Seed Fall/Frost Time 2024

Milkweed seeds

The leaves are all down, with the exception of our large red oak. We've had a decent frost, but no hard freeze yet. It's been dry, quite breezy and generally, warmer than it should be.

The nice weather allowed us to finish up our outside chores on schedule - October 30th to be exact.

Laying out garlic bulbs

I have planted the garlic and shallots for next year.

A filled wood bin

Bob has filled the wood bin in the cellar.

Bob and his compost stash

He's covered all of the beds with a layer of fresh compost.

A pretty new compost pile

And our compost pile has been restacked for a proper balance of green and brown material. We tend to get out of balance with too much green until the leaves come down. Now it's as it should be.

The garden is now at rest.

Nature's perfect solar collector

This is one of our porch cats. We call him Marmalade because we have no idea what his real name is. He, at least at one time, belonged to someone in the neighborhood, because he wears a collar. It appears that he's been on his own for quite some time, but we don't know for sure. He spends a good deal of time at our house. If we are in the garden, he's generally there, too.

This is Bob being busy

He's really attached to Bob. As you can see, it can be difficult for Bob to get work done. (Work other than petting and warming up a cold cat.) 

On cold days Marmalade not only cries at our kitchen door but knocks on it trying to lure Bob outside to sit with him. Mind you, he has five different warming boxes available for his use.

Scarlet Runner beans

Now that we're inside, I've begun my bean threshing. I got two bushels done earlier this week.

Time to remove the toilet

Bob has resumed work on the bathroom. He finally had to remove the toilet so that he could finish taping and mudding. He didn't want to take out this fixture for two reasons; it's a yucky job, and he hasn't been looking forward to making trips to the downstairs bathroom a couple of times each night. Fortunately, so far neither of us has fallen down the stairs in a drowsy stupor.

The drywall work is now nearly finished, and I should begin priming and painting next week. This needs to be done before installing the shower surround, vanity ...

Our book sale haul

We went to the Autumn book sale in Ithaca and stocked up on reading material for our winter rest time.

Future sweater

I have also begun Bob's winter sweater.

We went on two outings with the fine weather we had this month.

Cornell's Sapsucker Woods

Early in the month we walked at Sapsucker Woods on a sunny and warm day. Tee shirts in the beginning of November?!

Salmon River Falls

Samhain marks the halfway point between the Autumnal Equinox and the Winter Solstice. We celebrated the day by traveling north and visiting the Salmon River Falls in Orwell. 

The Salmon River bisects the village where I grew up. Because my family had no car, I never saw the falls, despite their close proximity. Now I have seen them, and they are quite nice. We stopped off to see Lake Ontario (Selkirk Shores State Park) on the way home. We had a very enjoyable day. By the way, our new electric car took us there and back comfortably and without a glitch.

Settling in

We continue to try and balance our projects with restorative pursuits. Some days we're more successful than others, but we keep at it. Each day is a new opportunity to pursue balance.

Sunrise on November 10

We hope that you may achieve a desirable level of balance this season, especially heading into the season of holidays. Here's something to ponder. Take time to consider what you do for the holidays and what you would like to do. Traditions can be comforting or confining. Don't be afraid to step out toward what you would like to do. Holidays are meant to feed the soul, not drain it. Pursue what feeds, not what drains.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Supervisor Marmalade

Full Beaver Moon

Song Time/Falling Leaves Time 2024

 

Autumn Greetings

Song Time/Falling Leaves Time was ushered in with the September Harvest Moon.

An interesting moon shot

Bob got a shot of it when the heavy cloud cover briefly parted.

This month has been very busy with the garden. Until this week we had warm and beautiful weather. It was ideal for finishing the harvest and cleaning up the garden.

Beet harvesting

Beets and carrots have been pulled and stored. The potatoes are all in the root cellar.

Three kinds of potatoes

The beans are all in the cellar waiting to be threshed (13 bushels worth). Threshing begins in about a month.

Applesauce making

I made applesauce and both freezers are now full.

Bob helps dry apples

Right now, we're dehydrating apple slices.

Bob's shiitake logs had one final flush for the season. These mushrooms were dried for tasty soups this winter.

A good mushroom harvest

All that remains to be put up are horseradish and a crock of spicy sunchokes. We typically do these on Thanksgiving weekend.

Shoveling compost over straw

While I was finishing the harvests, Bob began weeding and amending the empty beds with compost.

Pulling off bean vines

I helped by pulling out the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers and cleaning off all of those bean trellises.

The upcoming week is supposed to be dry and warmer again, so our goal is to have the cleanup and amending all done by the end of October.

Firewood assembly line

Bob cut his medium wood today. This is wood that is too large to break by hand, and too small for the chainsaw. He's come up with a handy way to cut it into stove length pieces. He sets up his compound miter saw and has the bin filled in no time at all. 

On a warm day next week, he'll fill the wood bin in the cellar with regular stove logs which are already cut. We had our little "seasoning" fire in the stove just a couple of nights ago, so we're all ready for the cold weather.

