Happy Hot July!

 Dear Friends,

The above picture shows one of our ducklings enjoy a yummy tomato hornworm for a snack. It's been so hot here lately, that the bugs and weeds have gotten ahead of us! The hornworms took out five tomato plants without our even knowing they were there; squash bugs are after the squash and cucumbers; and Japanese beetles have chewed up our baby fruit trees, corn, roses, elder bushes, and about everything else around here. Such is gardening, and so we plant again and try to be more diligent in the future.

A few sunflowers are blooming in the yard. Some were planted by birds from the feeder, and others were seeds from Baker Creek (I can't remember which variety, but they smell yummy).

This rose has been chewed on by Japanese beetles, but it's still beautiful. I was not expecting our front yard roses to bloom this year, since we just put them in, but after settling their roots for a few months, they are really taking off.

Our marshmallow plant that we bought at a local farmer's market is beginning to bloom, and we hope it goes to seed and spreads all around in future years. Marshmallow is a great herb that is cooling and soothing to the mucous membranes.

 Wildflowers are blooming everywhere along the roads in the Ozarks, and we were excited to find these Black-Eyed Susans growing wild on our property.

We started Lemon Bee Balm (horsemint) from Baker Creek Seeds back in February, and they are doing well. They have a strong, oregano-like flavour, and are a powerful anti-bacterial herb.

I haven't had a chance to do any drawing since we moved here, so I thought I would take time to draw a horsemint blossom before it faded. Perhaps I should have chosen something easier!

May this find you all doing well and keeping cool this summer. Let's pray for those who are not receiving enough rain and are suffering from wildfires at this time!

Love,

Marqueta