Harvest/Ingathering 2025

 

Vegetables Incoming!

The month of Harvest/Ingathering ends today, but the work continues.

Pantry is all back together

First of all, our freezer was delivered on the morning of the 20th. By that afternoon the pantry was put back together and the freezer was halfway filled. Now it's nearly all filled.

Refinishing the worktable

During that long waiting period, I refinished the small worktable that sits beside the freezer, as well as the tops of our two sofa tables.

This is the season when the garden production really peaks.

1 1/2 gallons of calendula flowers

I've put away the Calendula flowers that I dried for autumn and winter teas.

Bob cleans shallots

Bob helped me by cleaning the shallots...

Cleaning garlic

... while I cleaned the garlic.

Garlic and shallots hung for storage

Now they're all hanging in the cellar, ready for winter use.

Tomatoes for the freezer

Green beans and tomatoes are coming on strong now. I've finished freezing beans and can only fit in three more jars of tomatoes. I've begun dehydrating beans and will soon be drying tomato leathers.

I've made pasta sauce and frozen my quota (seven pints).

Shiitake mushrooms ready to harvest

Shiitake mushrooms have been sauteed and frozen and I have begun freezing corn.

Aduki Beans are drying

The Aduki beans are beginning to dry. We've made three pickings so far. That's a bushel in the cellar.

Bob digging potatoes

Bob's been busy with potatoes. He dug all of the regular potatoes, which I packed and put into the root cellar.

A couple bushels of potatoes

Just the other day, we both worked to dig the sweet potatoes.

Sweet potatoes

We got about a bushel of those. They're curing now. In a couple of weeks, they will be individually wrapped and stored in a warm part of the cellar. (In the space beneath the hanging garlic and shallots.)

We got away just a couple of times during this busy season.

We went to visit my oldest brother one afternoon. A couple of days later we had some errands to do near my hometown, so we had a visit with a cousin of mine. Then we picnicked at Selkirk Shores State Park on Lake Ontario. 

Beautiful weather and two nice visits.

Rescued Sunflowers

Fall seems to be coming right along. Our weather is beginning to fluctuate between short spans of cool and warm temperatures. The winds are picking up, so typical of spring and autumn.

The strong winds tend to knock down our tall sunflowers. When that happens, I cut off what blossoms I can save and bring them inside for a little extra cheer. We need all we can get these days.

The harvest is really what's taking up my time this month. Bob's time has been divided between the garden and his civic activities.

We continue to live as responsible, thinking citizens in this time of escalating chaos. 

Be strong and determined.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Sunset reflected in Cumulus clouds

Morning sun reveals spider web

Abundance/Ripening 2025

It's blueberry season

Last night's full moon ended the month of Abundance/Ripening here at Thistledown Gardens. 

Today's update happens to fall on the 14th anniversary of our buying this house. It has taken us all the 14 years to do the majority of the renovation work: broken doors and window shades, sketchy wiring, dirty wallpaper, absolutely gross carpets. The list goes on and on. There are still smaller jobs waiting to be done.

Bob has just finished one of those.

Cellar doors

Our outside cellar doors were in need of repair and a new paint job.

Bob had to repair the concrete which covers the original stonework. Then he had to make repairs to the metal doors, scrape off rust and paint them.

The finished job

The job is finished and looks much better. The paint will stabilize the doors, which should be usable for many more years.

I've begun resealing our porch glider. All of the old finish was gone. Now, this too will be protected from further deterioration.

Resealing the glider

I'll finish this job tomorrow morning.

The garden is coming along, although a bit behind schedule, due to the cool spring.

Laying out Calendula to dry

As I mentioned last time, I needed to get one more batch of Calendula blossoms laid out to dry. That has been done.

Harvesting garlic

The garlic has been harvested...

Shallots

...as well as the shallots.

Shallots ready to dry

All of these are drying in the cellar. I'll put them away sometime this week.

18# of cabbage to freeze

All of the early green cabbage has been harvested. Most of it (some 36#) is in the freezer. The late red cabbage will be used to make sauerkraut.

 Blueberries

The blueberries have been very plentiful. I've frozen some, we've eaten a lot and have shared some with others.

Green beans, patty pan squash, peppers and cukes have been coming in as well.

6-foot-tall tomatoes

The tomato plants are looking good and setting fruit. None of it is ripe yet, but as you'll soon find out, that's quite all right.

