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| Tiger Swallowtail on Rhododendron |
Garden season is in full swing here.
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| Setting out peppers |
It began with setting out warm weather plants and sowing seeds.
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| Furrows for beans |
Now things are well on their way.
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| Pole Beans |
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| Potatoes |
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| Tomatoes |
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| Bush Beans |
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| Sweet Potatoes |
We're harvesting our early crops, as well.
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| Lettuce and Kale |
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| Garlic Scapes |
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| Tat soi and Lettuce |
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| Strawberries |
Most of the harvest so far has been eaten right away. We have frozen 30 pints of strawberries and one large batch (7pints) of rhubarb sauce.
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| Rhubarb sauce oven ready |
Most of this work was done before June 10th. That will be the pivotal date for us this summer.
That morning I slipped on the wet ramp leading into our garden shed. I fell very hard on my right side and broke the humeral head of my right shoulder. (Of course, I am right-handed!)
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| On the "disabled play list" |
The good news is that I won't need surgery. The bad news is that I have a horrendous bruise and my arm is immobilized for at least four weeks. Then, according to the orthopedist, we'll see about getting the sling off, beginning physical therapy... He says three to four months to heal. All of this when garden season is just picking up.
Adding insult to injury (literally) I can't even occupy myself with favorite pastimes of needlework and harp playing. Although, truth be told, I have started playing left hand portions of my songs just to keep up somewhat.
Most of what I did last week was nap and read. I've read three books so far.
My personal assistant (you know who) now has his work cut out for him.
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| Bob learns to make garlic scape pesto |
Bob's had to set aside his bathroom project in order to help me care for my daily needs, prep and cook meals, maintain the house, yard and garden and in general, keep life going.
He's going to learn a lot this summer: more cooking and garden care, how to freeze produce and braid my hair. He'll get to be more speedy at vacuuming and chopping vegetables, too. (I hope!)
It will be a challenging summer for both of us.
Before my accident, we visited the Harriet Tubman Homesite in Auburn, New York. We learned an awful lot. The presentation was very interesting. The extent of my knowledge from grade school was: A) she was African American and B) she worked with the Underground Railroad. If that's the extent of your knowledge, too, take some time to learn more.
We took yesterday off to mark the summer solstice. We're in a nasty heat wave here, so we stayed inside and played a game, watched a movie and enjoyed a nice dessert. Bob helped make lemon poppyseed scones for breakfast, sweet potato burritos for lunch and blueberry cobbler for later.
Tomorrow's challenge is to harvest and freeze kale and chard. I can do some of the chopping necessary, but can't manage all of it, nor the blanching and such. Another day of learning for Bob.
Well, that's the big news for here. We've got a "tough row to hoe" but we'll make it work.
Take care. Watch out for slippery ramps. Enjoy your summer and send some good energy our way.
I'll close with pictures of two of our porch cats. We call these two Marmalade and Shadow.
Till next time,
Kathleen and Bob
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| Bathtime |
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| Shadow is the cuddler |
