Heat advisories issued, more herbs

Well I think the weather forecasters finally got outdoors or something. They have finally issued a heat advisory for this area. Like we didn't know it was hot already. Today when I was out doing a few things I noticed some of my potted plants were limp and wilty. Gosh I know how they feel. I felt kinda limp and wilty too.
I got out an fed my lil chickens and had to make a feed run because they were totally out. The lady that runs the feed store had some watermelons there and I thought one of those would go really good on a hot day. This young lady and her husband run a lil feed store out in the country and I am guessing do a pretty good business. It is run from there home in a lil garage building in the yard which happens to be along a main road here in town. I give them all my local business. If you run out of feed after hours or on weekends they will still sell you a bag of feed. I will be getting some oat straw from her to mulch with for now as I don't have any more mulch for the tomatoes and herbs. In chatting with her today, the discussion came around to herbicides. She said she is encouraging people to go back to the old methods of farming and not spraying the ground. She had mentioned that she had read the Round- up that everyone uses on corn around here was becoming ineffective and was killing the farm land. I tole her she could look at one of our big river bottoms and still tell where corn had been grown. Although the ground has been in grass and cut for hay for over 10 years. It still looks very poor. The corn we planted this year was not sprayed with anything, it has been plowed with the rototiller. It does have some weeds and a lot of grass in it but the corn is about 10 ft tall already so I don't think what is growing down low will hurt it much. Any who.........
Rodger and Jason got some of the cukes trellised this evening after supper. He said the garden looked good when they were in there. I might get over there and pull some of the bigger carrots tomorrow evening and get them canned up and dehydrate some as well. I had a small jar that I had dried last year and hadn't used. I was making lentil soup for supper tonight and was gonna use a lil bit of carrot in there for flavor. I got out my spice grinder and chopped the carrots up into flakes and added some to the lentils. THEN I had a idea.......why not make a dried vegetable soup mix with dried veggies. I have onion dried already and flaked some of those. Now if only I can remember to dry some peppers I can make my own soup base and flavoring blend. Just one of those idiot moments, an ah-ha moment that is so obvious to everyone else.
I have cut most of my dill and have it in the freezer to use in dill pickles when the lil cukes get ready. The dill that came up was all volunteer and has already made seed heads. I know they would be dried up and not as good as I like them when the cucumbers got ready, so in the freezer it goes. Finally got my basil cut and it is in the big drying box in the summer kitchen till I get a chance to get it in the dehydrator. I picked a little tray of chamomile flowers for teas as well.
In my blunderings today I found several blackberries that are ripe so I think maybe next week I can pick some berries. Woo Hoo!!! chiggers!! I so dread those lil pesky things. I really want to make some wine with the berries. I still have a good deal of blackberry jam left from last year as well as canned blackberries. We shall see.
Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella