The Bug Yeller

I know she looks sweet, but she is really quite fierce. Well, not fierce, exactly. Her name is Davita, but she goes by various other names that may not be repeated here. She can be quite loving, but what gets her into trouble is chewing on anything that looks like a string. That includes string, iPod earphones, electrical cords, fringe, sweat pants ties, shoestrings, yarn, and more.

Her role in our little homestead is to yell at bugs. She doesn't really catch them, although if they are slow enough and within reach, she might eat one occasionally. Mostly, she just yells at them in this strange, chatty, broken squeak.

The problem is this: the bugs don't listen.

We still have some flying gnats, although I've trapped and drowned most of them with my apple cider vinegar trap. I expect they'll be gone soon. But now, of course, we have the Asian ladybeetles attempting to invade. In fact, our sliding glass door strip is littered with their dead bodies.

I'm still nursing my pepper plants along in what's left of the garden. Each has at least one pepper growing on it, and a couple of them are soooooo close to being large enough to pick! I've had the kitty litter buckets off of them for the last few days, and as long as the temperatures stay in the 40s-60s range day and night, I'll let them breathe. I'm watching carefully for any impending frosts, and will probably simply cut my losses and pick the peppers before then.

Tonight I chopped up 12 peppers--9 green and 3 gypsy peppers--from last weekend's farmer's market. They're in the small freezer in 1/2-cup packs, and tomorrow I'll put the bags in a larger Ziploc in the chest freezer. I also purchased several herbs at this weekend's farmer's market: parsley, sage, rosemary, and lavender (nobody had thyme, so I can't sing the song). The sage is spinning in the dehydrator as I write this; tomorrow, in will go the lavender. I don't like to dehydrate more than one herb at a time; I want to concentrate their oils and scents rather than mix them. I am, however, looking forward to trying some recipes with lavender, perhaps even some lavender sweet tea. Mmmm.

Gardening Is a Full-Time Job

I can't keep up.

The zucchini were bad enough, and they still keep coming. But OMG, the cucumbers have kicked in now! Here's today's count: 7 zucchini, 11 sun sugar tomatoes, and 20 cucumbers. (I promise I will get you a running total of produce harvested in the next week.)

I'll be out of town for the next couple of days, so I'm hoping that by the time I return, I'll have some of the bigger tomatoes ready. I'm looking forward to a light, summery cucumber-tomato vinaigrette salad! Of course, that means we need a few hot, humid days, and Mother Nature hasn't been truly cooperative in the weather department this summer.

I spent time this evening washing freezer canning jars so I can move my first batch of bread-and-butter pickles into the jars for freezing. Tomorrow, I'll set a few cucumbers aside and turn the rest into a second batch of bread-and-butter pickles. I also diced and froze 10 beautiful peppers I bought at the local farmer's market--6 green peppers, 4 chocolate beauties (although they were picked before they became "chocolate"), and a lilac pepper. I just mixed them all and then separated them into snack-size Ziplocs, 1/2 cup of chopped pepper mix per baggie, and then bagged all those in a gallon-size Ziploc that I labeled and dated.

The okra and sunflowers continue to grow. The cilantro is growing but hidden beneath cucumber vines, as is one of the dill plants; the other has shot up above the cucumber plants. When I return from my trip, I'm going to harvest some of the mint we have growing wild in our yard and play with my dehydrator. I'm not sure what I'll do with a bunch of dehydrated mint, but I'm sure I'll think of something.

The dishwasher has stopped, which means I have clean, sterilized canning jars calling me.