Nooooo… it’s too soon for autumn, despite autumn being one of my favorite seasons (aside from spring), where I am – in northern Utah – summer is still very much alive with 90+ degrees temperatures and no sign of autumn is approaching but who knows, these things can come with a snap of a finger. Not my fingers, Mother Nature’s.

My summer crops are still going strong. In fact, you might even say my tomatoes (especially the big guys) are looking a little revitalized after the recent pop-up rainstorms.

Yeah, pop-up rainstorms. They are those un-scheduled, un-forecasted rainstorms that comes out of nowhere. It’s been happening all summer and I found it very annoying because I would have to suddenly run into the house to get out of the rain.

Though my sunflowers are looking tired and spent in the heat, they are still going strong, producing heads like crazy while attracting bees and other pollinators. If bees are having trouble finding flowers to pollinate, I might had saved them. I haven’t counted but I would say there are at least 30 heads on a single sunflower plant. It’s been a crazy sunflower year for me.

Last but not least, let’s not forget the cucumbers. It took them long enough to produce. I planted them in early May, right before my UK trip and they are just now producing, especially for my Sanjaku Yamato cucumbers, which are not disappointing with these super long and thin cucumbers. I can’t wait to try them.

We’ve also been having the other type of Japanese cucumbers in the recent weeks – Progress Cucumbers. I think these are much better than the ones I planted in the last few years because they don’t get bitter despite picking them in the heat of the day. I will definitely stick to this variety next year.