Ah, August!

Here in the late summer garden, things begin to go a little wild!

Some of the plants have truly taken over, spreading out, flowering and fruiting daily—keeping us busy every evening with our colander and harvest baskets. The weeds are enjoying the season as well, and we're not quite keeping up with them the way we would like. Too busy harvesting food!

Right now we are gathering lots of tomatoes, green beans, and cucumbers. The native sunflowers that we grow for the Bee Project have really had a wonderful year. They are a small branching sunflower and the gold finches come around every morning and again at twilight to snack on the seeds.

We have great expectations for our first crop of popcorn as well as potatoes and pumpkins.

The delicata squash are coming along nicely this year, and we're looking forward to some delicious roasted delicata with balsamic vinegar. Yum!

The beans have been one of our mixed blessings this season. Our bush beans have mostly succumbed to a bean blight, which we've had in other years in other areas in the garden. It doesn't kill the plants completely, but slows growth and cuts way down on the yield. Luckily, the three bamboo teepees of bush beans in the middle of the bed seem to be unaffected. And we've been harvesting a variety of lovely fresh green pole beans, Kentucky Wonder, Cherokee trail of Tears and Purple pods.

A good lesson in the wisdom of growing a diverse selection of crops. Even if some fail, other's will thrive.

After last year's gloomy outcome in the tomato department, we were more determined than ever to have a good crop of tomatoes for fresh eating and putting up for winter. We planted many varieties this year including Brandywine, Martian Giant, Sophie's Choice, Arkansas Traveler, Italian paste and Matt's Wild Cherries. Everything is coming along really well.
And the Matt's Wild Cherries have come out an absolute favorite. They are branching and shooting up all over the place with no end in sight for the flowering racemes which quickly develop into branches of tiny sweet red tomatoes. Delicious to snack on by the handfuls.

So, here's to more wild times in the garden.

Spring socks and seedlings

I finally finished Michael's Valentine's Day socks. They are a basic top-down sock recipe made up in a lovely sock yarn called "Smooshy" in color Blue Lagoon by Dream In Color. Not totally dye-fast. My fingers and bamboo needles had telltale signs of blue, but lovely stuff none-the-less. And now that Michael is a convert to home-made sock goodness, I need to keep this thing going!


I'm prepping another round of seedling pots for the next week of seed starting in the basement.


I'm happy to say the halved TP rolls with newspaper strip bottoms have worked out pretty well. This is the second year I've used them filled with purchased seeding mix from Gardener's and I've had pretty good luck. A little bit of a mold thing happens on the sides of the pots, but my chamomile tea spray and setting the trays out when it is sunny, seems to keep it in check. Hard to say wether that has something to do with the cardboard, the plastic trays or the basement itself. But, it doesn't seem to be holding us back. This week the tomato and basil seedlings are starting to take off!

So, onto the IDC update...

Plant something – Planted turnips and parsnips outside. Cleared out and amended a few more beds for planting. Started more sprouts in the kitchen.

Harvest something – Asparagus

Preserve something – Started a new Sourdough starter and started a new yogurt culture.

Waste Not – The usual.

Want Not – Pulled out a bunch of clothes for mending. Finished making another pair of socks and a few bits for the Goober.

Build Community Food Systems – Wrote the first article of the season for the organic garden at work. Helping on the Earth Day Committee at work.

Eat the Food – Made a fresh batch of yogurt, enjoyed the first warm slices of a fresh loaf of sourdough bread, enjoyed steamed asparagus a few times this week, great with local eggs!

Signs of Spring!

Raspberry canes leafing out.

Garlic coming up in rows.

Asparagus heads poking up last week...

...and this morning.
Rhubarb last week...

...and this morning.
And as for the IDC update, things are beginning to gear up!

Plant something – started tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, flowers and herbs inside under grow lights. Spread clover on a few beds for green cover. Cleared out and amended a few beds for planting.

Harvest something – Chives

Preserve something – Nothing this week.

Waste Not – Using more TP rolls and newspaper for my seedling pots. Saved rinsed out paper coffee cups from work for repotting some seedlings. Started another compost pile. Brought my Nana's sewing machine in for a tune-up.

Want Not – Found another pyrex small casserole dish with cover and a large pyrex measuring cup at Salvation Army.

Build Community Food Systems – Volunteered to help with the garden at church. Scheduled a meeting with a friend to help her plan her garden.

Eat the Food – Down to the last of the beets, sweet potatoes and butternuts from winter storage. Planning some meals around those... butternut parmesan soup, butternut pecan muffins, sweet Potato fries, sweet potato pancakes, maple roasted beets and beet slaw...not all at once!

The planting begins!

Yippee!!!

Thanks to the generosity of a very kind friend, we now have a lovely set of grow lights in our basement. This is a serious step up from my DIY seed starting center of previous years! I'll still be using that. But, now I can start twice as many seedlings indoor.

So, after sorting seed packets by variety and then planting/starting dates, ordering additional items and plotting it all out on the calendar, Michael and I managed to get the first seeds going over the weekend. (Pretty momentous since we had the stomach bug around these parts—ugh!) We started 3 kinds of basil, some herbs and some beneficial flowers. Next week will be tomatoes and peppers and the beat will go on and on from there. I love when we get to this time of year, when something (planting, preparing, harvesting) is on the calendar every week until late into next Fall. We'll be trying to push the envelop even more this year, with more food grown at home, and extended seasons on both ends. Pretty exciting stuff!