Cayuga Lake

We got away for one walk this month. We went to Cayuga Wildlife Management Area (formerly known as Bell Station Preserve). It was peaceful with nice views of Cayuga Lake.

We are now in the season when we readjust our balance. We shift from a focus on providing for our physical needs, to a focus of providing for our inner needs. From growing, harvesting and preserving, to rest, creative endeavors and activities to feed our inner selves.

So now we gather the books, and I pick up the needles and we sit by the fire. We take time to think and to listen. A pot of tea and good music will be our companions. Nature rests and so do we.

We hope all of you can practice at least some of this, for your wellbeing, as well as for those whose lives you touch.

We bid you peaceful rest.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Happy Shiitake log

At Cayuga Wildlife Area

Harvest/Ingathering 2024

A Harvest Basket

The harvest moon has come and gone. Have you been wondering where we are? We've been pinned under the produce cart!

Seriously, the garden has been producing heavily and we've been scrambling to gather it in and preserve it. 

Our weather has been pleasant and a bit warmer than normal. This makes the tomatoes and eggplants very happy. I'm happy because the nights are cool and refreshing.

Husking sweet corn

We harvested our somewhat smaller corn crop.

Bob learning a new skill

Bob helped me get the largest portion into the freezer.

He also dug all of the regular potatoes and the sweet potatoes.

"Who's been nibbling?"

As usual, we had some damage to the sweet potatoes from rodents, but still had plenty to store for winter. And no blimps this year because we dug them in a timely manner.

Another year's stash

We had a bumper crop of squash and ate squash daily for two or three weeks. It's finished now, and we're not sorry.

The green beans have produced quite well. The freezer quota has been met, so now I'm dehydrating the rest. They are almost done now, as well.

Eggplants and peppers are still producing. Tomatoes are going bonkers.

Prepping tomatoes to freeze

I have frozen 48 pints of tomatoes and 14 pints of pasta sauce. That fulfills the freezer quota for those.

Ready for the freezer

Now I am daily filling the dehydrator with tomato leathers, and we're eating tomatoes three times a day! Today Bob took some down to the library for the staff and patrons there.

Both freezers are now full, except for the space that I've reserved for 12 pints of applesauce. I have been very busy. September is easily our busiest month here.

Bob has been able to take time and finish the seating area where our back deck used to be.

New seating area behind the house

All that remains to be done there is digging out the old flower bed next to it. That area will be seeded to grass because there is a nasty invasive there. We will be able to mow it down continually in the hopes that it will finally die out.

We have, remarkably, taken some relaxation time amidst all of this bustle.

Teeter Pond on August 29th

At the end of August, we walked to Teeter Pond in the Finger Lakes National Forest. You can see that the Red Maples were just beginning to change color. They're one of the earliest trees to turn here in the autumn.

Then, just this month, we took our first vacation in 15 years! That's right, we haven't even gone away for a night since our last annual vacation in October of 2009.

We travelled up to Alexandria Bay on the St. Lawrence River. That's the Thousand Islands area. (For non-New Yorkers, there are really 1,826 islands.)

We spent four days and three nights in Alex Bay. We did some very touristy things, and some walks and hikes in local State Parks.

View of Boldt Castle from Alex Bay

We toured Boldt Castle and its extensive grounds. It was a beautiful place, inside and out. It is on Heart Island in the middle of the St Lawrence River and is only accessible by boat. We took the shuttle boat over there.

A portion of the Castle front

The library, an example of the interior

Besides the mansion, there are three large outbuildings; a huge arch structure and swan pond; and many gardens and walks.

The electrical powerhouse 

The arch and swan pond (no swans)

The Italian Garden

The next day we hiked all morning at the Wellesley Island State Park. This was our favorite of the parks that we visited.

The St Lawrence from Wellesley Island

The hike was challenging but the views were lovely. We thought all of the outcroppings of granitic bedrock reminded us of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. 

We encountered a Bald Eagle just a few feet above us on one of the trails.

Bald Eagle at Wellesley Island

We also saw a lone loon on the river there. It's the first we've seen or heard since we left Minnesota. We found it very stirring.

Loon on the river

Later that afternoon we rested our sore feet and took a two-hour cruise on the river from the US to Canada and back again. There were many opulent homes to see, but we were far more interested in the natural scenery and all of the birds we saw.

One of the Ospreys that we saw

 

Swan on a shoal in the river

Cormorant, one of many, drying its wings

The weather was gorgeous for our entire stay, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

We won't wait another 15 years before our next vacation. Hopefully we can return to our old pattern of a vacation each October.

Of course, one always has to come home. We came home to a garden gone crazy. This is what I picked the afternoon we returned:

A lot to deal with

Well, you can see what we've been up to this month and can surmise what we will be doing for the next month.

We'll be marking the Equinox with good food and fun. Enjoy your autumn.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Alexandria Bay Point Park

Monarch on Wellesley Island