Dear Carol, Mary Ann, and all gardening friends wherever you are, It's hot. The last few days have been a trial in forbearance with temperatures of 100F, 102F, 106F (by my gauge yesterday) and today's expected high of 104F. I like the way the weather has decided to be a slightly different version of hell everyday. Keeps it interesting. Needless to write, I'm not out in the garden much. I just go outside, water the containers, gather the vegetables, pull a few weeds and then run back indoors before 9:30 a.m. The best summer gardening in the south is done between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m., or in the evenings if you don't mind the mosquitoes. Otherwise, you might get heat stroke. Bill did some digging in the middle of the day yesterday and 'bout near killed himself. Fortunately, he came indoors before it was really serious...

Looking down, I see my white baby shoes stepping on black soil and green grass. A yellow sulphur butterfly floats above my head, and bumblebees buzz nearby. My grandmother is on her knees in the garden digging with a shovel. I try to run on stubby little feet, but fall to to my knees in the cool, soft earth. I begin to cry, and strong hands set straight again. A soft kiss lands on the top of my head, and sure fingers wipe baby tears from my eyes. Then, her index finger touches the end of my nose. I look up into beautiful brown eyes crinkled at the sides by the sun. "Come here, I want to show you something," she says. She takes my hand and walks me over to where an earthworm wriggles in soil she's turned over. A trowel is nearby, and I want to dig in...

Okay, so you went outside this morning and worked yourself into a lather ripping the errant Bermuda grass out of your neglected roadside garden . . . . No, wait, that was me. Good thing I had some Gardener's Scrubbing Soap from my dear friends at Botanical Interests. Like all the participants at the garden blogger meetup called Buffa10, I received a free bar in my goodie bag. Now, Botanical Interests wants to give a bar to one of you. It is lovely. The scrubbing comes from poppy seeds, and it softly smells of herbal yumminess. On days like today when I'm covered head to toe in grunge, I use it to gently scrub away all the dirt I've accumulated. I love good soap, and this one, according to BI's website, is made of healthy things like: "Saponified organic palm kernel oil, organic sunflower oil, organic virgin coconut oil, organic...

If you can find some, take a spoon and drip a bit on the end of your tongue. Your taste buds will begin to rock the rumba, and you might need another lick or two.  Go ahead, I won't tell. Then, once you've satiated yourself with tupelo honey's flowery sweetness, put a bit of this yellow green nectar on a nice southern biscuit or a bit of toast. For those of us who can't eat wheat, Udi's basic white sandwich bread is a good companion, and as for biscuits, unless I make my own, I like 1-2-3 Gluten Free's mix best. "She's as sweet as tupelo honey," sang Van Morrison, and if that's true, she was something for tupelo honey is the rarest in the world. I'd heard about it all my life, and finally when Diva and I were walking through Williams-Sonoma last Friday, I saw it for the...