I know a few of us have chickens so here are a couple tips. When the weather climbs into the 90s, water, shade, and airflow come first to cool our chickens. Chickens do not sweat like we do. They cool themselves by panting, holding their wings away from their body, and moving heat through their combs and wattles. Once these basics are in place, a few herbs and moisture-rich plants can add another layer of summer support. Fresh spearmint and lemon balm are commonly offered during hot weather. They are traditionally cooling herbs, and many chickens enjoy pecking at the fresh leaves. Purslane is another excellent summer plant because it naturally holds a lot of water while providing good nutrition. Chickweed, broadleaf plantain, and mallow can also make good additions when foraging or when finding them growing around the garden. One thing we want to remember is that herbs are not a replacement for good flock management. They are simply one more piece of the system. A handful of fresh herbs, a patch of edible weeds, or a few moisture-rich garden plants can help support the flock, although the foundation is still water, shade, and airflow. The goal is not to overcomplicate chicken care. It is to notice what the flock needs, use what is already growing around the home, and add support in a steady way. What herbs or garden plants do your chickens seem to enjoy most during the heat?

What is the thing you love the most about gardening and the thing you dislike intensely. I hate it in mid summer when the grass burns off and everywhere is yellow, and I love planting trees and watching them grow to maturity.

Today marks the transition from summer to fall planting. After a few days in the mid-90s, the spring peas are coming out and the fall garden is going in. I’m replacing them with beets, radishes, and another round of peas, along with adding fresh mulch to help conserve moisture and feed the soil. Over the next few weeks, once the garlic and potatoes are harvested, I’ll seed the beds with an oats and alfalfa cover crop to keep living roots in the ground and continue building soil for next season. Every harvest is another opportunity to improve the soil for the crop that follows. 🌱

A lot of us have seen this in the garden before we ever had the words for it. Two plants can be growing in the same general area, but one gets covered in aphids, beetles, or disease pressure, while the other seems to stand stronger. The difference is not always luck. Many times, the plant under pressure shows us something about its energy, minerals, water rhythm, soil biology, or stress level. One way to watch that pattern is with Brix. Brix is a reading of soluble solids in plant sap or juice. Most of the time we think of it as sugar, although it is not only sugar. It can also reflect dissolved minerals, amino acids, organic acids, proteins, and other soluble compounds moving through the plant. In plain garden language, Brix gives us one clue about how well the plant is photosynthesizing and how much energy is moving through the system. When a plant has good sunlight, water, minerals, and living soil around its roots, it can make sugars through photosynthesis. Those sugars do not just stay in the leaves. The plant uses them to grow roots, stems, leaves, fruit, seed, and protective compounds. Then the plant sends part of that carbon through the roots as root exudates. Those exudates feed bacteria, fungi, and other soil life. That is one of the most important exchanges in the garden. The plant feeds the soil life with carbon. Soil life then helps unlock, cycle, and deliver nutrients in forms the plant can use. As that loop gets stronger, the plant has more of what it needs to build strong cell walls, balanced proteins, better flavor, deeper color, and more protective compounds such as flavonoids and other plant metabolites. That is where Brix, nutrition, and pest resistance begin to connect. The phrase “insects cannot eat high-Brix plants” gets used a lot, although I think we need to say it carefully. A high-Brix plant is not invisible, and no garden plant is completely pest-proof. Insects can still nibble. But a plant with strong photosynthesis, balanced minerals, good protein formation, and active defense compounds is usually less attractive and harder for many pests to feed on successfully.

Where I am located, this year is likely to be the hottest and driest summer in living memory , being realistic, I know things will fall, plants are going to die and working to exhaustion trying to save them is not what gardening is about, sometimes there's nothing you can do.