Another scorcher

We've having near one-hundred degree temperatures every day, with no rain, as usual.  The garden continues to produce food for the table, though.  My mid-summer-planted beets are a great success, even though the sweet potato vines have completely covered them up.

You really have to search to find those beets.  You may recognize the leaf of another plant in that picture. 

Somehow some melons ended up in there with the sweet potatoes.  I don't recall planting melons in that area, but who knows?  

I'm watering these late carrots with a watering can in the evenings.  

I was amazed at the radishes I planted a month ago.  They aren't too hot, and made nice big, round radishes.  This is my most recent planting, which seems to be doing well too.  I don't eat many radishes, but Cliff devours them.  The lettuce I planted the same day hasn't emerged; seems like I read someplace that lettuce won't germinate in hot weather, so it may never do anything.  Three days ago I found some beet seeds and planted those.  I don't know if there's time for them to develop before winter, but I'm learning new things just by trying.  Beets are SO reliable!  

I don't can my pickled beets.  I make up a gallon or so and store them in the refrigerator.  The cookbook says they will keep in the refrigerator for a month; I don't know about that, since a gallon of pickled beets never lasts that long around here.  

I've learned to cook the beets in the evening and let them set all night.  That way they are cool when I peel them and put them to simmer in the pickling solution the next morning.  

I am surprised that I haven't heard Jenny bawling for her mother, Jody, this morning.  She must have been ready to wean.  I expected things to be pretty noisy around the barnyard for a couple of days, at least.  This morning she was calmly grazing with the rest of the herd.