Not being my favorite time of year, there are a few perks to the hot, dry, shriveled up days of July and August. Like fruit and flowers! The prep, planting and watering finally start paying off. I had zero lettuce sprouts this year, no clue why, but I have sorrel coming out my ears, it’s a perennial that’s very happy where it’s planted; it’s like a very, VERY tart spinach. I have cilantro that I let reseed a few years ago that just happily keeps providing the prefect spice for my bean dip and Mexican dishes with no effort at all on my part! The sunflowers, the seeds still from Mom’s friend, Darlene, are matching the wall I painted this spring – bright and sunny – and more opening every day!

Several years ago I planted gooseberry bushes – silly me thinking the deer wouldn’t eat them because they have serious thorns. Usually by the end of summer, though, the deer are pretty desperate and have stripped them of their leaves. This year two of the bushes produced berries – enough to flavor exactly one bowl of oatmeal, and they did a fine job of making it pretty and tasty!