Abundance 2018

Thimble berries

The month of Abundance has passed. We've had an abundance of produce. And of rain!

First I'll talk about the rain. In the predawn hours of August 14, we were socked with a terrific rain storm. By 6 am, we had 6.5" in our rain gauge and our creek was roaring!

Our bridge in high water

At one point, the water was so high that it flowed over the top of our bridge deck. This was too much for the bridge to take. The banks on each end eroded back by about six feet, and one of the very large concrete supports was washed downstream. The bridge is now a pile of debris in the middle of the creek bed. We don't have the resources (time, money or skill)
to replace it. For now we'll have to ford the creek to reach the other side. Perhaps we'll place some stepping stones across in a more placid spot.

View downstream from our bridge at high water

One good thing to come of the storm was a flush of growth on three of our shiitake logs. Thunder storms sometimes trigger these growth spurts.

Basket full of shiitakes

 We ate a few of these fresh and dried most of them for winter use.

Some of one day's harvest

The garden, too has been producing abundantly. I've dug both "regular" potatoes and sweet potatoes. I've frozen beans and tomatoes are at their peak.

Some of our "regular" potatoes

Sweet potatoes

We've eaten many tomatoes fresh, I've dried some, and canned many. This brings me to the promised discussion of my new canner. I had one of those blue granite ware canners that you see everywhere. Mine was flat on the bottom and worked on my stove, but not well. After doing a bit of study, I found that this canner base was 1" too large for my largest heating zone. It wasn't heating efficiently. Hmm. What to do? I still wanted a canner. (I don't have enough freezer space to freeze my tomatoes.) I found an induction compatible stainless steel canner with an acceptable base diameter. Okay. Good reviews. I ordered one. When it came, I found out it would do both water bath canning and steam canning. (NB steam canning was approved by the USDA in 2014.)

New canner

It's more efficient because it's the proper size, it holds 8 pts rather than 7 pts and if I use the steam method, only uses 3 qts of water compared to 11 qts for water bath canning. It uses less water and so, takes less time to get to the proper temperature for processing. Win, win! Now that I've used it about a half dozen times, I've refined my technique and am very pleased with it.

Jars of tomatoes fresh out of the canner.

Such a helper!

Lunette's been helping Bob lay fresh wood chips on the garden paths. She protects him from any large earth worms he may uncover.








As she's aged, her hips have become more troublesome (a typical issue among her breed). She slips on our wood floors and has fallen down our entire staircase at least twice. We're worried she may fracture a limb. Bob mentioned this to our vet, who recommended these gripper booties.

Baby's got new shoes!

We put them on her any time she may be going up or down stairs and they work very well. She also seems to have regained some confidence about going down the stairs. Now all three of us have special house shoes.









Bob continues to be busy with various garden and wood cutting chores.

We did take time on July 29th for a walk in the Finger Lakes National Forest near our home. It was a nice break.

Teeter Pond, one of Lunette's favorites.

We hope you're all ready to ease into your autumn schedules. Catch up with you at the end of Ingathering.

Till next time,
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette.

Fire Fly Time 2018

The July Garden

Trellises filling with bean vines

The month of Fire Fly Time has come to an end. This is the month when the garden really begins to come into its own. Here's some of the produce we've been enjoying....

Raspberries and squash

Cabbages and currants

Cucumbers

Eggplants and peppers

And our first tomato!

We've also harvested and frozen black currants, sour cherries, strawberries, blue berries, peas and parsley. The second freezer has been turned on. A true mark of the season!

Chopping cabbage to ferment

We had "Kraut Day" this month. Our 15 liter fermenting crock is now filled with red cabbage and cucumbers. It's in our root cellar, bubbling away. (We hope!)

Bob pressing down the shredded cabbage

I harvested garlic last week. There are now fifty one large heads drying in our attic. Later I'll plant fall spinach in this spot.

Garlic bed waiting to be harvested

Harvested garlic 

Fall carrots are up, and this weekend I'll sow our beets.









Besides helping on "Kraut Day", Bob's been starting to bring in firewood. So far he's got about five face cords done.

The compound miter saw works great for cutting up the "small wood"

Another of his chores is tending the fruit trees. He has to thin excess fruit, remove pests and spray the fruits to deter some pests.

Spraying with Surround clay

He uses only organically approved sprays: a dormant oil spray and a clay spray. Both coat the trees/fruit and act as a barrier against pests. We've always had great success with these.








