Harvest Is....

We arrived home from the fair grounds at dusk tonight,  exhausted from the heat and the day.  The evening chores will have to be abbreviated, and I fought every impulse to just blow them off.  It is still 89 degrees with a feels like temp of 95.

I relent, I begin that twilight walk in the garden.  Everything is looking wonderful despite the day, but then I see our new little seedlings, and decide they need to have a little drink.  I take a deep breath, listen to the locusts and water the starts.  Then, since my mind rarely stops cranking, I suddenly remember that I haven't picked berries today!  A near panic strikes me as I weigh running out there to get it done, racing against the light.  It has been so hot, and the last thing I want to see is the vine slow down, because I couldn't make it out there.  The berries, once ripe, need to  picked right away or they will dry out.  I turn off the hose and head over to pick the berries. 

It would be a shame for me to allow a passing day this time of year so that the fruits just wither and return to the earth.  I'll remember this come January when it's snowing outside and we are enjoying blackberry cobbler and smearing boysenberry jelly on our morning toast.  As the last light slips away I realize that this is exactly what harvest is.  Pressing on regardless of the day, to complete the daily harvest so that our family may enjoy the food that we have worked so hard for now and in the months ahead. 

Evening Chores

Evening chores are much like morning chores, but without the urgency.  The day is winding down versus gearing up.  As I walk a more leisurely pace to let out the chickens and collect eggs, I take deep breaths and take in the late afternoon sun.  Once the eggs are collected I relish in harvesting berries which despite the extreme weather are turning out to be a bumper crop.  As I pick them I can feel the warmth of the sun in the berry.  There are few things as heavenly as warm berries right off of the vine.  In the last two days we have picked about 7 pounds of Blackberries and Boysenberries.  I have made a berry pie and I suspect a very large pot of jelly is in my near future. 

During the evening chores I allow myself to be distracted by the light.  I  jump up, grab my camera and snap photos, leaving B alone for a few minutes during our latest succession planting to rows in the garden.  I hear the kids wide awake voices squealing in delight as they play with the new Mini Rex bunnies that came last night.  They are such sweeties.  They are litter mates, a blue buck and a broken doe (the adjectives referring to their color :)  The names settled upon are Polka (the buck) and Dot (the doe). 

 see how her markings are smiling at you?  I was the first to spot this pattern, the second auspicious thing I've come across this week! :)

Then as a cooler wind kicks up and we hear the distant sound of thunder we eagerly decide dinner based on what young fruits are just ready to pick.  We do a lot of stir fry this time of year and tonight's installment will have a small eggplant, a couple green peppers, handful of green beans, kohlrabi, swiss chard and chicken.  Yes, evening chores are good for the soul.