Post Independence Day IDC

And it's HOT!

This was snapped a few minutes ago.  See, I told you it is hot.  And this thermometer is on the east side of the house in the shade of the front porch!

Our citronella candles on the sconces on the deck reached critical mass!

Unfortunately, leaving a huge mess on the deck.
But some things are taking the heat right in stride:

The basil in the herb spiral is thriving

As are the daylilies. I just wish I was as tough as them.  The heat really sucks the life out of me!
It is that time of the week where I usually do my Independence Days update- seeing how I'm doing on achieving more independence in food production and food security.  With the weather the way it is going this year, food security may be more important than usual as I'm guessing that food prices will be going up as the dry weather continues and the corn crop withers.
Plant something- I planted four kinds of fall cabbage, cauliflower and fennel.  I STILL haven't planted my blackberries or my plum tree.  It has just been too hot to dig holes in the ground.  But that is on tap for tomorrow morning. Maybe tonight I'll pre-water the spots where we are going to plant so the digging is a bit easier tomorrow morning.  The soil out there is rock hard!
Harvest something- eggs, broccoli, onions, kale (for the chickens mostly- it's too strong for me!), peppers, a few herbs, zucchini and... behold:

The first of the potatoes! These are the pink ones- Mountain Rose? I think.   We'll have these for dinner this evening!  I'm excited!! For as dry as it has been there are some nice sized potatoes there.  I'll have to get some more when it isn't so hot that the ground is burning my knees.
Preserve something- froze much corn on Tuesday.  Pulled about half of the onions in the garden and they are now hung in the shop, drying. I need to get the rest out of the ground soon since they are done growing.  Of course, they seem to be drying nicely in the garden- if they don't cook first!
Waste not- the usual: recycled, composted, scraps to chickens.  We repurposed the old deck/porch from the now non-existent North door to in front of one of the barn doors.  It is a huge step up into the barn and the old wooden platform/step that had been there (an old pallet) had long since disintegrated.  It is so much easier now to get into the barn without fear of breaking a leg.
Want not- got discounted blackberry bushes and the plum tree in garden center clearance sales.  We will get these into the ground tomorrow and hopefully they will someday provide us with food.  We also picked up some frozen shrimp at the grocery store.  They were having a meat and seafood sale and shrimp is something we can't really raise ourselves or get locally but it is awfully tasty in jambalaya!
Eat the food- Made lemon curd and homemade ice cream using eggs.

I used some of the lemon curd as the base for a fresh fruit tart.   Mmm......  We also had sauteed peppers and onions with our burritos for dinner and Justine and I had sauteed zucchini and onion for lunch- YUM! Steamed broccoli along with our grilled steak (from our half cow) for dinner last night.  We're eating well!
Build community food systems- Corn from the market!  Eggs went to work and home with some of Justine's friends last weekend.
Skill up- not much.  I really need to figure out a new skill to work on.

That's about it for this week.  The garden is starting to produce, the tomatoes are still green but are getting bigger.  I'm sure that there haven't been any new tomatoes setting on this week since it's been so hot.  At least there are already quite a few out there. I can't wait!