Garden update

Apologies for the sparse postings lately, but we’ve had weekends jam-packed with socializing, and garden chores have been keeping us hopping as well.  Even with a scaled-back garden, August is a busy month.  It seems as though all vegetables are in harvest mode (except the tomatoes, which are taking FOREVER), and the berries are still flowing.  This translates into lots of blanching/freezing, canning and coming up with creative meals to make use of this bountiful, daily harvest. 

I spent a couple hours last evening after work blanching and freezing the last of the edamame and a bunch of green beans.  With the combo bush and pole beans we planted this year, we’ve had a constant supply of green beans since early July. When the bush beans started to peter out, the pole beans took over. They're still flowering, so I expect we're still looking at another couple of weeks of fresh green beans.  Liz, Taylor and I (nothing like putting the house guests to work!) pulled half of the edamame plants over the weekend, and Nora pulled the remaining plants yesterday.  Given that our little bunny friends decimated the early seedlings back in June (before Jim built the beautiful fence which now surrounds the garden) and the poor plants had to start over again, we ended up with a decent crop.

I have bags upon bags of frozen berries in the freezer waiting to be made into jams, and the cucumbers have taken over the fridge.  I also have a small bag of tomatoes left over from Liz and Cheryl's purchase at the Amish farm stand down the road, and a bag of apples waiting to be canned as well.  There are still tons of apples ripening on our older trees, so I may try making some apple butter in addition to apple sauce.  Guess what’s at the forefront of my to-do list this weekend?!  And have I mentioned that Nora makes a killer apple pie?!  Who knew?!

Unfortunately, our pumpkin patch, which looked glorious until about 10 days ago, has been overtaken by powdery mildew; a side-effect of the cool and wet weather we’ve been experiencing this summer.  This won’t harm any pumpkins that are already developed, but it can dramatically impact any new growth.  For anyone else suffering from this fungal outbreak on your squashes or other leafy vegetables, try mixing 1 part milk with 9 parts water and spray the stems and tops of leaves with the solution. Reapply after any rain.  You can also try spraying the leaves with baking soda (1 teaspoon in 1 quart water), which raises the pH, thereby creating an inhospitable environment for powdery mildew.  Neither will cure the problem, but can slow down the spread and better yet, acts as a deterrent (something I neglected to do, obviously).

LOTS of mildew

Not as much mildew and an adorable, little Gooligan pumpkin

On the animal front, egg production has dropped precipitously.  Some of the older hens have started their fall molt, and the others, well, are just lazy and unproductive I guess.  Daisy 2 and Made It, the young'ins, are still holding their own and producing almost every day.  I expect that will drop off as well as the days continue to shorten.

Early morning

Mundane, yet marvelous

It’s difficult to remember a time when my daily schedule wasn’t dictated by a host of animals and plants.  Sunday morning was much like any other.  There was a wonderful chill in the air and a fine layer of mist hung suspended over the pasture and woods.  The sun was barely up and I was out and about the usual morning chores – opening up the chicken coop, filling feeders and checking water level and freshness.

Then for my walk through the garden/orchard area and out to the sheep.  The sun doesn’t come up now until close to 6am and the sheep have yet to adjust to this delayed feeding.  I’m usually greeted by a chorus of impatient baaaas from the open barn window as I stroll out.  Once I open the doors, I’m immediately wedged in a lamb sandwich as they jostle to leave the barn and push me towards the storage stall where they know the fabulous sweet feed and hay resides.  While they eat their breakfast, I’m usually bustling about filling troughs and picking up sheep poo. The girls have moved onto the hay once I’m ready to leave them for the day.



Jem - always smiling

The rest of Sunday morning was spent weeding and harvesting in the garden.  We pulled the remainder of the onions and shallots on Saturday, and they’re now curing on the 2^nd floor of the barn.  We’re still harvesting pole beans, but are letting the remaining bush beans dry on the yellowing plants so we can save the beans for next year's planting.  We’re still swimming in squashes and cukes, and the beets, kale and carrots are still producing.  The potatoes have blossomed, and the tomato plants are loaded with fruit, but slow to ripen with the cool days and evenings.  We’re heading into a week of days in the 80s finally, so that should speed things up on that front.  It looks like we’re going to have some spectacular pumpkins this year, including several growing in the compost pile! 



You can't see the two pumpkins beneath the vine, but they're there.  The sunflowers are "volunteers" as well (i.e., not deliberately planted).

