It really dumped for a bit but soon it moved off and by the time the sun came up it had stopped and moved off.

I then pulled up the map for Hamilton where I was to be these days.... Yeah it's good we weren't camping in the canyon for the deluge that happened.

7am the rain was just done.

As I left from dropping R at school the sky looked quite cool.

I probably should just pull the last squash plants, this is it from a few days...

The sun was nice to help dry off the pants so it wasn't so wet wandering the garden.

My barn spiders are such badasses. She is eating SUPER well. The table around the scale is littered with the debris/carcasses/husks of her prey.

Some bigger cucumbers in the bunch this time.

Then my bird tomato had ripened so it came in the house.

Not much of the garden left and I HAVE to till to prep for the garlic planting which will be happening sooner than later.

My biggest pumpkin is green... A pair of the orange have holes in them so will go to the sheep, who won't argue a bit.

The grapes are still on and need to be picked. I don't know what will be done with them. I probably should just juice them all but am not feeling like canning. We haven't used the last batch I canned.

One of my other spiders looking all hairy and protected under the edge of the metal roof.

I left my phone holder in the truck so needed to print out a new one for the sled. Thankfully I remembered how I made the base attachment so it was a pretty fast setup. The print took a while as I did it at 100% infill. I have to go and sand down the posts though to make them fit as I added too many walls I think.

My poor sleeping bag required airing out and it smelled a bit better after sitting in the sun for much of the afternoon.

I have to get the amaranth pulled even though it looks great it is throwing seeds EVERYWHERE and next year I will have a slew of them to pull from the rows.

Mid afternoon I went for a wander up the hill to see the sky as the clouds were looking pretty epic.

And I was not wrong.

The sky looked killer. There was no wind otherwise it would have been a killer flying day.

I had a good long talk with Art about Blodgett Canyon that we didn't get to climb in and what the potential is for the future. There are just a handful of climbs in the entire canyon and room for sooo to be done. There is room for routes everywhere and it is not that far of a drive away. Likely going to have to wait till next year when weather windows work right.

It's taking me time but I am coming to terms with my truck dying. The circumstances of it and the fact I made it to my SIV and got to ENJOY falling from the sky and stepping past and through the INTENSE level of fear I felt before the extreme low of the death. The location I landed in was about the most perfect possible for the middle of nowhere with the Clark Fork river right there, an empty closed rest area all to myself, well back from the freeway, best tow truck driver ever, the truck is now just 199 miles from the farm and AAA will do the tow, and I am going to buy myself a re-manufactured crate engine to drop in this thing and bypass all the bullshit.

In that vein I am powering down. I need the funds FAR more for my truck than to let sit here and languish doing essentially nothing for me. My monetary risk aversion has been a big weight that has fucked me over right and left and I am tired of this shit.

I'm also beginning to see a way past the wall of permanence I feel with the farm. I thought I wouldn't be able to get to a point that I could detach from the land but I'm finding myself feeling the potential now. Washington state is FUCKED and I am really quite ready to get the hell out. I didn't think I would be able to leave all the things I have built here but I had a bit of a mental shift yesterday in seeing that all I have done here was possibly just for us for the time and I need to look at this more as a job I have done for someone else and then move on to the next project.

Not moving tomorrow but this is the first time my head has felt okay with the idea in 16 years. I have no real connection to the region in truth, just the family, 2 close friends who also moved up here from CA, and a number of acquaintances. I've self isolated on the farm for so long being around groups or in public has been uncomfortable which is a viscous cycle that feeds itself.

ᛏᛋᛇᛉᚱᛚ

^Affiliate/Referral Link^

For more information about our farm: Fleming Family Farm FLEMING FAMILY FARM, LLC Sustainable & Organic Methods | Heirloom Produce

All images are original works of Fleming Family Farm unless otherwise notated and credited.

If you find this post useful or entertaining, your support is greatly appreciated by upvoting, following, and sharing!

You can Also Find Me On:

Donations or Tips

Zap Me ⚡️ ᛒᛏᚲ

flemingfarm@blitz-wallet.com flemingfarm@sats.v4v.app