the bounties of July

July has a way of embarrassing one with its generosity. There's almost too much to take in.
This month we've been focusing our energies on bringing the driveway garden out of its jungle state (despite the ridiculous insects that plague every living thing here this year.)

Making use of much of the felled pine by renting an industrial strength chipper shredder to make wood mulch,

Jerome honing his chain saw skills, Phil standing by with encouragement

Jerome walking miles and miles with the walk behind mower to collect grass clippings we would normally mulch with the riding mower, and rearranging several beautiful perennials as we go, it is about 75% complete. What was once just a vision in my imagination is becoming a reality, with everyone's help. There was absolutely no way I could have tackled this on my own.
Photos of the finished bed to be shared in time.
Our fruits and vegetables are coming on strong and our broody hens are finally getting back to the outdoors after a long "vacation." Our menus include much that is as local as it can be and we're loving it.
As July moves closer to slipping off the calendar I try to take mental snapshots of her bounty since I'm too disorganized to take many actual photos.

The meadow and roadsides are exuberant and never fail to take my breath away. All we have to do is stand back and let Nature do her thing, always trying to do no harm. This is how she thanks us.
And so together, our family and Mother Nature, we are making this little bit of the Earth our home.