August started off like July. Colder than normal, where if it did heat up, the nights were well under 60*. Chilly for the plants. Some thrived well, some didn’t. Eventually we got a week of heat mid month, which helped the harvest later on.
I finally after YEARS got white Burbank blackberries. But they just never got good. I’d say mealy was the best term for them. Not good eats. I will keep up hope though, I really want to master this berry.
Marshmallow in bloom. It doesn’t last long, so I treasure it yearly. The plant got at least 12 feet high this year (yes, it is a water hog). It collapses when the heat ramps up, so 3rd week of August it plopped down for the year.
Taunting me, but nope.
Where as the Boysenberry crop this year was off the charts.
White strawberries.
Catnip in bloom.
Boysenberries.
Rusty the Rooster.
A random lily a squirrel planted for me.
Potatoes straight from the Andes Mountains growing.
One has white flowers.
The other has purple flowers.
An August harvest.
And another nights harvest.
Our Frostline peach tree did amazing this year and we had a huge harvest in mid-August. Very juicy and sweet, but they bruise very easily. Not one to store, they must be eaten quickly.
The Lily opening up.
When a cucumber hides on you. The chickens eat well with these.
Having survived July’s freak windstorm, the giant Sunflowers fought on and started opening. The bees were very happy.
Strawberry Calendula.
Sunflower.
Native Twinberry Honeysuckle, growing in the berry bed.
The pear tree gave over 40 pears this year. That was a great crop for this tree.
Herbs that have spread and spread. I let them grow randomly, as it brings in pollinators.
Right before we harvested the peaches.
The Olympian Fig tree grew a lot this year and put on its best harvest, with over 50 figs.
Baby Kiwi growing.
In late spring the boys and I planted Lupine seeds and 12 plants took. This one was getting ready to open. We gave a couple of them away, and will plant the rest into the berry bed.
Boysenberries ripening.
Grapes slowly growing.
Rusty spends his days with us, when we are working.
August brings the start of the second crop of strawberries, on the ever bearing types.
Moving the strawberry plants into a large cage has really helped with getting a better crop.
The swimming pool bed growing lots of food.
More grapes.
Elderberry ripening. It was also a good crop this year, but I am letting the birds eat them this year. The tree has reached at least 14 feet high.
A harvest every night.
August is the height of tomato picking.
Lupine opening.
Which leads to canning.
I love creating jar after jar of salsa, for the winter.
Peach harvest.
The figs ready to be picked.
As August wound down, the strawberries ripened.
The strawberry cage has filled in nicely.
The dual crop red raspberries are putting on the start of the second crop.
And at the end of the month, the first ripe grapes showed up.
Four videos from August:
And as August wound down, we had a freak day of intense thunder/lightning storms (not very common here), with a lot of rain. The temps in the last days dropped into the low 60’s as well, and low 50’s at night. It rained overnight and is still raining today. An odd way to end a month.
Fruit and berries did great this year. Everything else was hit or miss, due to the cold temps.
I am actually looking forward to fall. We are going to rip out all the fences, turn the beds over for the first time in years, then tarp the beds to kill the weeds. Once the cool weather and shorter days arrive I will be busy getting it ready. I need this I feel, to reset everything.
~Sarah