Bountiful

Summer's peak has passed but it's still hot and dry.  We are seeing signs of the drought in the trees this year more than any other year we have lived here.  We are also seeing lots of life out enjoying the hot days, and are ourselves enjoying the bounty of the garden produce ripened by the sun and heat.  And we were very happy to finally get a taste of rain again.

This must be the littlest, cutest snake we have ever found here:

Two honeybees and a cucumber beetle on our late-blooming sunflower:

Look at all the pollen on her legs:

One mantis we caught this year was already a mature female.  We were so excited to watch as her abdomen grew bigger than seemed possible, and one day she laid her eggs, a mass called an ootheca.  We will take care of the ootheca over the winter (ie. leave it alone in a safe, dry place outside) and see if we can help some of her next generation get a good head start next year.  You can see the proud mama-mantis ready for release, and the ootheca adhered to the cork on the ceiling.  We have found them in the wild before but this was by far the largest one we have ever seen, perhaps unsurprising since she was so well fed:

Releasing the mama mantis in case she wants to deposit another ootheca somewhere else, as sometimes they will produce more than one:

She has a pretty choice spot here, although she later relocated, we suspect to the dense brush nearby:

Al and Paco oblivious to the lovely sunset:

Grapes are ripe!

So are pears!

A full box picked:

More pickings from that day:

Craig bringing everything back to the house for processing.  I made dried apples, pears and raisins, pie, and some apple sauce.

The clouds were so puffy and thick this day:

This clutch of chicks decided they were done with their baby-coop area, but instead of going into the main coop they would put themselves away on the roof.  We would then scoop them up one by one and relocate them to a safer place for the night.  This went on for a week or so before they figured it out:

Another mantis:

And another:

Pickles!  I made very tasty pickles this year:

And dilly beans which were garlicky but not very spicy.  I'll aim for more spice next year:

It was a long time before we started getting ripe tomatoes this year, but they did come:

All sorts of tasty stuff:

I was so thrilled with the kale we grew this year.  I would fry it up (in this case, with a lot of garlic) and it was so tender and tasty compared to what we usually get from the store.  Next year I think we'll grow more kale:

Craig found a rather large hive of bald faced hornets:

Summer squashes and fresh basil were another favorite:

We don't usually get sunsets like this until summer is waning:

We love zucchini but this was the first year we discovered that the flowers are also delicious.  I would fry them stuffed with cheese:

The green grapes were really sweet this year.

Swiss chard is another tasty veggie we will grow more of next year:

A very delicious rainbow: