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it's gone from the 70's to 100+ in a week, and the poor garden is struggling. almost everyone i know has a late blooming garden this year because of the cool temps in may and june. now that the fruit is just starting to set, it's blazing. my pineapple mint plant literally fried in the sun. the fig saplings are showing signs of heat damage, and the tomatoes are confused. the squash plants seem to love the heat, though, especially the zucchini. we still have lettuce growing, though i think that won't be for long. i'm looking forward to the coming "cooler" week with temps in the low 90's. in the meantime, water water water.
romeo had surgery on thursday. i made the long trek to westlake, to dr. martin's hospital, where he removed all the scar tissue from his feet and stitched up the skin. he did remarkably well and even tried to bound out of his kennel to join the hens when we got home. alas, he will be off the ground and in a cage for a few days until the wounds heal a bit. his stitches will come out in 2 or 3 weeks, and i'm hoping that spells the end of romeo's bumblefoot battle.
three and a half of the sheep are sheared. becky, sarah and jacob were all good sports and cooperated nicely. we set up the stancion near the sheep shed, so it would be easier to coral them, as they don't come willingly to be sheared. the only problem child was scooter. he's the boss and is clearly used to throwing his weight around (he is rather huge). he buckled his legs while his head was in the stand and seemed like he couldn't stand up. james and i frantically tried to upright him, but couldn't. when we freed his head, he stood up perfectly and jumped off the stancion. the second time he did this, we realized it wasn't an accident. the third time, we decided to call it a day. his body is mostly sheared, but his head and neck are still wooly. skittle and isaac still need to be sheared, but fortunately don't seem more bothered by the heat than the others.
we donated a truckbed full of compost to a master gardener-fried, salvatore, who has volunteered to build a garden for the westminister school in venice. he came early this morning with a rented truck, and was thrilled to see that the compost was ready for planting -moist and rich. james loaded him up with the skid steer and we sent him on his way with a couple of dozen eggs. i'm happy to have met someone who has such a vast knowledge of growing food and i hope to benefit from his expertise as i learn more about gardening.
quyen came by later in the morning for some eggs with her neighbor, hilda. hilda grew up on a farm in mexico and keeps bantam chickens in her backyard. quyen brought some heirloom tomatoes from her garden, and left with lettuce and zucchini from ours. i'm thinking of starting a small co-op next year with my gardener neighbors, so we can all grow a couple of crops for the group and can focus our gardens on what grows best.