I planted these adorable, little white pumpkins called Gooligans that are doing quite well too.  Meanwhile the fall crops seem to be enjoying the cool weather – we have spinach, lettuce, peas, rutabagas and butternut squash all flourishing.

Once I finished in the garden, I picked another 20 or so apples from one of our trees and canned some applesauce, and since I already had the water boiling decided to make some pickles as well.  The kitchen cupboard is filling up!  I still have bags upon bags of frozen strawberries and raspberries in the freezer waiting to be turned into jam, although I likely won’t get to it for another couple of weeks.  It always seems to be a case of "so much to do, so little time."

Random recent pics



While Jim and I were working last Saturday, Nora decided she'd rather be taking photographs.

You can't see me!!

No, it's not an insect; the first bloom on the Cardinal Flower.

Pasture of Queen Ann's Lace -- soon to be mowed for the last time before fall

Daisy2 - checking out the photographer

Mucking out the sheep barn.  Thankfully one of us was doing some work.

Yesterday's haul

This is what happens when we miss a day (ok, maybe two) of harvesting.  The zucchinis are out of control; they always end up out of control by early August.  You would think after a couple of years of gardening that I would learn to only plant a couple of zucchini seeds.  Instead, in my efforts to "scale down" this year, I planted 10 zucchini plants!  Now it's taken over the kitchen, along with the cukes.

Beans, beets, onions, shallots zucchini, cukes and one lone yellow straight-neck.

The bush beans are slowing down, thankfully, since I have enough frozen at this point to get us through the winter.  Our pole beans are just starting however.  The onions and shallots I don't mind; they are stored in the basement for winter use and we go through a lot of them.

I have to admit I have a little onion envy though.  We were over to friends' of ours last evening for dinner and they are growing Wala Walas - a sizeable sweet onion -- and they looked gorgeous!  Each was larger than a baseball and perfect looking.  Ours are only minuscule storage onions by comparison.  They had some fabulous looking green peppers and already ripened tomatoes as well.  I came home with a bunch!  In contrast, our peppers didn't make it through the wet June and our tomato plants, although loaded with green fruit, have yet to show signs of ripening.  Tess and Mike are using raised beds for most of their garden and the results are impressive.  Nora showed me a local article yesterday morning, coincidentally, discussing the use of raised beds and how helpful they have been in our very erratic summer (wet June, hot and humid early July and chilly end of July and early August).  So we were already considering putting some in this fall to try out for next year.  Seeing Tess and Mike's garden has sold me on the idea.

Seven & Seven

No not the drink but rather two times of day. That is when are newest residents of the farm make an appearance. Apparently what they say about rabbit breeding is true because we have more little ones hopping about. Introducing Mamie and Nugget. Here they are meeting each other for the first time.

Mamie is on the right and is younger than Nugget. I have been watching Nugget for over a month in our front yard. She discovered the backyard about 3 weeks ago. On this night I was heading out back to discover Ms. Nugget in one of our flower buckets off the deck.

Naughty little girl, but it's cool. It would seem as though our gardens serve as a perfect environment for growing bunnies. I am thrilled they have a safe space in which to grow.

To Make a Farm

"In a world of environmental and agricultural destruction from large corporate farming, what does the future of local food and farming look like? This beautifully photographed documentary explores the lives of five young people who have decided to become small-scale farmers. Named one of the ten most popular Canadian films at the Vancouver International Film Festival."

The waning of summer

It's hard to believe it's only the beginning of August.  The feeling of autumn continues with chilly mornings and evenings.  The flower garden is in maintenance mode now until the hard frosts of early October.  The vegetable garden, as evidenced by Nora's recent posts, is entering its harvest period, which will continue into October as well.  Some of the fall crops are in the ground -- peas and rutabaga.  I did have thyme and cabbage planted as well, but apparently the rows were not marked clearly enough and Nora, in her zeal to weed, ran the collinear hoe through the beds.  I may replant, but at the very least, intend to plant some lettuce and spinach seeds today.

It's going to be a mellow day today -- baking some zucchini bread, canning pickles, a smattering of seed planting, and then perhaps an afternoon of reading on the screened porch.  I just started a book called The Weekend Homesteader by Anna Hess; organized by month, it has homesteading projects designed for those of us with full-time jobs who can really only "homestead" on the weekends.

Black-eyed Susan

Tall phlox