Harvest/Ingathering 2023

We grow some really tall sunflowers!

Here we are, four days after the full moon, and I'm just getting our Harvest/Ingathering update out to you. That's how busy it is here. This is quite possibly our busiest time of year. So, right on to it...

Our weather in August was very cloudy, and sometimes rather cool. It's obvious that summer is on the decline. Very warm days are predicted for this week, but the nights will still be rather cool. We're hoping for sunnier conditions for September. We want to keep that solar production up!

The daily harvest on August 21

The garden work has kept me busy. I've picked nearly all of the blue berries, processed all of the celery and the freezers are filling up. There's still room for tomatoes, corn, applesauce and a few more boxes of kale.

Harvesting fingerling potatoes

Picking green and yellow beans

I've begun digging potatoes, we're eating green beans, cucumbers, eggplants and squash daily. Our meals are determined by what's piled up the highest in the kitchen! It makes for some very odd combinations.

This is what came in on August 31

The tomatoes are starting to come in. I hope to get some into the freezer very soon.

Wisconsin Chief tomato

I began freezing corn on Friday. It generally takes four weekly sessions to process all of the corn in my patch.

Shucking right between the patch and compost pile

Soon we'll be digging the sweet potatoes. You can see how luxurious the vines are. Hope we're getting a nice crop below.

Sweet potato vines running rampant

In addition to all of this, we're also eating and processing our wine cap mushrooms. The bed had gotten too dry, but with extra attention it seems to have recovered somewhat. This delayed production a little. In just one day this week, we harvested over five pounds.

Five pounds of Wine cap-they're large!

 In addition to fresh eating, I've sautéed and frozen some and dehydrated quite a few.

In the midst of all this, Bob brought in some "wildlings" from our woods and meadow. One day he came in with a couple of quarts of blackberries and a nice amount of wild mushrooms.

Wild blackberries

Chicken of the Woods

Both are now in the freezer and will be a pleasant treat in the cold months.

While I have been busy with all of this, Bob's been busy outside.

The deck almost gone

He's been removing the old deck. It was 18'x24', so there was a lot to remove. He's saved a few of the reusable materials to make a trellis for my clematis and some planting boxes.

He ran into a snag (this happens on all projects). Notice the white trellising in the photo. On the back of this is growing a shrubby vine that is very large. It has to be cut out before that trellising can be removed. As Bob was hacking away at it, he uncovered an active hornet's nest! It's the size of a basketball and was totally hidden in the shrub. He's very fortunate that he saw it before hacking into it or bumping into it. He didn't get one sting! The colony will disband and die with the cold weather, so the trellis will stand until that time. Other than that, the deck removal is complete. We're still discussing what exactly we want to do with this area.

This week Bob's been busy cleaning up the mountain of discarded material by the garage.

With all of our renovation work and the deck removal, we had amassed quite a debris pile.

20 yard dumpster arrives

On Tuesday afternoon we had a 20 yard dumpster delivered. As of today the pile has been loaded in and the dumpster is full. It will be picked up this week. That's a big sense of accomplishment!

In the month ahead there's still plenty for us to do. Our garden certainly does not quit on Labor Day, so I'll have my hands full there. Bob's got various little maintenance jobs to do. Many small tasks get set aside during larger jobs. We'll also be sure to take some time to enjoy the nice late summer/early autumn weather, especially on the equinox. 

We hope you too, will take time to enjoy the season's change.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Some of our wine cap mushrooms

Abundance/Ripening Time 2023

Bright Sunflowers

The summer seems to be slipping by. It's been a busy month for us here. We have many pictures in this edition. For those who enjoy the photos, you have a bonus.

The garden on July 20th

First up, the garden. It's beginning to produce a bit more, but we're still waiting for green beans, squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. What we do have is: fruit

A mixture of berries

Strawberries are done, blueberries are still going and autumn raspberries are trickling in.

Blueberries have been very productive

I have harvested all of the green cabbages. Red are next to be gathered.

One of our green cabbages

I'm still freezing kale, parsley and celery. We're just beginning to bring in beets, carrots, potatoes and wax beans.

Harvest starts small and slowly.

The garlic and shallots have been harvested...

Freshly pulled garlic

...and are curing in the cellar. (We decided that the attic may be too hot.)

Curing shallots and garlic

We decided it was time to do some maintenance work in our bird garden. Our primary ground cover there is lemon thyme.

Lemon Thyme in bloom

It is very beautiful and fragrant, the bees are ga-ga over it, and it grows like crazy. It had almost obliterated our walkway to the feeders. So, we decided to cut it back some and reclaim the path.

Bob working at one end of the path

I began work at the other end

It looks a little rough right now, but will soon look as if nothing happened. We took all that we removed and put it on each side of the front porch area. We hope that it will settle in there nicely.

The porch is finished. We love it, as does our neighbor's cat!

