Gnu,
So far, my peaches are a little more tart than in previous years, but I probably should still let them ripen in the windowsill a few more days. Still very good, though.


Paula, your melon hootch story reminds me of the time I inadvertently made some 'moonshine' in college (at a Southern Baptist school, no less). We didn't have refrigerators in our rooms, and stuff left in the communal fridges in the dorms tended to disappear (gremlins, no doubt), so in the winter we'd sometimes use the area between our windows and the screens as fridges.   I had a pop bottle full of orange juice there to keep it cool, and then we had a sudden winter 'heat wave,' with the sun beating down on that window. Pretty impressive explosion, that.

Thing is, how do you get "mallow" rum out of ...
Oh, nivver mind. I thought you said "mallow" rum.

(Still don't know why you called that melon hootch "marrow wine," though.)


Bobert, PDX does indeed get pretty 'Saharan' these days in July and August.   Not unusual to go 6 weeks with no measureable rainfall, in recent summers (between July 5 and Labor Day).

Oh, and I've got plenty of milk thistle in my yard too.
(I should learn how to use the plants medicinally instead of buying the stuff in capsules at health food stored.)

Same goes for my evening primroses.   They are strange weeds. They look bloody ugly most of the time, as the blossoms always appear at the top of the stalk (which tends to get gangly) and they are aptly named. The blossoms open up at dusk and close up at dawn, but while they are open they are a bright, pale, almost fluorescent looking yellow.   Very striking.
But I also pay good money for the oil from those little critters. Wish I could use my weeds instead.