During pockets of sunshine between endless rain, I weeded the beds, added edges along some of my beds using materials from the plots, and planted some more seeds.

While there were pockets of sunshine, most days were wet, dark, and gray. The rain would not stop. My husband tried to join me in the garden to learn how to scythe, but the rain forced us into the garden house quickly.

Rainy days meant kitchen days. I even baked a cheese cake.

In my loungewear, I used the last light to braid. Sunset is at 9.45 near the solstice. And it never really gets dark. I don’t set alarms or keep a set bed time. My body decides my schedule. Sunny summer days turn the night into day. Countless thunderstorms turn the day into night.

I continued to fill the potato ditches with cardboard. One of these days, I’ll actually add mulch on top. Seriously, in real time, I’ve at least mulched the beds properly.

The potatoes are looking great. I am excited for the first potato treasure hunt in a few weeks. They’ve had to deal with a lot of wind and rain.

With a thick layer of sun screen and a hat, I weeded and planted.

I was relieved when my neighbor decided he had too much water and I could use two barrels. I used more than a hundred liters of his water to keep my young plants happy during the heat wave.

Slowly, I am digging in boards and branches to make edges for the beds. They’ll help keep the weeds out of the beds until they rot away.

Some of the grass on this plot is rhizomatous and spreads with roots under the ground. Remember how happy I was that that tall grass isn’t rhizomatous grass… well, this is why…

The roots can get very long and dig into beds from the paths. This strawberry bed would need a lot of work. I’ll probably dig up some plants and move them instead.

The grass also grows around where I wanted to resew some bell peppers and chilies. I’d placed cardboard there weeks earlier to smother some of it. But rhizomatous grass is persistent. I removed all the dead grass and cardboard. I’ll hot-compost them before using this anywhere.

Pepper has a hard time grasping where he’s allowed to be. If he’s not actively endangering seedlings, I let him stay.

I planted some herbs that refused to grow on the balcony to give them another chance.

We’ve had really bad luck with peppers this year. Most of the seedlings died surrounding the vacation. Part of the reason for preparing this bed now was to direct-sow some new peppers and chilies. Summer solstice was my last chance to try this, so I made sure to get it done.

The sunflowers were gaining some size, so I added more peas around them. Birds and mice would get most of them but some would sprout.

While the peas were still unsprouted, I used the tool to weed the bed. More mulch is urgently needed to cover these beds. Open ground needs too much weeding.

The tiny bed that lines the central path on one side has some room to spare. I weeded it and lined the edges to ready it for some beets and chard. I’ll throw more beets into the winter bed once the potatoes make room there.

But I’d meant to plant some for weeks, so I seized the chance. The chard is for a neighbor who is a huge fan. I had some aging chard seed left and room to spare.

Unless they are nettles or thistles, weeds stay in the paths. I rip them out or off and drop them.

Once the weeding was done, I planted the seeds. On one side, I planted a short row of two varieties of beets. On the other side, some chard. The box says it’s Fennis but I think the variety is actually called Feurio. I’ll find out if they sprout and show me their pretty red stems.

I labeled the wood I’d dug in as edges. If the wood stays intact long enough, I’ll sand off the labels.

I moved more of my water into storage, and started to wonder if I really had enough. I didn’t know the rains would be back and fill everything more than to the rim. The next day, the neighbor would gift me 400 liters. A few days later, it would start raining again. Diligently, I filled up the storage barrels whenever the collection barrels were full.

I watered in the freshly sewn seeds, and called it a day. Pepper and I were hungry, and so was my husband at home. It was to go home and figure out food.

I filled the watering cans form the greenhouse barrels and placed them inside. I fixed the rubber of the greenhouse door for what feels like the hundredth time, then closed up. I was ready to call it a day. My first successful cheesecake was waiting at home, after all.

So long, and thanks for being here.