It's hoooot!

It's hot! Really hot! We have had 3 days of hitting 43.5 degrees Celsius or above!!!

We have been hibernating inside. Keeping all the doors, curtains, and blinds shut so we don't have to turn on our air conditioning till lunch time. We also have a hot tub that we do not heat in the summer so we have been 'swimming' in there too which is lovely! 

As for our urban farm - we've set up Jack's (the dog) clam shell pool that he jumps in and out of. We also put the sprinkler gently on the chicken run for a little while each day - it's funny watching them run under the cool water! 

The garden is getting the worst of the heat! We have a garden umbrella that we move around depending on the sun, trying in vain to protect the tomatoes. They are quite shrivelled and burnt at the moment, but continue to grow. We also put a net over the apple tree this week, not only to stop the cheeky birds eating our apples but to protect them from the sun.

The surprise has been the lettuce, usually the first to go in this type of heat, it's thriving, growing wildly even!! 

We are watering either very early in the day or very late in the evening so the plants get a good deep water, this is helping immensely! 

Is it hot were you are? How do you protect your garden in the heat?