We are on a roll, as far as catching up on all the stuff we've wanted to fix/build/clean around the place. We got the strawberries covered, and have picked enough berries for desserts several times. The peas have given generously; they will probably be ready to pull out soon and then I want to get some cauliflower planted in time to get a good fall harvest. We are inundated with kale, chard, and collards. Note to self: Next year plant only a third of a bed each, instead of an entire bed of kale and half a bed each of chard and collards! Everytime the chickens see me coming out of the garden now, they run for the yard-- because they know I will be dumping a bunch of greens there for them. At least it's bringing our feed bill down to almost nothing! I need to harvest my cabbages NOW. I'm planning on making several 1/2 gallon jars of sauerkraut, and cabbage left over will be freeze-dried to go into soup or stew this winter. We have been blessed with a slightly cooler summer so far, but I can set the sauerkraut jars into an ice chest with cool water if necessary to make sure the temps stay cool enough for fermentation. The tomatoes are covered with beautiful green globes, the bell peppers are about to bloom, and we have tiny winter and summer squashes and melons forming. With any luck, this may turn out to be a banner year in the garden... BUT... something is chewing on our leaf lettuce. I haven't caught the culprit yet. DH is blaming the squirrels... so I guess I'll mix up some pepper spray and douse the lettuce with it.
I'm planning spaghetti and meatballs for dinner, with Wild Salad (purslane, mallow, pigweed and lambsquarters) and I think I'll add some finely cut kale to the sauce-- anything to use up some more of it. Ice cream for dessert with hopefully some strawberries. DH also found a couple of ripe strawberries on my two Alpine strawberry plants-- so sweet!
It's time to go around the edges and spray the weeds with my vinegar spray again...
I cleaned out the chicken coop and used the litter to build a second compost pile (the first is almost, but not quite, done). I layered the litter with some flattened cardboard I had been saving. I ran out of litter before I ran out of cardboard, so next I will rake up some of the stuff in the chickens' fenced yard (only used when we are gone, to keep them safer) and use that to finish the pile. I made two compost bins using concrete blocks we had around the place, but I think I want to make several more bins. I've located them along the northern exposure of the garden, and if I run them down the entire length of the garden I will have plenty of room to store chips and leaves, as well as providing a heat sink and windbreak for the garden beds- maybe enough to give my plants a few more days at each end of the growing season?
The freeze dryer is doing great in it's new spot- but I need to remember to set a timer to go check it occasionally; it's so quiet now that I forget it's going.
We have made several trips to the local thrift stores with donations of clothes, furniture, kitchen stuff and knick-knacks... It's amazing how much stuff we had that we didn't need! The house is really starting to feel better, and it's easier to clean with less clutter.
It's great to hear how well things are going. 
