09/22/2024
There is no doubt we are in a severe drought. The ground has cracks that I can put four fingers in sideways. We are struggling to find enough grass for our sheep. It is dangerously dry; we have been under a burn ban for weeks. Mowing poses a fire risk. Water usage is closely monitored so the 18’ shallow dug well supplying our home, garden, and animals can keep up.
Overlook July, when we were blessed with normal rainfall, and the rest of the summer received less than an inch and a half of rain! To put that into perspective, average rainfall would be about an inch per week. The final nail in the drought coffin is that we came into summer already down on our rainfall for the year.
Yet, as fall begins today, I am reflecting on summer, and I stand amazed.
God is so good!!! The fruit from their trees will be used for food and their leaves for medicine, says Ezekiel 47:12. While taken out of context, He has come through on that again.
The weather would indicate that nothing should have grown. But God made things grow! I am still pulling our daily needs out of the vegetable garden. We are receiving an abundance of lettuce, zucchini, and cucumbers each week, along with a variety of other things to keep life interesting. (Send okra recipes, please!) Our home apothecary is stocked with herbs we harvested and dried. Amazingly, as we chose this drought year to start a flower farm, most of the flowers survived, even thrived. And we harvested the needed bouquets all summer. It certainly has been a summer of bounty!