The pod caster has spent the summer traveling the country interviewing people in agriculture, farmers, ranchers, orchardists, vintners, people who ag. He is talking with them and having them tell their stories. We spent several hours visiting, talking about what and why we are doing what we do.

Next, we made our foray into hosting a food event, Brunch on a Bench. It was a time enjoy one of the many benches around the orchard, listen to the birds, visit with friends and enjoy breakfast pastries featuring produce from the farm. We had aronia berry Danish, black currant scones, elderberry short bread bars, haskap coffee cake, and savory egg and potato hand pies. They were all made by our daughter Julie, who is a wonderful baker.

Our last exciting July thing, we had our annual field day. It was hot, over 100 and the turnout was smaller than last year. I can’t say as I can blame people for choosing a cooler activity. As Christie said, if we weren’t hosting it she wouldn’t have been here either. Once again, we had pulled pork, salads and as always ice cream made with fruit from the orchard. This year we had several including sea berry. Sea berries have a citrus taste from tangerine to other citrus to I can’t describe, these are a supper fruit full of all those things that are good for you. Thank you to all of you who braved the heat for both of our get togethers. We truly enjoy visiting with every one that takes the time to attend our events.

Yes, July is a great month, everything is green and full of life. Looking forward to August, we will be hosting a pickle making, jelly making and pressure canning workshops.

August is the time for canning not September. In August, gardens are producing as much as they are going too, this is the time to be looking for produce to put up. Don’t wait until September when most all of the plants are winding down, they are either worn out or the nights are getting to cool.

This is our 23rd harvest here in Montana and every one of them has been wonderful, even when is not what we expected. As we all know next year is going to be great. Enjoy September as much as we are going to.