In The Garden :: July 9, 2016

As we have had a tremendous amount on our plates so far this summer, I have been remiss in posting.  I hope that as we move through the height of the garden season, that I can keep up! :)  The promise of mid-summer abounds with the garden in full swing and beginning to deliver.  The above elderflowers are about to make their way into mead.  B has not done a batch in a few years and instead of foraging for the flowers, the ones we planted long ago are starting to produce in spades.

The sugar snap peas (foreground) and the sunchokes (back) are beautiful.  The sunchokes, our first year with this perineal, are almost as tall as B right now.  The peas, as quite typical for us are so robust we cannot keep up with them.  Shaded in between the two at ground level is a patch of endive.

The summer squash are well on their way and we should be harvesting our first full size napa cabbages this weekend.  Brussel sprouts, broccoli and storage cabbages are also well on their way.  We will have plenty of horseradish and garlic to share, as we watch them take over their various beds.

We have five different kinds of beans this year.  Four green beans and a row of soybeans.  The large squash to the left is a volunteer coming back on it's own from last year.  We also have a volunteer cucumber.  Both plants have given us small early yields to whet our appetite as the smaller plants mature.

We have done primarily roma tomatoes for canning and salsa, but have plenty of cherry tomatoes for snacking.  Peppers and eggplant are also just beginning to flower.

We have a bed of storage onions which are coming along nicely.  We will think them during the summer as we need them and should still have a number to add to the root cellar.

This morning we did our initial harvest of red currants.  It looks like we may get another batch in the next week or so.  As I write, they are simmering on the stove so that we can extract the juice for jelly.  It may not look like it but the garden is smaller this year as we focus on just sustaining ourselves and our storage needs for the off season.  It will be fun to see what we can accomplish.

Trying to Revive the Orchard

I mentioned this past winter that on a very cold day, B went out and harvested samples (scions) from the few very old apple trees that remain in the orchard.  Our goal was to propagate it using some of the Gifford Family's original trees before they were gone, staying true to this homestead that we are caretakers of.

The spring was late, and we have been scrambling to keep up, so this weekend we made sure to set aside the time to graft the trees onto the rootstock that we acquired from a orchardist up in Northern Wisconsin.  

It is really an interesting process.  You cut both the root stock and the scion at an angle, and then cut a slice in each angled piece.  Once done you thread them together like a puzzle.  Then you take a band and tightly cover the splice, followed by some parafilm tape that you wrap over the band and all the way to the top of the new tree top.  Finally, B planted them in some peat moss in a bucket, to soon be transplanted into their own buckets and finally into the row that we prepared at the beginning of the spring.  Fingers crossed, a revived apple orchard to come!

Random 5 Friday

1.  We have tried for years to come up with the right name for our homestead.  We are now looking to some Celtic names for inspiration.  What do you think of Aisling Acres (Aisling =dream or vision)?

2.  We were thrilled to see our bees out and about for a few hours on Wednesday.  I am so glad they had the opportunity, since it appears that our temps are headed back down to the basement.

3.  I am going to try these muffins this weekend.  How can they be bad!?

4.  We got all of our seeds for the garden sorted this week, ordered some new ones, and have our plan for seed starts mapped out.  Now we will just wait and see what Mother Nature has in store for us...which at the moment that I am writing this is a 50 mph wind.

5. I recently finished Life after Life and have now been reading Monuments Men.   I have been digging being thrust into the WWII era and seeing it from such vastly different experiences.

Please join us!

Blogoversary

It is hard to believe that four years ago, in an attempt to better organize our growing homestead, and keep our families up to date on daily life I began to write this blog.  The first post was balance.  Fitting, now a handful of years and a seeming lifetime later it remains a goal.  My kids have gone from babies to tweens and pre-teens.  

I have met many amazing people on this journey, who have shared in my life through writing, photography, even daily thoughts or mentions through social media.  I thank each and every one of you who take a moment out of your day to catch a glimpse of mine.   It means so much.

As part of my morning, I spent some time looking back on posts of the last four years.  This is a handful of my favorites or most momentous occasions.  It does good to look back and see how much we have learned, how far we have come, and give some perspective about what is important in this great journey of ours.

Happy writing!

our story

a split second in slow motion 6/3/2009

my budding activist 8/3/2009

what would grandma do? 10/4/2009

reverb10 wonder 12/4/2010

reverb 10 party  12/9/2010

a difficult decision 2/16/2011

don't count your chickens 3/14/2011

a guest post from b  8/8/2011

raspberry tip 10/2/2011

legacy in life, in art 10/11/2011

newspaper seed pots- video tutorial 4/17/2012

first farm bags of 2012 6/17/2012

operation swarm containment 7/1/2012

a glimpse 7/12/2012

harvest is 7/23/2012

harvesting honey- part one 9/17/2012

deguster 9/20/2012

paths and bridges 9/24/2012

new eating schedule 9/26/2012

then and now 12/19/2012

#scintilla13 - chance meeting 3/18/2013

back to the garden

taste of taw

Tuesday Thoughts

It is Tuesday morning, and I know that if I don't jot down a few things now, the rest of this week will run away.  Life can be a whirlwind, yet caught up in that swirl tends to be what makes me thrive.  The quiet early morning moments are when I reflect and many times when the world slows down enough around me that the whole household seems to take a collective exhale.

::  I love that our little homestead, seems to be such an inviting place for wildlife.  The fact that a pair of foxes seems to have taken up residence, hasn't deterred the little herd of deer that seems to grace us with their quiet beauty every dawn and dusk.  I wonder if we will see babies in a couple of months taking their first uncertain steps under our gaze.

::  You would think that the netted roof of the chicken run could withstand anything after making it through our 27 inches of snow in one night last February. Oh no, we get five inches of heavy white stuff and it collapses like a house of cards.  Poor girls are now quarantined inside the barn until we can get in and build a new roof.  I feel bad that they are stuck in doors when the weather has been so mild, yet I know they have had a great winter so far and due to the above wildlife, letting them out un-roofed would be disastrous.

::  I'm so proud that as of last night B is officially on the Board of Directors for the Wild Root Market!  I can't wait to see our co-op come to fruition!

::  My alphabet February in the Postcards to Blog Camp project went really well!  I made it through unscathed, though sometimes perplexed when the day began.  It sure makes the last three 'free shot' days of the month seem like a breeze!

::  My grandmother passed away early last Saturday morning.  This week's swirl is filled with flashes of memory coupled with wrapping up the business month end, and hopping on a plane on Thursday.  Thankfully, the members of my family have been blessed with long and full lives.  Now is the time to remember and celebrate that life, while holding my grandfather's hand.