Fire Season is Around the Corner

Now that its September, we've been working on getting more firewood together, should have done it sooner but its just been too hot.

We started in late spring taking down a 100 year old oak that had died up in the cow pasture.  My brother Chris, his father-in-law Ray, David and I worked all one day cutting the smaller tops and starting on the trunk.  My brother decided it was too big to mess with and said we could have it.  Good hardwood that we can get to easily is hard to come by and David was determined to harvest this tree.   He whittled away at it over the summer, working a few hours at a time on cooler mornings, reducing the double trunks- each two feet across-into 16 inch sections, the length of our wood stove.  Finally two weekends ago, Ray returned to the scene with D and I and we spent 8 hours with the hydraulic splitter reducing that monster to stove size pieces.  Over the course of the next week we hauled it back down to the house, first in the trailer and I finished it up on Wednesday using the pick-up truck for the last two loads.  I think all in all it made about 6 truck loads, probably 3 cords, and should get us not only through the coldest weather this season but probably into next fall.

The downed tree had started to rot while it was still standing, so it had a million grubs and beetles and larvae tunneling and eating away at the bark. All around and under the logs were toads and lizards.  David said "we upset a few ecosystems" as we dismantled that scene of decay.  The splitter popped some of the logs apart in neat slabs, other times it tore at the red fibrous wood of the tree, stretching and pulling at the sinewy grain.  As I pushed and pulled the lever of the splitter over and over I thought the wood looked like pot roast or some other red meat.   Some logs revealed the ancient core of branches and burls, I could see the strength that lay within the wood, able to hold that tree so tall and solid, but I could also sense the amount of energy that had been captured there, by years of sun and rain and photosynthesis. Now that energy will be translated back into heat to keep us warm this winter.

I always say "You gotta love a project that has you moving heavy objects multiple times". In this case; onto the splitter, onto the trailer, off of the trailer, onto the wood pile and later, into the other wood pile and then finally into the fire.  Who needs Curves?

Otters!

The top experience of my week would be my sighting on Thursday.  On my morning walk as I was passing the pond, I was startled by something large slithering through the grass and plopping into the pond, the sound repeated almost immediately.   I knew they were too big to be snakes or turtles. As I looked across the water a huge smile crossed my face as out of the ripples two young otters popped their heads up and started huffing and snorting at me as they swished and swirled around in the water. Then I heard a third animal snorting and here came mom.  The three hung together, sort of hiding behind the tip of a pine tree downed across the water.  They held their heads up and sniffed the air, as curious about me as I was about them.  The babies would swim around a bit then go back to mom.  We checked each other out for a while and then the babies swam over towards an old beaver lodge in the dam.  I walked that way but they disappeared, I think they must have gone up inside the lodge, one minute they were there, then they were gone.  I always hope they'll stick around whenever I see them, but its rare to spot them at all and always in the past its been a one time thing. They are gone in search of food or another watery place to swim, play and hunt. 

The Frogs Are Happy

Yesterday was the strangest day.  Tropical storm Lee passed through here and brought a couple of inches of much needed rain.  But it didn't come steady, or all at once, but rather in spurts.  The sun would come out for a while, and then there would be a deep long rumbling of rolling thunder, then suddenly hard rain.  Then the sun would shine again, then more thunder, then RAIN.  And it went on like that for most of the day.  A break in the afternoon was followed in the evening by the same pattern repeating itself again.

I was happy for it, we didn''t get much rain at all from Hurricane Irene and the creek is still dry, only now there are some big puddles down there.

If you know me you might know I have an affinity for frogs and have a small collection of froggies.  David found the one above in a pile of leaf mulch one day and brought it home for me.  We could have uncrumpled it but agreed that the squished nature of this little guy added to his charm.  So here he sits on the kitchen window sill, giving me a smile when I'm there at the sink working at something or other.  The pattern on that leaf there is pretty groovy too.

Windows are open again and that is also a blissful scene.  So quickly we had become accustomed to the air and night sounds that when we closed up again for a couple of nights due to the return of the heat and humidity, despite the AC, we suffered and woke in the wee hours tossing and sweaty from the lack of fresh air in the room.  As David says "When the windows are open, the rooms feel so much bigger."

