Summer heat and the first signs of fall

Summer heat still is a challenge, limiting my garden work to mornings only, all the while surrounded by a cloud of hungry mosquitoes. that's where long pants and sleeves come handy.

Tomatoes: those over 100 degree days have negatively impacted my crop. I went from having enough to share and dry to barely keeping up with family needs. Mid Summer temps are just too high and, in essence, block the whole pollination process. It should resume soon even though daylight will also be much shorter. You can already tell: no more going to walk at 5:30; it's still dark.

Rain: we have been luckier than those poor farmers in the Mid-West with fairly regular rains. Water is life; w/o it life become rough. I do not complain, having lived in places where drinking water was trucked in and I sure appreciate every drop of rain but while some of us have seen plenty, my corner of the woods has not received the one inch a week considered minimum to keep crops healthy around here.

And sometimes, even what you wish can have a down side. A few days ago we had a misty day and lots of my figs (a fruit that loves water near the roots but not on the fruit) just exploded from the moisture, opening a feeding frenzy among my bees, wasps and big green beetles. Messy! Not to mention that picking good fruit surrounded by so many stingers forces you to major caution.

Figs: in spite of that incident and some bird thievery, figs have come in very nicely. What I do not eat fresh, or share, I put through the dehydrator.

Sliced in half, ready to go in!

Butterflies: have been a more common sight, finally even though the numbers still have not reached what we used to have just a few years ago.
This one tried to sneak into one of my hives while the bees were doing their afternoon orientation dance. No luck, the guards were paying attention and I saw it stumbling down onto the wood chips. It tried several times with the same failing results. I am sure that honey smelled awful nice from its viewpoint.

Other butterflies just preferred flowers:

Da banana jungle: 

Bee killer: this dragon fly not only grabbed one of my bees for lunch but it landed on my office window first to remind me who the boss is around here. It's not just in the Godfather any more!