Hot, Dry and Struggling

Red cabbage, still tiny.
Early Jersey Wakefield, a strange cone shape distinguishes this variety. As you can see the Cabbage Looper has already visited for a few snack bites.
Boothby heirloom cukes are ready, too bad I wasn't ready with the hortonova trellis!
Dill and cukes go hand in hand for pickles. These are particularly huge heads.
Rosalind broccoli was to be the star of the share bag this week. What a disappointment to realize they had "buttoned". This phenomena occurs when temperatures spike for several days, along with uneven water. The heads remain button size and sometimes leaves grow up through the head. Aaargh!
Solar power electric fence charger runs poultry netting to keep out predators.
Ahh, farming is really hard on shoes. SHOE-GOO to the rescue! The whole side had come apart but a few dollars and 24 hours will get another 6 months out of this pair.

We have not had rain for weeks. BAD. Thursday we put a few hundred peppers in the ground and 4 varieties of okra. Yea I know, way late. Celeraic, rutabaga and turnips were seeded in flats for fall root crops. Summer squash and beans are on the way. Work, gotta plant everyday. The temps have been in the 90's last few and I sure feel wilty.

A load of stone was delivered for the new outside post harvest wash area. No more mud holes!
Early Freezer peas are in shares this week. They are short vined, prolific and tasty.
A chicken was killed while we were out for a few hours, this being the second loss. The attacker left only feathers. I put up electric poultry netting but the birds feathers act as insulators. They need to grow larger to keep from slipping through the net.
Last week at market for radishes. Their bed has already been replanted to salad mix.
Garlic scapes, which at 50 cents each, folks complained were too costly! Let them bend over in 93 degree weather and clip each one.

Emily washing and bunching radishes.
War on weeds, part 1! Black groundcloth to suppress tenacious Canadian Thistle. We are over run with these horrors in one section of our plot. Thick rye cover crop did not make a dent in this enemy. I am hoping groundcloth will kill the intruder. Any suggestions? one week after this photo the uncovered chopped rye on the right is a living thistle carpet!