Texas Sized Weather

We have been having some unusual weather here the last few days.  When my Dad arrived back on June 17, it began to rain, and it rained for almost a week.  Then just as quick as the rain disappeared, extreme heat showed up, and now we have been experiencing Texas style weather with temperatures climbing up into the 100s for several days.  Thankfully we got the rain before all the hot weather hit, and everything is so green and absolutely beautiful.  With all the sunny days we've been having, the wildflowers have been going crazy, and my garden is literally growing in front of my eyes! 

My kale and broccoli are continuing to grow in spite of the heat.  I thought maybe the heat would do them in, but they must be a heat tolerant variety, as they are adapting to the heat just fine.

This flower bed unfortunately hasn't faired so well.  Annie thinks it is her personal playground, as does our cat, Simba.  The poor plants that have survived the onslaught of these two are doing quite well though!

 A glimpse of the lovely temperatures we've been experiencing around here the last few days!

So because of the extreme temperatures, I set up a fan in the greenhouse to help cool things down a bit.  This has worked really well, and the plants in the greenhouse are doing great.

 A view from the front of the greenhouse looking toward the back.  The squash is about to take over! 

These are tomatoes that I started from seed.  I bought four tomato plants from the local hardware store, and amazingly, my tomato plants started from seed are now putting on tomatoes, right about the same time as the plants I bought that seemed almost full grown from the hardware store.

 I planted the tomatoes next to the greenhouse wall so that I could use string tied to the panels to help hold the tomatoes up, and keep them from overtaking the rest of the garden.

 These are the first two squash that began to develop, and they merged together and formed one squash.  Just a few more days, and this one will be ready for the table!

The squash is absolutely loving this greenhouse! Last year, my squash produced maybe one or two "eatable" squash... quite a different story this year! This greenhouse is really making a difference in the production of veggies!

My peas are coming along great, the pea pods are filling out... and again, it won't be long and we'll be having peas for dinner too!

The chili peppers are eating up this heat, and mass producing too!

My first bounty from the greenhouse garden... some tender, juicy, sweet green peppers, which were fried up as soon as they were picked for our beef fajitas that night!

And I thought I'd leave you with one last picture of our sweet Cosmo hiding out in the front shaded flower bed trying to stay cool through all this heat!  All you could see was his nose sticking out! What a way to beat the heat... hide in Momma's flower bed, and hope she can't find me.... sorry Cosmo... the secret's out now!