Fall is in the air

It's the first of September, and I realize I managed to go all the way through August without a single post! August was a busy month that included a camping trip to Grayson Highlands State Park to escape the heat.  The altitude there is 4500 feet so we had a few days with cool air and high winds, lots of walks up the gorgeous Wilson Creek. It was almost too cold to swim, but we did.

 

Later in the month I traveled to NYC to attend the American Community Gardening Association annual meeting and was blown away by all the amazing things people in NYC are doing to bring gardens and fresh food to folks in the inner city that haven't previously had much access to real foods.  They're setting up farmers markets, teaching teens and adults in the community to grow food and sell it, providing CSA shares at low-cost and on a pay by the week basis to low-income seniors.  I could do a whole post on that trip and should.


Back here at home we have finally gotten a break in the weather- I can feel fall in the air as the temps and humidity have dropped to a much more comfortable level, we've even been opening the windows at night and letting in the cool air and soothing night sounds of crickets, frogs and owls.

In the veg garden it is definitely pepper time. The red bells pictured above are the most spectacular.  The Pasilla plants are taller than me and loaded with long, slender, deep green chiles, ready for roasting. 

 These ragged looking cucumber plants are still putting on a couple of cukes a day!  I planted about 12 plants of three varieties, (Tasty Jade, Diva and Suyo Long) back in April and they are still producing.  How many cucumbers can you eat?

Today I worked on getting the fall garden going.  I planted seeds for carrots, beets, radishes, spinach and lettuce.  Also set out broccoli and cauliflower plants.  Still have cabbage and collards to get into the ground but need to prepare the beds first.

The summer garden is still going pretty strong, I've pulled out the first plantings of beans but the second planting is looking very good and is about to start producing.  I've been harvesting purple hull peas off the first planting already as well.  Below is the third patch of beans with purple hull peas on the right half and Italian flat beans on the left.  There are also a couple of butternuts that have volunteered and are creeping along the edge of the path. At the back is one of my fall plantings of carrots and beets and beyond that the last of the cantaloupes which are pretty well played out.  The tomatoes are finishing up as well.  Given the intense heat and lack of rain in July, things look remarkably good

I am thrilled at the break in the weather, the prospect of autumn and the transition to fall crops. I've missed the greens.  Going to try and get more consistent about posting.....

Gertie Pays a Visit

The other day I was sitting at the little table in the shade where I rest between bouts of garden chores.  There I write in my journal, sip a cold drink, relax and take in the view.  I kept hearing a crunching sound coming from the front garden.  I couldn't determine if it was in the trees, perhaps a squirrel or a bird?  Or on the ground, lizard or turtle?  Eventually Gertie showed herself as she crossed the path near where I was sitting and David fetched a blossom end rotted tomato from the garden for her.  She happily chomped away and then headed off to do whatever it is turtles do all day, hunt for slugs and snails I imagine.

It finally rained, hallelujah. We got about 2.5 inches last week- the first rain in about a month.  All the plants seem happy and the grass is growing so I'll have to mow again soon- the only down side to rain that I can figure.  But following the rain are predicted the hottest days we've seen yet, tomorrow is to hit 101 with a heat index of 105- oh mercy.  I'm glad I don't have to be outside much and can hide in the comfort of the AC.

The garden continues to shower us with delicious beans, squash and cukes, the tomatoes are being slow to come on as we got them in late but I think in another week they too will begin to pile up.  I made 3 more quarts of dill pickles yesterday to add to the 3 I made a couple of weeks ago and I think that will be enough for one season.  The blueberries are hitting their stride and we are picking about a pint a day so I'll probably start to freeze some of those soon as well.  There are benefits to summertime in the form of fresh food, I just wish it wasn't quite so hot.

I snapped this photo a week or so ago, we've been enjoying nibbling on these yellow fennel flowers, the bulbs haven't really formed and are tough, but the flowers add a sweet fennel flavor to salads or a breath freshening chew when you pass by out in the garden.  The sunflower is a volunteer. Call me common, but I like the look of the laundry as the back drop.