So, for this week's Independence Days Challenge update

Plant something – Planted basil, chamomile, verbena, vining petunias, violas and yarrow. Cut back the herb garden and fertilized the asparagus and strawberry beds.

Harvest something – Nibbled a few chard sprigs and some new kale leaves.

Preserve something – Soaked and dried another batch of crispy pecans.

Waste Not – Made seedling starting pots out of egg cartons and half-t.p. rolls with newspaper strip bottoms.

Want Not – Picked up three more small Corning ware dishes with lids at the thrift store. Perfect to replace plastic-ware for leftovers in the fridge.

Build Community Food Systems – Attended the first meeting of the organic garden team at work.

Eat the Food – Used the last rutebaga in our Irish Stew. Made fudge babies with dried dates, pecans and cocoa (a good food storage treat!)

Monkey Mind

So, to keep the monkey somewhat under control, I'm going to create a "Monkey Mind" post once a week... a little recap or list of sorts. Just a way to sum up the bigger thoughts and activities occupying my mind each week. Maybe you'll be thinking of some of the same things, maybe you'll have ideas of your own or ideas for me. We'll see how this goes. Since the Independence Days Challenge keeps me pretty regular about posting at the beginning of the week, I'll try for Fridays for Monkey Mind to use as a bit of a recap but also a spring-board for the weekend. Let me know if you decide to do your own Monkey Mind list, please leave me a comment or lead us over to your post.

So, here we go...

Monkey Mind
Next to my reading chair:

• I'm really enjoying everything written by Laurie R. King. I've had my nose pretty much constantly in one of her books for the last several weeks. I have become a complete fool for the Mary Russell series and enjoy the Kate Martinelli series almost as much. I've been alternating between the two series and am coming to the end of the King pile. Boo. This week I read "The Game," "With Child," "Locked Rooms," and I'm in the midst of "Night Work." Sooooo good!

• Michael gave me "the Encyclopedia of Country Living" for my birthday and I'm itching to dive in. I plan on reading the first chapter tomorrow morning over coffee.

• I cracked open "Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health" last night. I'm wanting to read up on ways to harvest and use the plants and herbs we grow most efficiently. We have so many things growing in our garden that can be brewed into soothing and medicinal teas, tinctures and supplements. I'm not wanting to waste a bit of that goodness!

• And on a connected note, this morning's reading was the beginning of "Gaia's Garden" an interesting and inspiring book on permaculture, to help us utilize and vitilize our little quarter acre for growing food, conserving energy, welcoming wild-life and restoring a little positive environment. I'm really excited about what this books holds in store!

In the Garden:

• I'm feeling the need to get a better handle on what's going on and growing in the garden. We've had some crop failures with the wet and cold Spring, but some things have fared well, and others are perking up. I need to spend some time on weeding! Cutting back the raspberry canes, and drying the raspberry leaves for tea and medicinals, pinching off suckers and spotted leaves on the tomatoes, weeding, planting some fall crops, weeding, stacking the grass cutting compost ...did I say weeding?

• Wouldn't it be cool to build an outdoor Cob Oven or fireplace...for solstice gatherings, outdoor cooking and cozy music making. I would love that!

Keeping my Eye Out:

• for canning jars and bottles for preserving food.

• for interesting garden statuary that we BOTH like!

• for picnic/garden furniture...benches, tables, etc.

• good sources of local meat, eggs and milk. Trying to cut down my weekly wandering for sustainable food.

On the Baby Front:

• I need to get a handle on the vaccination issue. It is so daunting and huge I have been trying to think of it from a place of education and empowerment...not a place of fear. But, GOSH! There is so much scary stuff out there! So, since we may not have all of the choices of biological parents and since this is too big for a single approach. I'm going to chip away at the puzzle, one shot and one disease at a time. Beginning with the Hep B shot they will likely try to give the Goob on the very first day!!! I've got my hands on "The Vaccine Book" by Robert Sears, "Natural Baby and Childcare" by Lauren Feder has a great section on vaccinations, and the National Vaccine Information Center and the CDC also have lots of information. Whooh! Alot to absorb. But, we need to make the best decisions possible for this new little life, when he/she comes.

• Need to finish up the little green scrap baby jacket I'm making. I keep running into obstacles, like wounded finger, not enough yarn, etc. But, one way or another I've got the get that done!

• Need to get leg extensions for the co-sleeper

• Need to line up cat-care options now that we're losing our amazing cat sitter.

Other Monkey Miscellany:

• I really need to find the perfect pattern and whip up a few summer-weight nightgowns. My preferred summer sleeping attire. I've got lots of great bits of fabric lined up. Maybe this?

• Gotta finish sorting through and getting rid of too many clothes that I don't wear! Cut down on the chaos in the bedroom.

• Thoughts on curtains for the Dining Room and bedroom. Finish the kitchen/laundryoom curtains!

• Organize the recipe, baby-care, house and knitting binders.

Okay, now! That seems to be the big stuff. What is on your monkey mind?