The neighbor's cat has claimed the porch

Here are the "more pictures" that I promised last time:

The final product

View from the doorway

Nice dining area

View from the porch

Another view of our apple trees

Final view of the yard

Yesterday's full moon coincided with Lamas Day. Lamas Day is the midway point between the Summer Solstice and the Autumnal Equinox. It's the high point of summer. We mark it as a time to celebrate the early harvests. Our weather was beautiful and we spent the day walking at Fillmore Glen State Park.

Enjoying a picnic on the trail

One of the views along the trail

A Red Spotted Newt beside the trail

We walked at a leisurely pace, taking three and a half hours, with many stops for photographs. We took a quick nap after we got home. We're getting old, you know!

Finally, this month we were also surprised when the village actually repaved all of the village streets (there aren't that many). We've been here for 12 years this month, and never has any repair work been done on our street. It was really deteriorating. We have heard that repaving was last done several decades ago.

The crew in front of our house

So we have a nice, smooth street out front. But now, our front walk needs to be done, and that's our responsibility. The projects never end, you know.

That's about it for this month's happenings. We hope you continue to enjoy your summer.

Till next time,

Kathleen and Bob

Hens and Chicks

Another lovely rainbow

Firefly/Long Days Time 2023

After a recent storm

The full moon has come and gone, and so our month of Firefly/Long Days Time has slipped away, too.

It's been smokey and rainy much of this past month. Now the heat has begun. July is typically our hottest month of the year.

The garden is progressing, and I've been processing herbs for winter's use.

Lemon balm drying for tea

Dried dill

I've begun to put parsley and celery leaves into the freezer, and have dried dill and lemon balm.

We've been eating a lot of lettuce! One very large salad daily for lunch, and usually a sandwich for supper.

Dill, mustard greens and parsley

We use a variety of herbs to jazz up our salads.

Our strawberries did fairly well this year. We had a freeze (not a frost) in late May which damaged some of the blossoms. Local vineyards and orchards are talking about significant losses from this. It looks like our apples fared well enough, thanks to the microclimate that they enjoy.

Tasty berries

We didn't freeze any strawberries this year-simply enjoyed them as they came.

Our raspberries are now beginning to ripen.

First raspberries (pardon the dirty hand)

Red and black currants have now been picked and are in the freezer.

Black currants ripening

The blueberry plants are just loaded with fruit which should be ripening soon. I anticipate putting a nice amount away in the freezer.

Just one of six blueberry bushes

The cranberries are blooming now. These are dry land cranberries that share the blueberry bed, since they like similar conditions. I thought you might be interested in seeing what a cranberry blossom looks like.

Cranberry blossom and tiny berries

Out in the vegetable garden things are coming along. We've eaten spinach, lettuce, kale and chard. I've just begun to start putting up peas.

First batch for the freezer

Soon cabbages will begin to go in, as well. I pulled the shallots yesterday and laid them out in the attic to cure.

Here's a little look around at some of our other plants:

Potatoes looking very lush

Cabbages looking fine

All of our beans have a ways to go

Bob's been working on the porch, which is nearly done.

New porch now in use

This will easily be my favorite porch! It's a nice size, shaded most of the day and very private.  We've already had a few meals out there and watched some nice rainstorms there, too.

Preparing for the steps

He's now building the step and handrails. When the skirting is added, the project will be done. I'll show more pictures next time.

We've had a rash of unexpected breakdowns and associated expenses lately. (Ever notice how these things seem to follow one after another in a streak? Four for us.)

One was Bob's lawn tractor. The transmission seemed to have some sort of mechanical nervous breakdown. We finally got it back from the shop after a month. A month in the late spring here is a long time to let the grass grow.

Nice backyard, eh?

It was nearly up to my hips by then. It took Bob a while to get it back to the usual three inches.

Another breakdown was our well pump. It quit on a Saturday afternoon (of course!). The pump and pressure tank were the only two mechanicals on the house that we had not replaced. Well, now we're down to only one! The plumber came out on Sunday morning, and just about noon we had water again. Now we keep a large container of bottled water in the pantry for emergencies.

In an effort to keep a balance between chores and rest, we have gone on three outings this month.

First we walked at Buttermilk Falls State Park in Ithaca.

Buttermilk Falls State Park

Unfortunately, it was one of the smokey days and we really noticed it climbing the gorge. After that we decided to heed the warnings and not do anything strenuous on the days we had Air Quality Alerts.

Another outing was at Labrador Hollow Unique Area. It was a nice cool walk in the woods on a rather toasty day.

Labrador Hollow Unique Area

Our third outing was on the Solstice. We went to the Cornell Botanic Garden and Mundy Wildflower Garden. This was another enjoyable get away.

Bob rests at the Cornell Garden

That's what's been happening here at Thistledown. We're keeping busy and trying to stay cool. It's nice to have Bob home to help me in the garden. He's still enjoying full time retirement very much. 

We hope that all of you will enjoy a balance of work and relaxation this season, and we'll be in touch again next month.

Till Next Time,

Kathleen and Bob

Keep smiling!

Sun on a smokey day