Sowing beets and carrots

My late beets and carrots have been sowed. I hope that they do well.

You may remember that we use two small chest freezers for much of our vegetable storage. On July 11, one of our freezers conked out (after 21 years of service). That left us with one nearly full freezer heading into prime freezing season. We purchased a new, larger upright freezer that day, which would replace both of the smaller freezers. We figured that since the two were purchased together, the second one may likewise quit at any time.

The new freezer was supposed to be delivered on July 23. Okay, I could deal with that. We had to remove pantry shelves, repair and repaint walls and rearrange the entire room to accommodate the new freezer. We hustled and finished that job.

Dead freezer and shuffled shelves

 

New freezer space

Now for the fun. On July 20th, we got a text saying that our freezer could not be delivered until August 20th!!! YIKES! 

Now our only freezer is FULL! I keep telling the green beans and tomatoes to "keep their pants on" and hold off until the new freezer arrives. It better come on the 20th, or I may go berserk.

We've gotten out a few times this month.

Buttermilk Falls State Park

We walked at Buttermilk Falls Park twice.

On Lammas Day (August 1), we drove to Green Lakes State Park, had a picnic and walked around Green and Round Lakes. It was a beautiful day.

Green Lake

Lammas Day is the celebration of early harvest. For supper we had a selection of vegetables fresh from the garden. Dessert was blueberry pie.

For Lammas Day supper

It was a nice day of relaxation during a busy season.

That's about all of the news for now. As you know, our garden doesn't vanish on Labor Day, so we'll be busy - hopefully filling the new freezer. Stay tuned to find out, "Will they get their freezer, Or will Kathy lose her marbles?".

Enjoy the season.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Lammas Day

Tiger Swallowtail along the path

Firefly / Long Days' Time 2025

Nasturtiums

And just like that, Firefly/Long Days' Time is done. 

Summer has finally found us here with hot, humid weather and several sunny or partly sunny days.

The garden plants are picking up the pace.

Overall shot of the garden on 7/10

Potato plants are very happy.

Potato bed starting to bloom

So are the nasturtiums, which are used for pest control and pollinator attraction.

A bank of nasturtiums

As the season progresses, these flowers are enveloped with a constant buzzing from all of the pollinators at work.

Beans climbing their trellises

The pole beans are all climbing their supports and should start blossoming soon.

The kitchen has been busy. I've been freezing parsley and celery leaves.

Garlic scapes

 

Garlic scapes have been converted into pesto and that's been frozen.

First peas

The peas have come in and are just about finished. (Like me, they don't do well in the heat.) I froze a couple of quarts. That's enough for winter curries and stews.

Freezing Kale

I've begun freezing kale and chard.

Chopping chard to freeze

I'll continue freezing these greens into the autumn.

Dishpan full of calendula

I've picked two large dishpans full of calendula flowers and laid them out in the attic to dry.

Drying on screens

This is a major ingredient in our autumn and winter tea blend. I still need to dry a couple more pans full to have and adequate supply on hand.

Black raspberries and blueberries are coming on now. We really bulk up on our anthocyanins at this time of year.

The lettuce and spinach are done for now. The strawberries are finished. We gave several boxes away.

Garlic and shallots will be pulled soon and laid out to dry for winter use.

Apricot down

 

We lost nearly half of one of our apricot trees this month. It wasn't from a storm. Upon examination, we found a large area of decay in the juncture between trunks. These trees are short lived, so it was not a huge surprise. Now it's firewood.

"No Kings" rally in Ithaca

We've attended a couple of rallies and "honk and wave" events: two on "No Kings" Day and two on Independence Day.

Independence Day

We will continue to speak for Democracy and justice for as long as we can.

On the solstice, we walked at Watkins Glen State Park.

Solstice at Watkins Glen

It was a bit hot, even in the gorge, and very crowded.

The heat has prevented us from more outings. I'm photosensitive and get sick in the heat. We will have to get out more once cooler autumn weather arrives.

We finally sold our gas-powered car and the utility trailer we used with it. After Bob retired the second car has gotten little use. Now we'll save some money on insurance, maintenance and what not. If we find we need a truck, we'll rent one for a couple of hours.

That's about all that's keeping us busy and off of the streets. We hope you're all well and enjoying the summer.

Be safe, be strong, be courageous.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Spleenwort in Watkins gorge