The morning the heat dome was to arrive, I harvested two heads of lettuce, and left two of different varieties to go to seed.  A  few more small lettuce plants probably won't make it, but they're in mostly shade, so it will be wait and see.  Indoor chores were accomplished, such as making a batch of ketchup, and starting a batch of glycerite for pain and inflammation.  The ketchup was divided in three, and two containers were frozen.  The herbs, which were valerian leaf and flowers, echinacea leaf and flowers, and catnip, were gathered and mostly dried before making into a glycerite.  I learned of the recipe on Rain Country.  The recipe also contains feverfew, but all of ours has died out over the years.  It was originally planted here to use in a migraine remedy for my ex, and neither of us thankfully has that issue, so we'll try the recipe without it.  The ketchup recipe calls for 1/3 c apple juice.  It's not something we typically drink, so I am freezing it in cubes for the future.  

The morning of the hottest day in the forecast, I cut my walk short, then mulched the newly planted area of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries.  A small flower bed at my shop was mulched, and a large flower bed in front of the shed was watered and mulched.   A large aster was pruned, to keep it from becoming too leggy before fall.  When all that was done, I celebrated the accomplishment by cutting a bouquet for the house, and some gardenias I placed in a bowl, which smell heavenly.  After having my morning smoothie, it was still in the low 80's, so I headed back out to clean the coop.  It's much easier in the warm months, and doesn't take too long.  I gathered sprigs of mint to strew on the floor, and put in their nest boxes.  The chickens are still getting a daily mash, with a mix of frozen squash from '18, chopped greens and banana peels, mulberries, and sometimes a protein, such as chopped peanuts or boiled egg.  The Japanese beetles arrived a couple of weeks ago, and I began handpicking them for the chickens last week.  They will definitely be sufficient protein for the time being.

Thankfully, it never got above 92 on the day they forecast 99, and it didn't reach that until late afternoon.  I ended up spending a good amount of the day outside.  Blackberries, mulberries and lamb's quarter were harvested.  I picked up lots of metal where J had burned some pallets, and added it to the salvage yard barrel.  There's more, but I put a good dent in it.  The first outdoor shower of the year was enjoyed.  The guys were working at an away job, so I had the homestead to myself.  After all that outdoor work, I thought that would be perfect.  As always, it was a lovely thing.  Some more carrots were dug.  The tiny carrots and some of the greens were dehydrated for a soup mix.  The rest of the greens were added to the broth bag.  Swagbucks were redeemed for a $25 gift card.  Water from washing lettuce was used on plants, and warm up water was used to flush.  Some of a bag of honeydew in the freezer from last year was blended for a drink on a hot day.  Three books I'd requested were picked up at the library. 

The usual composting, shredding paper, and collecting rainwater happened.  There are little eggplant, peppers and yellow squash on the plants, and we're about to pick our first cucumber.  On one of the steamy mornings, J dug potatoes, and I gathered them.  We did find some wire worms, collected them in a jar as we went, and fed them to the chickens, who ate them with relish.  Take that!  J had gathered a box full of purslane while weeding recently.  I removed all the large stems, cleaned it up, gathered basil, and made several batches of pesto for the freezer.  Several times during the week, berries and lambs quarter were harvested.  I froze a couple bags of lambs quarter, and the mulberries and blackberries.  We were at the critical point for rain with the wild blackberries, as they were drying up.  Thankfully, we got a good rain, so they are doing well.  Only the Salad Bowl lettuce came up, of the last round I started.  I began a new round of Salad Bowl and two others.  J is holding down the homestead, while I take a short visit to a niece in Asheville.  Wishing you a most Happy Summer Solstice!