Flowering/New Leaves Time 2026

Apple blossoms

Spring moves forward with the end of Flowering and New Leaves Time. Isn't it amazing how quickly the leaves grow from tiny, pale and fragile things to full size and darkening green?

We've had some lovely flowers this month.

Early Clematis

This is the earliest of our three Clematis vines. From this point, it has gone on to be covered with blooms.

Not to be outdone, our woods have also put on quite a display.

Forget Me Nots

White Form Forget Me Nots

Jack in the Pulpit

A new Trillium!

Wild Geranium

It has been a challenging month for us. The weather continues to be primarily cold and wet. We are still having many nights in the 40 degree range so the weather has been a struggle. The upcoming week appears to be improving.

Personally, both Bob and I are dealing with health issues which are greatly affecting our endurance. 

Bob is being treated for digestive issues which are causing fatigue as well as discomfort.

I mentioned in the last update that I was dealing with a sore back. Further testing revealed that I suffered a spinal compression fracture. No surgery is needed, just time to heal. I'm currently very limited in what I can do. No walks or yoga and I miss them both. There's only so much pain management that can be done. I find the best approach is to lie flat on my back and rest two or three times a day.

With both of us ailing, it has been difficult keeping the house clean and preparing the garden for the season.

Early planting

We finally got the cool weather crops planted.

Bob and friend planting

Bob's learning how to plant the starts. The cat is on hand to offer guidance. Bob has never actually done the planting. He has always been busy with other tasks. This is the year to learn.

We plan to plant the warm weather plants today and tomorrow. Hopefully the weather will stay more seasonal from now on.

Last month I mentioned the new strawberry bed. It's all done now. Here's the foundation.

Strawberry bed foundation

 

I helped a little by setting bricks in place.

Setting bricks in place

 
Then I showed Bob how to plant the strawberries. He did all of the center plants to save me the reaching.

Planting the berries

All of the materials used for this project were repurposed from other projects around the place.

Bob has done quite a bit of work on his mushroom garden.

He brought the inoculated logs out of the cellar and buried them in the soil/woodchip bed. (Inoculated with Chicken of the Woods spawn.)

Inoculated log segment

Setting them in place.

Placing the log segment

Finished placement.

All in place

After they were all buried, he got some free wood chips from Ithaca to place around the logs.

Gathering wood chips

This is how urbanites and suburbanites transport the woodchips.

Loaded up

Since we sold the van and trailer last year, we have joined their ranks.

Shiitake logs fruiting

Last year's Shiitake logs have given us over two pounds of mushrooms. We thought the logs were all spent.

A nice harvest

 Most of these have gone into the freezer.

Because of our health, we haven't done much to get away this month (not counting doctor's visits). However, we did go to a free concert near Ithaca.

Young Artists Concert

This group of young musicians was very good, and the female vocalist was phenomenal!

Of course, we had to go to the big book sale in Ithaca. (Just loaded up on the pain meds!)

Early visit

We went the first weekend and got four books.

The larger haul

Then we went again on Senior's Day when the prices are much lower. That time we got 14 books, 17 CDs and four DVDs.

I focused on CDs of original cast recordings of Broadway musicals. I grew up listening to these, borrowed from the public library. They are like old friends to me, and at fifty cents each, who could resist. While I am lying flat on my back, I have been reading. So far, I have finished six books. It's a good thing we got new ones at the sale.

We certainly hope to have better weather and be in better health by the next update.

We hope that your season is less problematic than ours has been. 

Enjoy and we'll be in touch next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Bouquet of fresh herbs

 

Bright Time/ Flowering Time 2024

Tiger Swallowtail on Rhododendron

Garden season is in full swing here. 

Setting out peppers

It began with setting out warm weather plants and sowing seeds.

Furrows for beans

Now things are well on their way.

Pole Beans

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Bush Beans

Sweet Potatoes

We're harvesting our early crops, as well.

Lettuce and Kale

Garlic Scapes

Tat soi and Lettuce

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.

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!) 

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.

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

Bathtime

Shadow is the cuddler

    

Song Time/ Falling Leaves Time 2023

The Harvest Moon marked the end of our month of Song Time/Falling Leaves Time. We're still busy with the garden, but the emphasis has shifted to final harvests and dismantling.

Right now we're in a brief period of warm and sunny days. Total duration should be almost a week. It's a great opportunity for maturing the dry beans and getting the clean up seriously underway.

Here's the garden report:

The corn, squash, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes are all done.

My tomatoes got late blight, so I had to pick what I could salvage and ripen them in the pantry.

Ripening tomatoes

I lost a large amount of fruit, but am pleased to report that I still got 56 pints in the freezer and five quarts of tomato leather dehydrated.

Macoun Apples

Bob has picked our early (Macoun) apples. We're enjoying those. Our Spitzenburg apples should be ready later in October. Soon I'll be freezing applesauce and drying apple slices.

Harvest starts with trimming vines

We harvested our sweet potatoes. The yield was between three and four bushels. We harvested a little late this year and so the potatoes are larger that I care for. We have to get on the ball earlier next year.

Large potatoes mean 2 meals per potato

We are enjoying fall raspberries and the Wine Cap mushrooms are really producing.

Wine Caps can get BIG!

I have nearly 11 quarts of dried slices so far, and they're still coming!

Dry beans are maturing. The Aduki and Kidney beans are all picked. Black beans and Turkey Craw are nearly all picked. In the next couple of days I will make another pass through the Hidatsa Shield beans and a first pass through the True Red Cranberry and Good Mother Stollard beans.

Harvesting Turkey Craw beans

We harvested my red cabbages and put down a crock of sauerkraut last weekend.

I chop the cabbage.

Bob packs it into the crock with salt.

Now, in addition to picking beans and what not, I'm beginning to seriously clean up and dismantle the garden for winter. I was lax about weeding this year, so I have a good bit of work ahead of me. I'm alternating this work with a quick window washing during this lovely warm spell.

Modern windows are SO nice!

Bob's got the old deck off, except for the old trellising. He ran into another snag there. The hornets have abandoned their nest. That's good. But one of the plants in the flower garden there has turned out to be a stubborn invasive plant. It stowed away in a daylily undetected. Now it has become very obnoxious. It's called Chameleon Plant.

Chameleon plant (Houttuynia cordata)

It spreads if any little bit of root or stem is in the soil. We have had to resort to an herbicide to get rid of it, and it will take more than one application. Due to it's aggressiveness, we will have to get rid of the other flowers in the garden. But, that's fine. It gives me a chance to start again with some different flowers.

Bob's been building the border for the new seating area and will build boxes for the flower beds, hopefully excluding any possibility of this plant sneaking in.

Equinox in Finger Lakes Nat Forest

We took time to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox with a nice meal and a walk in the Finger Lakes National Forest. The walk began in sunny weather, but it started to rain halfway through the walk. Luckily the tree canopy kept us a bit drier.

As you can see, we're still busy here, but rest time is in sight. We use October 31 as our target date to be done (mostly) with the garden and begin the shift toward rest and introspection.

We bid you strength and peace as you bring this season to a close and walk into the next.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Wintergreen and Southern Running Pine