Farm report

After a parched spring, we are now having a summer of monsoons. I think I carried some rain back from Ohio when I visited. (Although I didn't bring it so much as spread it around; in Ohio they are still underwater.)

Everything is exuberant. Even though we still haven't put up the deer fence, the deer have stopped bothering the garden so much because it's no longer an oasis in the desert. Mowing is merely a stopgap measure to keep the weeds from strangling us in our sleep.

The marigolds and lantanas are going crazy with eye-popping yellows and oranges. Tree-wise, the mimosas have finished blooming and the crepe myrtles have begun their several-month-long stand. Our hanging baskets are full of begonias and petunias. The elephant ears are starting to become as large as their name would imply.

In the garden, the chard has recovered fully from being eaten by deer, the squashes and eggplants are blooming (with giant bees buzzing in the blossoms), cabbages are ripe and are being made into slaw, the corn is knee-high, and I have just harvested my first Lemon Boy tomato. It is delicious.