Frogpond Chronicles: First Day of August

Thursday, August 2, 2012

First Day of August

When I got home yesterday, my brain was fried. Our little 4th grade team of three teachers worked from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the language arts benchmark tests for our grade level -- no breaks, no stopping for lunch, NO COFFEE. We stopped for nothing, as one of us had to leave at two, and we were determined to be finished with all six assessments by then. If we hadn't finished, we'd have to come back for another day of fun, which is something that none of us wanted to do. We met that goal and somehow got it all done right on the nose at two. Sort of amazing, actually.

Fuji apple trees are thriving

When I got home, all of Frogpond was waiting for me in the sizzling August heat.

Raspberry seedling

Ripening pear

Infant cucumber

Plums ready for picking

Young blackberry plants are tied up and have finally reached their first guide wire

The orchard garden is doing well -- much better than last year, even though it's still a struggle keeping everything watered through our ghastly summer heat. The tree roots and canopies are transforming our rocky plot along the driveway into a micro-zone suitable for agriculture. Even the cats are finally doing their part, hunting the gophers that can gnaw down half the garden in a few short days.

Shed snake skin

We also have one or more hungry snakes who have moved in and are, I assume, dining on rodents. I've seen one lovely snake in person, so to speak. The other only left his worn-out suit of scales as a calling card. We like our snakes fat and happy!

The first tithonia bloom

The corn/pumpkin/sunflower patch suffers more from the heat than the orchard garden as it's blasted by the sun shining full on it every afternoon. However, it, too, is gamely hanging on. We'll have a few pumpkins this year (at last!) as well as a number of small ears of Indian corn.