I took a walk around the entire property this morning and just took in all the wonders. From the Kentucky Wonder Green Beans (some drying out and getting ready for a seed harvest) to the beautiful zucchini growing out back in my Bottomless Container Bucket area near the creek bed.

Mother Nature is in full force... the days are getting shorter now as we have passed the summer solstice here in the northern hemisphere. Some vegetables are getting ready to be harvested for their next step in the sustainable life I want on my homestead. Some herbs are starting to go to seed; meaning I will be outside soon getting the seeds for next years' planting.

Even the potato leaves are dying off; which means I will be doing exactly what @goldenoakfarm has already started by digging up her potatoes. Granted she definitely has more plants than I do... but the six plants I have out there should hopefully give me enough "tubers" for our needs here for some of the winter months.

I have plans on purchasing a pressure canner in the next week or two so I can preserve more than just tomatoes and jellies.

As I walked around the front herb and flower garden, I decided to snip the two yellow roses that were late bloomers this year. I would have taken the others plus the red ones, but I was late to the dehydrate roses for future uses party.

Now that I have an idea of what I want to use the rose petals for, I need to see of I can find someone nearby who has some that wouldn't mind if I were to harvest a few for my herb and flower stash.

What Else Is Happening Around The Homestead

Here are my Kentucky Wonder Green Beans drying out; but you can still see a few blossoms. Wondering if I'll get a second harvest from these four plants in a few more weeks or month?

Also I counted eight black beauty zucchini which will all need to be picked in the next week. With the heat and humidity we've been subjected to this summer, I won't leave them on the vine too much longer; as I know they'll grow quickly. Plus I have about a dozen more yellow blossoms on the plants. So I am hoping for a round two with these also. I love grilling my zucchini right on the BBQ grates... such a yummy flavor!

Mullein plants have started to flower. Aren't these gorgeous little flowers!

My Snapdragons are holding on!

By the time I made my routine, yet leisure, walk around today, rain clouds had started to gather above and I headed inside to get my jerky started in the dehydrator; but first I did my rose petals.

I spent most of the morning puttering indoors as the rain fell outside and now the sun is out and it's even more humid than it was this morning. Before I headed inside though, I did scatter about some more calendula seeds and dried up feverfew flower heads along the back property; near the Motherwort and Garlic Mustard. I really put a hurting on my feverfew stock this summer and want to make sure to replenish it for next year. And the calendula is just so useful around here for being a pollinator and for medicinal uses, so I wanted to make sure I'd have enough again next year. I am hoping to use some calendula petals and flowers in my next batch of homemade soap.

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