Summer is Official

HOWDY!
It's been way too long since I've stopped in here. With the solstice last Tuesday summer is official and I thought I better get a post in before June completely passed me by.  Don't you love that pink glow from the center of this leek flower?  The honey bee seems attracted by it as well.

Life was hectic and then we took a trip to Kentucky and Ohio to visit Davids relatives; living, dying and dead.. By this I mean we visited graveyards and tombstones as well as aging and sickly aunts and uncles and then spent two good days with the siblings and niece and nephew which was a refreshing reprieve.  The weather was a refreshing reprieve as well. We drove through a cold front and when we got out of the car in Lexington,Kentucky it felt like April; dry, 70 degrees and breezy.  That was truly a blessing.

On the way back home we visited a favorite park, Cave Mountain Lake, though on the weekend it was packed with people, nothing like the time we were there mid week a year or so ago and it was deserted.  I must say I prefer the latter.

On the home front we've  harvested about 80 pounds of onions and 75 heads of garlic and will be digging potatoes this weekend.  Glad to have a good onion harvest after a couple of years of so-so production. We're covered up with squash, beans and cucumbers and the blueberries are just starting to come on but it looks like it will be a good season for them if we can keep putting enough water down there. It's dry and hot, what unfortunately seems to be the typical summer pattern here anymore.   I'm praying every day for a thunderstorm to pass our way but we've had nothing in over two weeks and the dirt is like powder.  

I'm kinda proud of these fat beets too.  Gave them some extra fertilizer a month or so ago and been giving them lots of water and now they are sweet and plump.  They are going into lots of salads with cucumbers, purple onions and either fennel flowers or fresh dill.  Yeah, that's living brother.  The greens are might tasty too.

BOOM! Hot weather is here.

Summer came on all at once and with a vengeance. We've had a solid week of days in the upper 80's and 90's and there is another one just like it forecast for the days to come.  I'm trying not to complain since we had the longest coolest spring I can remember for many years.  But I sure hope we get a break and are not going to see temps in the 90's for three straight months.  It's enough to make me consider moving further north, for the summer at least.

In the meantime, I'm thinking hard about where I can get to some moving cool water and I have a couple of nearby rivers in mind for later this week.

Today I had to take my car to the shop.  When I got in the car on Sunday and cranked up the AC it was painfully obvious that something had died.  Stinkola.  Sure enough an unfortunate mouse had met its demise in the fan blades of my AC system and with the hot days had gotten quite ripe quite quickly.  I hope it won't take too long to get the smell out of there...

On a lighter note, the horsetail (Equisetum hyemale) coming up through the chives in flower was pretty stunning last week.  This is the edge of what I call the invasive plants garden.  We just try to keep things contained and let them battle it our for superiority and space. Horsetail, mint, painters palette (Persicaria virginiana), traveling ferns and salvia.  They look pretty good all together and seem to co-exist somehow.  But take heed, do not plant horsetail in your garden, you will be fighting it for the rest of eternity, even the lawnmower can barely keep it at bay.  We pull it up wholesale on a regular basis and it just grows right back.  The new shoots are cool looking, but I rue the day I planted it in my yard.

 

The cicadas are still at it though they seem to be easing up some.  Lots of dead ones litter the ground and leave a slightly uric smell on the air.  The tips of the tree branches are starting to turn brown where the females have cut the bark to lay their eggs and now those tips are drying and will soon fall.  I'll be glad when things are quieter again.

The onions are starting to fatten up and their tops fall over signaling harvest time coming soon.  The garlic tops are drying and browning too, I've starting pulling a few heads just to cook with, I finally used up the last head from last season a couple of weeks ago.  It feels pretty good to have grown enough garlic to get us through a whole year and this years crop promises to be as abundant.  The pea crop is peaking, despite the heat.  Summer crops look really good; the beans, squash and cukes are some of the healthiest plants I can remember. I hope that continues.  We tickled out a handful of new red potatoes the other night and they were super sweet and tasty, I'm leaving the rest to keep on growing.  I still haven't gotten my pepper plants in the ground, it's been too darn hot, but maybe tomorrow?  As usual, there is no end to the gardening demands this time of year.