There’s something about August.  I want it to be all about enjoying the last month of summer, of no school, of swimming. I want it to be about never-ending fresh garden tomatoes and basil.

In a sense, it is.  But there’s something else. There’s something in the late afternoon light, and something in the way the garden starts to stretch out and look ragged and ready to give over to the cooler-weather crops. Something in the way the wool starts to look ever so much longer on the sheep than it seems it did just last week. There’s something in those first tendrils of Morning Glories stretching up the porch railings that reminds me to think about getting the canning jars ready and spend the next few weeks putting up the summer’s bounty.

I’m starting to get lots of monster-sized “German Johnson” heirloom tomatoes out of the garden.  The basil looks just awful, and I may have to harvest it out and make pesto a few weeks earlier than usual.

The butternut squash looks great; I’ll probably cut them up and freeze them in cubes for soup. I’m completely over the zucchini, as per usual this time of year. Thankfully, the plant itself has had enough as well.

Egg production has slowed somewhat as the heat has intensified lately.  We also have two broody hens who have stopped laying in an effort to hatch a few, and that’s not helping matters.  I’ve marked two eggs and left them there for them to hacth; whether or not they do only time will tell.

The tomatoes that we are not eating right away are getting slow roasted for sauce. It makes the house smell divine to have these lovelies roasting all day long.  Sometimes I like to throw them on some fresh pasta with a bit of olive oil, some garlic, and some basil.  Fabulous summer dinner!

The jars are patiently awaiting tomatoes and pesto.  If things continue to go well in the hive, some of those honey jars may get filled as well.

As for the milking buckets and milk bottles, I’m about 85% sure I’ll start to look for a rental buck soon to breed the dairy goats. I’m craving fresh goat cheese for the spring.

But that is a concern I will focus on later, because tomorrow I am headed to Virginia Beach with some of my favorite people.

Summer’s not over yet!