Hi Homesteader,
July is almost behind us, and I always find this last week of the month to be one of my favorites.
Not because things slow down — they definitely don’t — but because there’s a moment around now when you can actually see what the season taught you. What worked. What you’d do differently. What surprised you. I think that kind of reflection is one of the most underrated parts of homesteading.
Here’s what July looked like for me:
The cucumbers went completely wild and I’m so glad I stayed on top of picking them. The beans came in beautifully. The tomatoes are loaded and about two weeks away from being a full-on situation. And the kitchen has been busy — more pickling, more jamming, more figuring out where to put everything.
One thing I leaned into this month that I want to pass along: baking bread in summer.
It sounds counterintuitive, who wants to turn the oven on in July? But I’ve found that summer is actually one of my favorite times to bake. The warm kitchen means dough rises faster and more reliably than it does in January. And there’s something about eating a thick slice of homemade bread with fresh garden tomatoes, good olive oil, and a little salt that feels like the whole point of all this effort.
If you’ve been wanting to try baking your own bread, or you want to expand beyond your go-to recipe, everything I know about it is here: How to Bake Bread. I’ve been doing it weekly for over a decade and the guide covers basic loaves, oatmeal honey bread, English muffins, sourdough, and more.
As July wraps up, a few things worth doing this week:
Do a quick inventory of what you’ve preserved so far and what’s still coming. Are you set up for the tomato wave?
Pull anything in the garden that’s finished and get it composted.
Make a note, even just a mental one, of what you’d plant more of next year and what you’d skip.
August is a big month. The harvest really hits its stride, the preservation work accelerates, and the days start getting just a little shorter. It’s the season at full volume.
I’ll be here for all of it. See you in August.
Gretchen
P.S. — Want to explore everything on the site? The homestead kitchen, growing guides, and animal guides are all good places to dig in this week while you’re in a reflective July mood.
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Happy Homestead,
Gretchen
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