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

 

Abundance/Ripening Time 2024

 

Some August produce

Abundance/Ripening Time marks the zenith of summer. Our garden production is a bit down this year, so today we ordered 13 yards of mushroom compost to pep it up for next season. Still, we're getting enough produce to feed ourselves now and later.

More of summer's bounty

We're freezing a variety of things: green beans, cabbage, parsley and celery leaves, sweet peppers and pasta sauce.

Our blueberries did quite well and were delicious. 

Blueberries and shiitake mushrooms

Bob's shiitakes have had a few flushes (fruiting periods). I'm beginning to dry them now.

1 quart of dried mushrooms

Today we took an assortment of vegetables and put it into our 7.5-liter fermentation crock. We haven't done a mixed crock in several years and are looking forward to the results.

A lot of goodies for the mixed crock

Later this week we plan to dig our sweet potatoes, before they reach the football stage.

The garden had become quite overgrown with weeds while I was laid up with my fracture. We spent every day last week weeding and finally got it back into reasonable condition.

I can raise my arm again!!!

 On August 5, my orthopedist said I was 80-90% healed and that I should start to resume all of my normal activities. I will see him for (hopefully) the last time on September 6th. In the meantime, I've been practicing my harp, doing most of my yoga and about all of my other regular activities. There's still quite a bit of scar tissue to deal with, but I'm improving daily.

Ramp improvement underway

Bob has reconstructed the "scene of the crime" - our garden shed ramp. He replaced the treated wood decking, which was showing signs of deterioration, with new composite decking. Then he replaced our rubber non-skid mats with metal grip strips. This should be a better solution.

Goodbye Leaf

We sold our electric Leaf this month. It was a good little car for Bob's short commute, and a good chance to see if we liked an electric car. The new owner wants it for the same purpose. If he likes electric, he'll buy another when this one's battery is finished.

This month we went on two outings.

Peaceful Lake Ontario

First we went to Sterling Nature Center, which has trails in the woods and along the shore of Lake Ontario.

A wooded trail at Fillmore Glen

Our next trip was a return to Fillmore Glen State Park.

Both days were hot, but we stayed cool by going to the lakeshore and into the woods.

This is what's been keeping us busy here. It's hard to believe that September is just ahead!

We hope that all of you have been enjoying this season of abundance. The harvests are at hand.

Take care, until next time,

Kathleen and Bob

At Sterling Nature Center

Button Bush at Sterling

Fire Fly TIme/ Long Days Time 2024

Our garden July 20th

Well, here we are at the high point of summer. Our weather has been quite warm and at times, stormy. We haven't experienced any tornadoes or microbursts at our house, but they have been nearby. Last Monday we lost power about 6pm, just as I was finishing cooking dinner. The power was not restored for about 30 hours. Tuesday was very hot. We had no air conditioning, no power for cooking or to run the well pump (so no water or plumbing for you city folks). I would not open the refrigerator or freezers, so very little food, too. To cope with this, we made an impromptu road trip. We spent the day in the air-conditioned car, shops, restaurants and by Seneca Lake. We were able to keep cool, have food to eat, water to drink and access to working bathrooms, in addition to relaxing by the lake. We made an enjoyable day out of a very difficult situation.

Seneca Lake view

Full garden on July 20th

Our garden is coming right along.

We are processing chard, kale and cabbage for the freezer.

Cabbage and friends

The peas are all done, as are lettuce and black raspberries.

Raspberries and Blueberries

Bob picked all of the red and black currants that we wanted to freeze. The rest are left for the wildlife to enjoy.

Black currants

Red currants

Now the blueberries are beginning to come in. We have five varieties which ripen at slightly different times. This spreads out our harvest nicely.

A generous supply of dill

I have dried our dill and am freezing parsley and celery leaves in small batches. I'm also drying Calendula blossoms for our fall and winter tea mix.

Calendula-a basket of sunshine

Bob has harvested the garlic and shallots, which are laid out to cure right now.

Curing garlic

The shiitake mushrooms are coming in, but we're not overrun by them yet.

Shiitake mushrooms

The wine cap mushrooms had stopped producing because they had used up their growing medium. To remedy this, Bob got a load of free wood chips in Ithaca and has topped off the bed.

Replenishing the bed

Once the mycelium has spread into the new chips the mushrooms will begin fruiting again.

Fire Blight

One of our apple trees has developed Fire Blight. This is a very nasty disease. Bob has been dealing with that. Fighting it requires severe pruning, burning the trimmings and diligent monitoring to watch for any spreading of the disease. We hope to save the tree because this variety we use for eating out of hand and making applesauce.

Bob's been able to tend to a few of these things because my arm is slowly healing.

Starting to work again

About two weeks after my accident, I was allowed to use my hand and wrist, while keeping my shoulder immobilized. I could begin to chop vegetables and do some needlework (hurrah!).

Finally, something to do

After one month, the break was healing, and my sling came off. I could begin to increase movement and weight up to five pounds. This is where I am at now. It's still pretty uncomfortable and there's much I can't do. It's very easy to overdo and pay for it later. But I can now comb my own hair, dress and bathe myself. For all of this, I am very thankful! I will see my orthopedist again in two weeks (eight weeks post injury). He said that if all is well, it will be my last visit with him. Each day there seems to be some improvement, if I don't overdo the preceding day.

Bob's new car

Just last week we bought a new car. We've never had a NEW car. We knew we'd need to get a newer car because our Honda is 20 years old and beginning to need more repairs. The Leaf isn't as useful to us because of its limited range. We've been saving for this, and our investments have been performing well, so we decided it was time to act.

We bought an all-electric Hyundai Ioniq 5. They offered a very good package of warranty and extras. It gets good reviews and has a great range. We really like it.

We are in the process of selling the Leaf, and once we get a few more errands done with the Honda, we will sell that, too.

I'll stop here. You can see that we are hanging in there and looking forward to more progress.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Black raspberries ripening

Young Acorns