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Raining gently; just 1/3” so far, for the second time this past week.

Sent an infested sunflower with at least one beetle in it to County Weed & Pest Control; they in turn sent it to Rapid City, and I should hear back from the entomologist Monday or Tuesday. It looks like seed loss is secondary, rather than primary, as they burrow through the seeds into the heads, then proceed through the neck and into the upper stem. Not only are the seed where they directly burrow through lost, but the tunnels to get to the stem kills the seed bed, and those are lost as well.

We have canned more carrots, and right now there are 5 trays of diced carrots in the dryer. Have also canned more beans, and have another pickings worth to do something with. The bush speckled butterbeans need a couple more hot days, which NWS assures me will occur, starting Monday.

The dry beans are almost finished for the season. I picked some Wednesday, and didn’t have time to shell them until last night. They were in plastic bags, and some of the pods were not quite dry, though fully mature, and ‘sweated’ inside the bags. That was enough to let several actually pods full sprout! I have never shelled out bean sprouts from pods before; the sprouts were already up to an inch long, and trying to penetrate the pods. I put those into a sprouter to finish growing for the table.

We dropped off a load of pattypan, zucchini, and cukes at the local Ministerial Association food pantry yesterday while in town, but still have plenty for our own use.

A batch of pears got harvested, and are awaiting getting soft enough to process. Candied pears? Dried pears? Pear butter? Who knows at this point! And then there’s the apples. Oh, my, are there apples! Chickens and the wild turkeys have been getting the windfalls & damaged ones. We’ll be drying, freezing, saucing, and canning them, giving them away, and donating them and we’ll still not come close to using them all. Don’t suggest selling; that would be coals to Newcastle, assuming there were a market for small, often bug or bird damaged fruit.

Several of the Buttercup squash stems are becoming ‘corky’ as the fruit takes on color; should be ready sometime in the next week or so, along with their “squashkin” brethren that were born of seeds out of the same, single, Buttercup from last year’s garden. Not sure if they’ll be more squash-like, or pumpkiny; they are 12-16” in diameter, and ribbed; but the skin color is more like that of the Pink Banana squash the female parent was planted near, so suspect they will have a good flavor & texture.

The Jerusalem artichokes finally started forming flower buds beyond all reason; been busy pinching them off.

The Brussels sprouts are loaded, and the lower sprouts are finally starting to put on some size. Another month, and a couple for frosts should do wonders for them.

The volunteer grain milo may or may not mature before a killing frost, as there’s still some flowers open on it, while seed just forming on the rest. Also on the grains front, this coming week, as soon as it dries out enough, will see the wheat & rye planted.

Potatoes STILL are nowhere near ready to dig, though they are beginning to lay down, and lose some of their darker greens.

I’ll have a good crop of radish seed for next year, as the pods are turning color; also have some good candidates for pattypan seed.