While Bob and I are busy about the homestead, Lunette does her fair share. She considers her primary functions these days as patrol and guard.

One of her favorite sentry points

When she deems it necessary, she'll chase vermin or kill a snake or two.

Too hot and tired

As she ages and her heart gets a bit weaker, the heat really affects her. We've had some very hot and humid weather this month and she has suffered. Poor baby.

Welcome break from chores

Still, when she's off duty, a walk in our woods is always welcome.












Hopefully next month will bring the produce in earnest. I should be canning tomatoes and freezing beans by then, as well as digging and storing potatoes.

We hope that all of you are enjoying your summer. Get outside and get in touch with nature. Even if it's just sitting on your stoop. It's great for your health. Next month I'll tell you all about my new canner. Oooh.

Till then,
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette








end

Bright Time 2018

Zinnias, the flowers of summer

Hello Everyone!

This is the month we call "Bright Time" (the solstice falls in this month - get it?). It's  been a dry month. As of this writing, we've only had measurable rain on two days: 6/1 with 1 1/4" and 6/24 with 7/8". In spite of the dryness, the garden is progressing quite well. The plastic mulch must be helping to keep the soil from drying out.

North end of the garden

South end of the garden

We've eaten a lot of lettuce, and have just harvested our first cabbage. Half we'll eat fresh, half will go into the freezer. It's good to finally get a little variety.

First picking

The strawberries have been tasty this year. We've had a few less because our old bed is slowing down, but they've been good. I plan to plant a dozen or so more runners in our newer bed this summer.

We started some of our corn plants in pots and transplanted them to the garden using our "new" method. We took some photos because we thought that some of you might be interested. It worked quite well.

Holes made with a bulb planter (on right in photo). 

Holes are made in the plastic using a bulb planter. The plants are then set into these holes.

Adding fertilizer

Fertilizer mix is placed into the empty holes that you see between the plants.


All of these plants are now knee high or higher.









We're also feeding twice a week with a product called Neptune's Harvest : a combination of fish emulsion and seaweed extract. The plants are responding very well to this. Bob got a nice 2 gallon sprayer to apply this, but when full it's a bit too heavy for my arm and shoulder. We went to the Finger Lakes ReUse It and bought a golf cart for $2.50. Bob made a few modifications and it works very well to carry the sprayer. It sure saves wear and tear on my arm and shoulder!

DIY Sprayer cart

As is our practice, we celebrated the solstice this month.

Midsummer meadow

It was a lovely day, so we went for a walk with Lunette in our meadow.











After a nice lunch, Lunette rested while we went for a walk at Watkins Glen State Park.

One of the cascades at Watkins Glen

We had a nice supper and ended the day by toasting the season with a black currant "fizzie". A nice relaxing day!


Bob had the county inspector in and he approved the drainage rough - in for the downstairs bathroom. Now Bob can begin to repair holes in the walls, as time allows. We won't be finishing the bathroom this year, due to financial constraints. Just after we bought the cook stove and the car, we found out that Bob needs extensive (read: expensive) dental work. Isn't that the way it goes! The money for the bathroom fixtures is going for his dental work. We're "putting our money where his mouth is", so to speak. Our investments will have to build up again for a while before we can finish that project. In the meantime, there's still plenty to be done.

Well, that's about all the news for now. We hope you're enjoying your summer. We'll check back in at the end of Fire Fly Time.

Take care, all,
Kathleen, Bob and Lunette

Shoots Show 2018

Mr Toad welcomes spring!

It seems that summer has leaped right over spring here at the end of "Shoots Show". It's very warm, so tomato plants are growing fast, and pea vines are not.

Lettuces

We're finally beginning to eat greens out of the garden.
The slugs are too. Kale and spinach (plus a few flowers) have been their choice this year. I'll have to try for a fall planting of these two greens.

Herb bed well along

I've put six boxes of mixed herbs (chervil, lovage, chives and sorrel) into the freezer for winter use, along with a dozen boxes of  my ginger rhubarb sauce.

First shiitake crop of the season

Our shiitake logs are producing now. We've been enjoying stirfrys of shiitake and pac choi.
Bob traded a few hours of work at the local shiitake grower's last weekend for another log. It's nice to find people who use the barter system.

Pac choi and tat soi

 All of the garden structures are in place and waiting for the next big planting: beans! I'll do that in about a week and a half.

