That, my friends, is a female cucumber flower. There are several now and hopefully more to come. As soon as these babies are open and ready to be pollinated, I’ll be taking one of my fox hair brushes to them. I demand, at the very least, two cucumbers for all my hard work and attention to these poor overheated plants.

Actually, the cucumbers are the only thing looking pretty good. I’m keeping my fingers crossed there will be enough eventually to do something with, like make pickles.

On the news this morning they were saying this is the hottest June in Austin in history … as in since they started keeping records of such things. That’s a long, long time. Hottest June ever, and that’s the year I decide to get back into gardening. Just my luck, right? I so rarely catch a break on anything, I wouldn’t even know what a break feels like. Not giving up though. Once my plants have annoyed me beyond all redemption and most of them have been moved to other locations or ripped out and shredded in frustration, I will be replanting to possibly get some early fall tomatoes. The way this heat has been, I have the feeling we’ll be able to grow plants well into November this year.

Back out to the front yard. I have a few projects to tend to, and of course, the plants need water again … and again … and again. Good thing water is still one of those utilities that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg yet, because I am using record amounts for this household. Not that this is a lot, mind you, but still, it’s a lot for us. We are usually pretty frugal with water, what with living in an area that has been under drought conditions longer than we can remember.

This summer … it is sucking. Next summer better be cooler! If we go to the trouble of building raised beds for my official garden, I will expect to have more than one salad’s worth of tomatoes a week.