August in bloom...

My garden is peaceful and dormant in August... most of the perennials have bloomed, but the lace cap hydrangea and second bloom of the Centaura montana, the hanging basket of geraniums, the hostas, the garden phlox, the smoke tree, the daylilies... they're all beautiful.

It's a month to catch up with the weeding, and not worry about tending the blooms. It's time to think about picking blackberries at the farm, and start making pie dough. To watch the huckleberries swell at the lake property, and anticipate the first signs of chanterelle mushrooms poking their heads above the moss.

And while we're thankful the summer heat means the lawn has gone dormant, the biggest job of the summer is still ahead of us:  mowing the pastures and clearing out the fencelines.

A goat (or six) would be helpful right about now...