2015 Nissan Leaf

We finally did it! We replaced our Geo Prism (that's right, it was so old that it was a Geo, before Chevy took over!). We drove it for twenty one years and due to maintenance issues, it was time to let it go.
We replaced it with a three year old Nissan Leaf with 23 K miles. The Leaf is all electric. We've been able to reduce our carbon foot print even more. Estimates are that it will go 20 miles on 1 kwh of electricity. That's like paying $.70 a gallon for gas. We will keep the ICE Honda as our long trip/ cargo vehicle. The "new" car is quite different to drive. I think it's like driving your laptop! There's a lot to get used to. More of that life long learning stuff I mentioned last month!

Charging station in our garage

The car will travel between 80 and 90 miles on a charge, depending upon your driving habits.

It has fun displays. The one I like best is a little conifer tree. You get "branches" as you drive, if you're driving efficiently. When you "build" a whole tree, it starts building another. So far, I've gotten more trees than Bob. 

Ha Ha!

We've been enjoying a wide variety of birds on our property this year. There are the regulars, which include Piliated woodpeckers, Rose Breasted Grosbeaks, Orioles, and Humming birds. We've also seen a Green Heron, Cape May Warblers and Indigo Buntings. A Great Horned owl has hatched and fledged two owlets in our woods. We have seen them a few times. Very Cool!

Tufted Titmouse stealing fur (see inside circle)

Last week we watched as a Tufted Titmouse  made attempt after attempt to snatch fur from Lunette's butt. Surprisingly Lunette just sat there and didn't "blow a gasket". This was great fun to watch. I hope that bird got enough fur for her nest.

I suppose that's all the "fun and games" from here for now. By next post all of the beans will be planted and we'll be eating strawberries! We'll catch up with you at the end of Bright Time. Enjoy the summer.

Kathleen, Bob and Lunette

Windy Time 2018

Is it really springtime?

Windy Time has just about blown past us. The first day was true to its name. The day was beautiful, but a strong wind picked up at night and seemed to change the pattern for the entire month. For the most part, it's been cool and cloudy.

A few wild flowers are just beginning to appear.

Blood root in bloom

Blood root just opened up today.

Daphne

We found some Daphne blooming in the woods.

Colts foot

We also found some Colts foot near the path. So far, we seem to be having a reluctant spring.

To update on our stove, I've been working my way through the various features. Popping corn was a problem, and so was cooking oatmeal. (I'm rather picky about my oatmeal. It should in no way resemble wallpaper paste!) I have finally developed a technique for proper porridge. It's nearly right.

Popper in action

We bought a stove top corn popper and Bob, the resident popmeister is thrilled with it!
On the whole, we're very happy with the  induction stove.








Now, about the garden.This year will be our 26th garden, our 20th with completely organic culture. The weather has impeded us a bit, but we have gotten a start.

Making holes for potatoes

Pruning black raspberries

I've got potatoes and peas planted.
















All of the fruit is pruned.

Swiss chard ready to go outside

The cool weather starts are now outside hardened off. I'll put these in the ground on Monday.

Lunette inspects the fertilizer mix

We've got our organic fertilizer mix all ready, and the garden beds are almost all prepared.
Everyone's been working hard.










Regarding our new system we're trying: The book that we read is No Dig, No Weed Gardening, by Raymond Poincelot. It's over 30 years old, so don't hurry out and look for it.
Now, do not confuse this approach with conventional "no till" farming, which depends on using GMO seeds and dousing everything with chemicals. This method focuses on not disturbing the soil, which allows weed seeds to germinate. Weeds are kept under control by mulching.
Highly recommended is black plastic. This is the only drawback that I see, because we try to avoid excessive use of petroleum products. Here is an example of balancing ideals with reality. The reality is that we've used organic mulches for years and our garden is plagued with slugs. Not just any slugs, but slugs the size of submarines! In case you didn't know, slugs LOVE organic mulches. We hope they'll not have the same affinity for black plastic.
 Weeds are a big problem in some of our beds. They can't grow under the black plastic.
We'll also be trying some of the author's other suggestions.

So, the bottom line: we'll be doing a few things differently this year. Using black plastic, aerial feeding and "spot fertilizing" (using organic amendments, of course) and setting out more things as transplants to avoid some pest problems. Even after 25+ years we can learn new tricks.

One tired pup

We're all good and tired at the end of the day, but that's what life's about. It's an honest tired, and beats working out in a stuffy, stinky gym!










Here's to a good season ahead for all of us (and you). Get yourselves outside and reconnect with something besides four man made walls. It's great! Catch you all at the end of Shoots Show.

Bob, Kathleen and Lunette