Despite rain and mosquitoes, Pepper and I get a lot done in the garden. After checking on what my husband did the day before, we harvest some currants, string-trellis some tomatoes, cook a delicious dinner from volunteer potatoes, and return the next day to continue a new bed.

My husband asked to be picked up yesterday after he was done working, so he could do some trimming and scything in the garden. He did a lot, and I haven’t seen it, so I am gonna go have a look.

Look at that, so much done.

So today’s job will be to get all of that into piles, so I don’t have thorns everywhere, and to figure out where there are vines left that I need to pull. And then this area will hopefully be safe.

I’ve been wearing my sandals a lot in the garden lately because there are thistles and blackberries everywhere, and it’s just not fun. Sure, I can do it, but it’s just not worth the hassle.

So I’ve been wearing my 3-mm sandals a lot lately, and I’d like to go back to being barefoot in the garden because I’ve got a suntan for my sandals, and that’s not supposed to happen.

This part of the garden is mosquito land. After getting stung a dozen times, I let them chase me out of the area.

The mosquitoes are the winners here with all the rain over the past two years–and too few dragonflies.

Standing still turns you into a buffet. So, I danced the do-not-eat-me dance, while I harvested the last of the red currants.

In open areas, I can harvest in semi-peace. I added the last of the black currant to my bowl.

The currant season was almost over with only the white currant left to harvest. But they’d need a few more days. Instead, I added strings to the trellis my husband and I had moved onto the bed.

This old porch swing was a toy to hang from since last summer. Now it gets to serve a purpose here.

The air smelled of another approaching thunderstorm. The birds and insects were already heading home. And I was running very late for the farm store.

A quick rescue mission to get the final few Velvet Queen sunflowers into the ground…

… and a quick Pepper inspection. Then it was time to pack up the dog, and rush to the store.

I’ve just been grocery shopping and I made it just before they closed the farm store.

But I made it, so I’ve got groceries in my box over here . Now I’ve just quickly got to close the greenhouse. And then we’re out of here because it’s already started raining and I’m ready to call it a day.

The first tomatoes were visible. Next to the greenhouse, beautiful weeds were taking over the former owner’s pumpkin patch. But we were here to close up, weren’t we.

At home, I used more of the volunteer potatoes I’d harvested from the garden to make dinner. I really enjoy finding random potatoes whereever I dig. It bodes well for the ones I planted. Let’s hope the Irish beds work against the endless rain.

Most of them are tiny but they are all the more delicious for it. Butter and salt was all I added.

While the potatoes were in the air fryer, I chopped up veggies from a nearby produce farm.

I also had one broccoli left from the store that really needed to be used up. I decided to chop a big bowl of veggies for the next few meals.

I peeled and chopped the broccoli stem and florets. I chopped my way through whatever was in the fridge until the bowl was full. I gave the potatoes a good stir to coat them with the butter.

While I waited for the air fryer to cook dinner for me, I removed the stems from the currants. We only got enough from the black and red currant bushes to eat fresh. We didn’t preserve any of them. Some elderberry syrup and a few hours in the fridge turn these into a delicious desert.

When the potatoes were almost done, I switched to the veggies. Yes, this would be a lot easier with an oven. It’s all good.

Once everything was almost done, I added some feta-like cheese on top.

Dinner and a few meals worth of veggies in the fridge. Success!

Pepper was certain I’d missed some potatoes in the dirt the day before. Or maybe an animal thought so the previous night, and he now smelled the visitor. Who knows.

I definitely did find more potatoes while continuing the bed. Mostly, I found lots and lots of horsetail and grass roots everywhere. There’d be vulnerable seedlings here soon, so I diligently searched the soil.

When the sun came out in full force, I added more sunscreen. Pepper thinks it smells good.

Slowly, I inched my way along the bed. This is still one of my favorite activities in the garden. I know, enjoying weeding is weird. I much prefer it where there is no rhizomatous grass, though.

I’d get the last bit to the path done the next day. I’d promised Pepper carrots after all.

I planted a bunch of peppers earlier. I know I’m very late in the season to do this, but we have very long days in the summer.

A lot of our peppers didn’t do so well, so I’m trying again just to see what happens. Worst case, I’ve wasted a bit of seed.

I had a lot of pepper seeds, so that’s not a problem. I’m just here to quickly water everything, and then we’re gonna head home. I’m meeting some friends tonight. So yeah, let’s get everything watered in.

I watered the greenhouse every few days only now that the plants were larger. The rain barrels behind the greenhouse make this a lot easier.

Even though I take water here regularly, the barrels remain full. They collect well with all the rain. I watered the second side, then placed full watering cans into the greenhouse for storage. I keep preparing for a drought that I am certain will come.

I quickly labeled the peppers (and tried to keep Pepper from eating the paint). The acrylic pens are horrible quality despite the large-name brand. I’ll still use them up to not waste them.

A month later, none of the peppers have sprouted yet. I don’t think there will be peppers this year.

At this point, we have two pepper plants that made it at all. Ah, well. Next year, we’ll have to take better care of our pepper seedlings–and maybe not go hiking…

So long, and thanks for being here.