The plots that we had some of our potatoes in suffered root burn from the hot weather. we have a lot of nice small potatoes that we were able to save that are perfect for stew though.

The raised beds were exposed on the south side and it took one of each kind of potato that we had planted. we still have four of each that might survive but we are going to plant another five of each in a different place to see if we can get a second crop if the one that is established dies off completely. I will be redesigning the potato beds to prevent this next year. Two days of over 100F is all the most exposed could take. We placed some barrels around the planters to keep them shaded without shading the plants. we can only hope the others will pull through. This is way different than on the coast - we never had to worry about cooking the roots of a plant in a planter. That is why we put in little bits of a lot of things and then introduce more each year. we just have to find out what works and what doesn't in our new locale.

Next year I want to put in some beans for drying. (not green beans but maybe navy or similar beans. My wife wants black-eyed peas but she is the only one who likes them so we will probably not put in more than one to three starts.

We are beginning to harvest our "ever-bearing" strawberries and they will continue to produce all summer long and even into the fall. we are harvesting the weirdest onions I have ever seen. They produce "baby" onions at the top of their stalks. You can use them as seed onions next year or you can eat them for stews and soups. The small onions that form at the top are about half the size of pearl onions and reddish in color. If you don't pick them another stalk grows and makes more "babies". I swear - it's an alien life form!

well, I am tired and hot. It is still 80.6 F out in the garden, I'm going to get some juice.