Dry, dry, dry! This week has been beyond dry to parched! When I tell you we have had two days above 102 in the past 10 days, it is easy to understand why we are so dry! The grass is brittle and the ground is cracked. The Earth is praying for rain and so am I!

On the homestead, the search for hay goes on. I got my alfalfa hay ordered and paid for but we are still in pursuit of more grass hay! We moved the goats to a nice shady spot with a couple of trees and bushes. It is to help them beat the heat this week. As the pasture grass dries out and loses nutrients I have started to feed my leftover alfalfa hay from last year at night just to keep my girl’s protein up. Making milk takes a lot of protein, calcium, and phosphorus!

We also finished our chicken tractor renovation into a mobile layer chicken coop. We still need to add wheels but the new layer chicks have moved in permanently and they're loving it. The first night we had to put eight chicks on the roost and the second night only one. With no adult chickens in the mix, we had to teach a few the best way to protect themselves from predators that could maybe reach under the coop. For additional production we also have the mobile coop surrounded by electric poultry net.

In the garden, with the heat I am watering every morning. The tomatoes are loving it though, I notice we have a few tomatoes and peppers appearing. Time to start pruning them for sure! I am a little behind. I did start a few direct seeded fall plants around the broccoli, like beets and spinach. The broccoli heads are just starting to develop so they should be done and pulled in time for the new plants to take over the bed. The cosmos and zinnias I directly seeded last week have germinated. I can't wait for them to grow and flower. The onions too, are looking amazing. I have never been successful at growing onions from seed before and this year I did it!

In the kitchen, I am starting to get prepared for the harvest that is just around the corner. I'm researching some ideas for preserving potatoes and onions! I usually store my potatoes in a box in the root cellar, but I am thinking with this bumper crop we might can some potatoes to make soups this winter quick and easy. As for onions, I have never had so many! So, I am researching drying methods to help them last the whole winter and braiding methods so I can store them beautifully in the root cellar!

Lord God, I thank you for the family you've given me. I thank you for the time that I've had, this and last week to spend with them. I also pray for rain. I know it's not going to bring a bigger crop of hay but I do pray that we do get a little bit of rain to get some relief from the heat and revive the pastures a little. In your name, Jesus Christ, I pray amen.

Pray, Just Plant