Greetings from under a tree

Hello friends!

Greetings from under a tree. It’s too hot to be outside, but too cold for my overheated body in the AC; the shade will have to do.

This week brings sweltering temperatures, but we’re prepared. Dad sets the start time to 6 a.m. instead of 7, and we get everything finished in safe(r) temperatures before we hibernate through the afternoon heat. Dad doesn’t stop, because he’s the full-time farmer and business owner, and also building a new house on the farm. He’s doing a stellar job with basement tiling and helping mom with whatever she asks.

Even though I’m 22 I still get to say I kind of miss my mom. I hardly see her with everything she’s doing on the new house. After painting, she’s now staining and varnishing all of the woodwork and also starting to pack and move things from one building to the next. They are both very excited, and I am proud to be their daughter and be able to see them accomplish this.

In other farm news, we tackled the weeds in the onion patch, and now they’re a breeze to find. Previous years had us searching through weeds because the rain kept it too muddy to work. The tomatoes and cucumbers are coming along nicely and will be ready soon! Anna and I had a few cherry tomatoes yesterday while picking zucchini. They were delicious, and I’m afraid there were just enough for the two of us so far :). The herbs are doing well too! If you love herbs and would like more, I can make requested items available at market. We have about five types of basil, rosemary, sage, parsley, thyme and a few others.

Today for lunch I mixed thyme leaves into sour cream and loaded it onto a hot baked potato. It was refreshing. You can do this with almost any of the herbs, actually. I’ve also tried red basil, chives, and parsley this way. (Idea credit goes to Rikki Heldt, quick meal mastermind.) Sunday we had German potato salad — yum. I made a double batch, and it was perfect for six people with leftovers. Use our bacon of course! Call dad to order 712-490-8218. 🙂

That’s all for now. After tying up the rest of the tomatoes with Anna this afternoon, I might have to scrounge around for an old sprinkler to run through.

Stay cool,

Madeline Wesselius