Abundance/Ripening 2026

Seneca Lake, August 14th

It's been another busy month here. Progress has been made on all fronts. 

First, Bob.

Bob and Dr Pussy McWhiskers

Bob had another nasty spell of nausea (and consequently, not eating) before his second treatment. He wanted to postpone the injection, but the nurse said this wasn't a good idea. They didn't want the lesions in his liver to get an advantage on them. She did change his anti-nausea medications, and that helped right away. His weight had dropped to 133# by that visit. Now, with the new medications he's able to eat much better and is up to 142#. This also means that he's feeling better and has more energy. Keep him in your thoughts. His next treatment is September 8th. He also will have more bloodwork done and another PET scan at the end of the month to see if the treatment is having any effect. 

Finishing the sidewalk

 The sidewalk contractor finally came and removed the forms and some of the mess he left. I worked like mad to finish the cleanup and fill in the trenches he left along each edge of the walkway. 80# of topsoil and some grass seed made it look much better. This is important because our house went on the market August 3rd. We had three showings within the first four days.

Mission Accomplished!

 We received two offers and on August 16 accepted the better offer. Just 13 days on the market! We're very pleased!

We are scheduled to close on our new place September 16th. The buyers are tentatively scheduled to close on this house, October 23rd. That gives us a nice long window to move out.

Seneca Lake

 During the showings and open house, we were able to spend our time in nature. Twice we waited at Lodi Point State Park on Seneca Lake. The day of the open house, we went to Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.

 Montezuma Wildlife Refuge

 These were good opportunities to take a break and get outside.

Harvest, August 21

 The garden continues to produce in spite of minimal attention.

Shallots

 I got all of the shallots cleaned up and took most of them to the food pantry.

Garlic

 The garlic was also cleaned up and found its way to the food pantry. The volunteers were awed at the size of the heads. Good old compost!

Preparing to freeze beans

 Green beans are still coming. I've got quite a few in the freezer. This week the food pantry will be getting squash, cucumbers and green beans.

Potato harvest begins

 I harvested more potatoes last weekend. There are six more hills to harvest.

Since we will have access to this property until late October, I should be able to complete the harvests and get the garden cleaned up for the new owners. (Our average first frost date here is the second week of October.) I'll do what I can.

As you can imagine, much of my time now is spent pitching and packing. Shelves have been emptied and boxes are everywhere. Bob continues to handle the logistics. That's a full-time job in itself.

 

That's the news from here. We hope that your summer has been enjoyable.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Another shot of Seneca Lake

Seed Fall 2025

 

Welcome Autumn

The moon is full tonight, I trust, somewhere up above the rain clouds and high winds that we're experiencing.

It's been a very busy month finishing the garden season.

All of the harvests are done.

Carrot harvesting

Beets and carrots are in the root cellar.

Beet greens

The beet greens were removed and we're still eating these.

Moving trellises

All of the dried beans have been harvested. We had to carry the last four trellises into the garage so they could finish maturing safe from the frost.

I have 12 bushels of beans in the cellar waiting to be threshed out.

Surprise harvest

We got a very late harvest of shiitakes. This was totally unexpected. They were small but made a great soup.

Rainbow chard, the last harvest

The last thing we pulled from the garden was Swiss Chard.

Applesauce for the freezer

We have had to purchase apples this year. I have put 12 pints of applesauce into the freezer.

Zinnias saved from the frost

I picked the last of the zinnias the evening before our hard frost.

Once the harvests were done, we began closing down the garden in earnest.

Bob tackling the weeds

We had a huge amount of weeding to do, making up for last summer when I was unable to work in the garden.

We spent several long days but finished the job (in spite of the "help" we received from our porch cat).

Demanding attention

Now the beds are cleaned and all mulched!

A job well done

We also did some other chores.

More firewood

Bob had to get the chainsaw out and cut up some large branches blown down from the trees next to the garden.

Planting garlic & shallots

I got the garlic and shallots planted for next year.

See that striped tail!

Bob got four winter cat shelters in place. You can see this one in use just about a half hour after being set up. This is his favorite shelter.

We were too busy to get away this month, except for the No Kings 2.0 rally.

Making Good Trouble

We travelled to Oswego to join family members (and 1000 others) for the event.

We also went to the huge Ithaca book sale two times. We scored 22 books and 3 CDs. Since the garden has been finished, we've been reading a lot.

We finished the garden on October 30th. This is right on schedule, for we try to be done by Samhain (Oct 31st).

For us Samhain marks the time when we shift our focus from providing for our physical needs, to providing for our inner needs. It's the start of our serious rest period. Now we're reading, thinking and re-creating ourselves. I'm knitting and Bob's catching up on little jobs.

We hope that you too, can begin to see late fall and winter as times to relax and rebuild. Our culture insists on seeing this season in a negative light. A burden and distasteful. Try to break free from that prejudice. It really can be such a nourishing season. Embrace it as such.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Lovely Autumn

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

 

Shoots Show/Growing Time 2025

 

Mini Daffodils

The title of this installment could be "The Soggy Saga of Thistledown Gardens".

Our weather, with the exception of three days has been cool and wet. Granted, we haven't experienced any flooding, but there's nowhere you can walk without hearing "squish".

In spite of the weather, we've been busy with spring tasks.

Garden is open!

The garden season has begun!

The first harvest

We've had our first harvest! This is lettuce and chervil that self seeded last autumn. I always leave some to go to seed so we can have an early "free" harvest. We're still picking from this. It helps to bridge the vegetable gap we begin to experience at this time of year.

Planting begins

I've sown peas, lettuces and spinach already.

Peas coming up

 

The peas are up but not climbing yet. Some of the lettuce and spinach are up as well.

Chieftan seed potato 

Three types of potatoes have been planted.

Of course, expert help is always appreciated.

Cat acts in advisory capacity

Many of the potatoes are emerging now.

French Fingerling up

I've set out my cool weather starts: cabbage, Asian greens, chard, kale, lettuce, celery and parsley.

Ready for planting

Today I set out my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and zinnias. If nights get cool next week, I'll have to cover them.

While I've been busy with the garden, Bob's been attending to his chores.

He sprayed the apple trees with clay to keep the insects off of the forming apples.

Shiitake logs ready to grow

His Shiitake logs are all stacked and ready for the season.

Sycamore seedlings

Two years ago, he sowed some seeds for Sycamore trees.

He has now transplanted six of the seedlings to various locations on our property.

Planted seedling

Currently, he's replenishing the cedar mulch around our back seating area.

Fresh mulch

We participated in a protest in a small neighboring village on May Day. We finished just before the daily rain came.

May Day rally in Ovid

We had three really nice days this month. On April 24th, we walked a portion of the Black Diamond Trail in Ithaca.

Along the Black Diamond Trail

The second beautiful day was Mother's Day. We decided to stay at home and walk on our own property.

Walking our property

We also just spent much of the day relaxing on our porch reading, listening to the birds and enjoying the fragrances of spring.

A good book and a lovely day

Our summer birds are returning. The Hummingbirds returned on May 1st. The Orioles are back and have already gone through two 32oz jars of grape jelly. The Towhees are back and the Wood Thrush are singing in the woods. We really enjoy the birds.

Within the next month the garden planting will be finished and hopefully the weather will be more consistently pleasant.

Happy Spring.

Until next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Red Currant in bloom

 

Jack in the Pulpit