Timing is everything. I have a well at my big garden but no electricity. Therefore, I use a propane-powered generator to pump the water for irrigation. As you can imagine, this summer’s heat and drought put a huge strain on said generator. It finally gave up the ghost the day before it rained this past Monday. I am at the decision making stage at this point but at least I have not needed to haul water for a few days. Honestly, it’s always something. If it can happen, it will.

A few years ago I made a failed attempt to grow cotton. It wasn’t a complete failure; I got plants from a January seeding which actually produced a beautiful flower. The season changed and we had a frost before any bols were formed.

At any rate, in typical cart-before-the-horse fashion, I decided that same year to grow some dye plants for the aforementioned cotton crop. I started a package of woad seeds obtained from the back pages of the Johnny’s Seed catalogue. It came right up and I never bothered thinning it or tending to it. Now, years later, I have the plant all over the place. I do not mind; it has a beautiful, airy yellow mass of flowers in the spring and attractive blue/green leaves. Those leaves are the source of the blue dye. It was popular in the Middle Ages for dying tapestries.

Because I did not weed my pathetic perennial beds, I now have tons of New England asters, both purple and pink. Also the tiny white ones are in full bloom. They are completely wedding-esque. Too bad asters last about five minutes in bloom.

The vegetable world has been suffering of late. I will say there is nothing quite like Sun Gold Tomatoes. A couple of plants will provide for months. I’ve resorted to blending them whole and freezing them in Mermaid Farm yoghurt containers. I write, “just heat” on the top. Since they have the skins and seeds, they will get rather acidic if cooked down into a proper sauce. They, however, are great in a chicken stock with cream for a yellow creamy tomato soup.

Chickens have the most annoyingly tiny brains. Marie gave me a half-dozen almost grown layers. As is my custom with new birds, I jailed them in the coop for a few days so they could get used to their new surroundings. No matter. The first day out they decided to roost in a tree instead of going into the coop at dusk. I close the coop up nice and tight to prevent marauding raccoons. The new batch were 60 feet up into a tree — I’m not exaggerating. There they remained night after night. That is until last Saturday. Happily enjoying my shower, the dog started barking and passersby were honking. One of the chickens was sleeping in the middle of State Road. Luckily, my friend Mags stopped to help with the chase and capture. There are times when amusement escapes me.

I hate wasting food so I usually try my best to correct errors. To wit: I made kale soup but it was a bit salty for my taste. I rarely use salt and prefer it rather bland. At any rate, I fixed the problem with more beans and a quart of carrot juice.

Carrot juice is a personal favorite. It can be added to tomato sauce, casseroles or beans. It tends to be sweet so is an all-purpose product. Canned pumpkin can be used to the same effect.

What can possibly be said about the Great Debate? Wow! Some 80 million people tuned in even with Monday Night Football happening. It is amazing that probably half of those folks still think Donald Trump is capable of doing the job. What was wrong with him? Sniffing, grunting, gesticulating, making faces, and interrupting (51 times).

He was woefully unprepared and proud of it. He seems to be willfully ignorant, just throwing out falsehoods. The biggest joke was him slumping over the podium and accusing her of having no stamina. Hillary looked great and rested, had done her homework and, oh, just like Ginger Rogers was in high heels.

Wouldn’t it drive him crazy to be beaten by a girl, even one (in his estimation) who is not a 10!