Not much changes in a mere week around here – snail changes. The blackberries might have one more dedicated pick in them, juniper berries are ripening (we found a cute little patch in the back), our apples are few this year but tell us it is time to go ‘country apple picking’ (finding random apple trees with the back of the pick up and a tarp that need a good shake), the potatoes are being dug up little by little (3 more rows to go!), the late tomatoes are still growing, as well as the Summer squash, the Marfax/Kenearly/Black beans are drying, the garlic is curing, the calendula and sunflowers are still blooming, and the chicken harvest is Friday. Meanwhile, I’m drying herbs and flowers for Winter teas, Josh is canning pickles of every shape/size/color and making jams, and we’re eating late Summer corn around here like it’s going out of style!
I hear the Monarch’s are making more of a show in other places so that is good, but here they are far and few between – we normally have a good milkweed patch and we nurse a few caterpillars indoors, but this year, though I saw a few in the beginning of the season, I haven’t seen anyone since. The milkweed never really came up in its patch (though there seems to be more random milkweed this year) so I will try and reseed for next. Our hummingbird family came – they like to live in the Willow tree and eat from the copious red bee balm in the front drive. We’ve had a lot of leopard frog visitors and garden snakes, and voles (that the dog likes to hunt; he sounds like a truffle pig but looking for voles). We lost one poor beautiful chicken to a bird of prey (likely an immature hawk) which was sad, but the other gals seem to be doing just fine – they are a fine flock who will hopefully be laying some eggs soon.
Right now I’m dreaming of a built-in hillside root cellar and the outdoor bread oven, growing a big patch of breadseed poppies and hyssop. Until then, enjoy the rest of the Summer.
Rock Bottom Homestead 