Last night, as we slept, rain fell from the sky. Not a lot, but it did wet the pavement, and there were a few puddles. This will save whatever plant life is on the verge of perishing. When we went out for our walk this morning, a few areas in the yards had a green tinge, but most of the grass remains brown and very dead.
It is cloudy this morning, so we are hoping for more rain!!!
Yesterday we made four litres of pizza sauce, and one 500 ml jar of pizza sauce. That is the yield from a half bushel of tomatoes, and a day of work in the kitchen. It is very nice pizza sauce!
Today I am baking hamburger buns, baking a double batch of chocolate zucchini muffins, and processing Kombucha. Then I will be canning again, this time pickled cayenne peppers and carrots. There are no tested recipes for pickled carrots, I take the chance on them, it is a level of risk I am willing to take.
Attila does not have to water the garden today!!
Worldly
Weather
19°C
Date: 11:00 AM EDT Wednesday 20 August 2025
Condition: Mostly Cloudy
Pressure: 101.8 kPa
Tendency: Rising
Temperature: 18.8°C
Dew point: 14.8°C
Humidity: 78%
Wind: E 20 km/h
Visibility: 24 km
Quote
“Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It’s unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don’t have to try.”
Peggy Noonan
1950 –
Might be true for some, armchair activists come to mind, but definitely not a universal truth.
I have been a cynic since before I acquired language, and I’ve always tried, and I continue to try, and that represents many many decades of action inspired by cynicism. It is my observation that the “rainbow and unicorn” people, and the privileged at the top of the human pecking order, are the ones who have given up on the diversity and wonder of life.
I’m glad you got some rain! Let us know how the pickled carrots taste (when you get around to eating them).
Thanks Joan! It is inspiring Attila to plant some more beets.
The carrots taste a slight hint of carrot, and mostly hot peppers, which Attila likes. Attila says that when you purchase commercially canned jalapeno peppers from Mexico, they always have slices of carrots in them, which taste about the same, just a different pepper. We use cayenne pepper, the Mexican product uses jalapeno peppers.
I messaged the lady who planted our front garden about our female holly that is looking poorly. She thinks it’s stressed from the drought (Yes, I knew that.) and she thinks it will recover. I hope so, but it has such a huge number of berries on it that I’m not so sure it will.
Teri, I hope our holly survives and thrives in the future. One dry summer I took to washing my dishes in a dishpan, and emptying that on the plants outside. I also saved bathwater and loaded it into a bucket to water the outdoor plants. Pretty extreme behaviour. I with that humans would turn their attention to retaining used grey water for use in situ, we are smart enough to develop the appropriate technology.
I don’t know, Maggie. The idea of using grey water on plants makes me uneasy. With grey water from dishes, it’s so easy for detergents and soaps to harm the plants. And with as much as you folks love hot peppers and even can them, I’d be concerned about capsicum in the grey water harming your plants.
Teri, using grey water directly is not ideal, but since they were perishing in drought conditions we gave it go. It saved them. Our biggest concern was fats in the dishwater, not so much in the bath water. Some kind of filtering system could render the grey water acceptable, but that has not been developed. However, if we continue to experience severe drought conditions every summer, we will be looking into technology to render grey water acceptable for watering plants. Some people use ponds, something to explore is necessary. Earthships reuse grey water very successfully.
One season of severe drought however will not inspire us to devote a lot of time to using grey water safely.
Capsicum might be a concern with particular garden plants, if it were in grey water. It could stunt growth. Our take in severe drought is better stunted than dead.
Try searching on “waste water treatment lagoons” for further info on how they’re created and used. I was searching and found this term last week because of water issues where we live. Apparently it’s a standard, well-known term.
Thanks Teri, waste water lagoons have been in use for a vey long time. They are a good technology, good for communities.
I would be looking for something applicable to a single household, that would process our own grey water in situ, for garden use.