~
Tuesday, September 30, 2008 8:45 a.m.
52 degrees, windy, fog
More fog greets the day, it seems like a never-ending
supply from
some big FX fog machine. It is also very windy, driving
the damp air
right through my regular fleece pullover; guess I need to
dig out the winter
windstopper model. This is the final day of a very
interesting month; I can’t
wait to see what surprises October will bring. We should
have taken the op-
portunity to plant our garlic last week when the weather
was fine. Lesson
learned. Now the soil is too wet to mess around in. I
need to pick tomatoes
and peppers, and there is still a row of beans that is
loaded with long shiny
green Jades; I suppose I could pick half the row even
though the leaves are
wet, otherwise they will become too big and tough. Our
early broccoli crop
has all bolted into tall towers filled with sunny yellow
blossoms which have
been teeming with honeybees. You can see the row from the
road, and
one neighbor asked me what the pretty yellow blooms were;
she was
incredulous when I replied, “broccoli”. Maybe
it will have time to
form seeds, which I can sprout for salads later in the
year. One
summer I gathered wild mustard seeds for sprouting; now
those were spicy little guys! Now, off to find the wind-
proof fleece, some light gloves, and wellies to make
gathering tomatoes a little more comfortable.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, September 29, 2008 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, fog
The sky looks bright above the fog, so maybe the
sun is revealed
somewhere further up the Hill. Sparse drizzle fell off
and yesterday
and into the night. We left Tug Hill to take a ride
around the flats,
up the McKeever Road along the Moose River and across the
hogsback into Boonville. We returned to our place via
Fish Creek
Road from West Leyden to Constableville, one of the
prettiest stretches
of road at all seasons, but particularly nice for leaf-peeping.
I have never
seen the autumn colors this magnificent in my entire life,
and I’ve been
around awhile. I have lived in Ohio, Massachusetts,
Vermont, and New
York, and I am here to tell ya that for some reason this
year’s reds prac-
tically vibrate almost to the point of causing pain if
stared at too long. We
had some awfully odd weather this summer, and I wonder if
that is the ulti-
mate cause for such intense hues. I would guess that only
about 70% of
leaves have changed, and it is a wonderful thing to have
summer’s deep
cool greens mixed in with the vivid spectrum of flaming
yellows, crimsons,
and oranges of September. Even the normally rusty ash
leaves glow with
a purple undertone that is breathtaking. Right now I can
barely see even
the clothesline right outside the window, the fog is that
dense, but maroon
and golden forsythia leaves manage to shine like beacons
through the mist.
Yesterday I hauled in a couple of full pails of broccoli,
tight curly heads
just about perfect, almost sweet. Most of it went into
the freezer, but of
course we enjoyed some for dinner as well. Sweet corn is
getting a little
long in the tooth, but I cooked some up just for chowder.
Our final sow-
ing of bibb buttercrunch lettuce is forming tender little
heads, and the row
is so long that we have the luxury of going straight for
the hearts, a gourmet
treat. I picked the last of the sunflower blooms, but
there are hundreds of
ripe seedheads nodding on their stems for the birds to
enjoy. On the next
dry day I will gather some to plant next spring. I think
I had better start a
list of garden tasks, lest I forget something. We have a
varied chance of rain
for much of the week, so a little planning must go into
the order of things.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, September 28, 2008 8:30 a.m.
62 degrees, breezy, overcast
Fog has swallowed the entire valley whole,
all the way to our neighbor’s house which is only
dimly in view. Deep bronze ash foliage shows up
even better than usual against the stark grey back-
drop; I always imagine I can capture such beauty on
film, but it never turns out quite right. It is best to
imprint
this morning’s view in my mind’s eye, to be
enjoyed over
and over without having to find a photo. As I have grown
older,
I find that many less important things have been shoved
to the back
of my mind to make room for newer images that better
serve my pur-
poses. As I drink in the beauty of this misty morning for
safekeeping
in my memory bank, I can imagine little bits of the
multiplication table
slowly dissolving into the same place some of my fifth
grade spelling
words have hidden. At this point, I can always look up a
word in the
dictionary or use a calculator to figure out an invoice,
but where else
would I go to find this particular shimmer of autumn
foliage against
a pearly sky whenever I want ? Memory is a funny thing;
culti-
vate it like any other body part, and it should serve you
well.
Remember to enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, September 27, 2008 7:45 a.m.
59 degrees, windy, fog
Rain arrived yesterday afternoon and has been
spitting sporadically
ever since. There is so much fog it is hard to tell if it
is still drizzling;
walking outside this morning is a little like being
underwater. If it were
much colder is would be uncomfortable; it is actually
quite pleasant in a
waterproof shell and ball cap. Of course, there is the
problem of vision,
as glasses are useless when water coats both sides of the
lenses, but
as long as I can make out the general outline of things I
am good to go.
There are huge masses of color to be enjoyed, and without
my specs the
edges are wonderfully blurred, reds flowing into greens
and oranges meld-
ing with gold. I have a feeling I may have been out
during the better part
of the day, as heavier rain is heading our way, driven up
by this hearty
south wind. The kitchen is full of onions and garlic that
have been dry-
ing in the barn, and I can take some time to sort them
for storage in
comfort, listening to the wonderful Saturday morning
lineup on Na-
tional Public Radio. Ground has been tilled for garlic,
and I will
snap a pailful of bulbs into individual cloves for
planting on the
next dry day. I will also brew up a kettle of pasta sauce,
using
what’s left of our ripe tomatoes and green peppers.
I don’t plan
to process any tomatoes for storage this year, but enough
for a big
pan of vegetable lasagna will be nice. We have managed to
sell or
give away most of our excess tomatoes so far. There are
still a few
bushels left on the vines that need to be harvested;
hopefully we will
be able to find homes for them all. We only have ten
plants, but they
have been super-productive, if a little late ripening. We
still have
enough sauce, salsa, and plain tomatoes sealed into quart
jars
in the cellar to last at least another year, hence the
tomato
moratorium for this season. We planted a yellow grape
tomato (sun sugar) that has been perfect for
snacking
and salads; we have reaped dozens of pints of fruit from
one single plant. The fog might be lifting a bit, and the
wind
is picking up. It’s a good thing we had so many
gorgeous
sunny days for the last few weeks; we can cherish
that warm glow during the dull days to come.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, September 26, 2008 8:30 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
The view outside my window just keeps getting better and
better !
A flame-orange maple at the end of the south hedgerow
commands
the territory, with several more just beginning their
colorful transformation.
In the mid-ground, scarlet runner beans twine all the way
to the top of their
10 foot poles and halfway back down again, providing
glossy green leaves
dotted here and there with crimson blossoms, and up close
a half dozen
bluebirds pose prettily on the clothesline. Yesterday
about twenty of
these lovely birds hung out in the back yard for a couple
of hours,
perching on the grape arbor, dashing in and out of the
rose hedge,
and splashing around in the birdbath. Every year they
have a family
reunion just before leaving for warmer climes, and it is
a wonderful
sight to behold. I had seen several bluebirds in the corn
patch while
I was cutting broccoli on Tuesday, but yesterday’s
gathering was one
of the largest I have ever seen here on Gomer Hill.
Starlings are forming
huge flocks in preparation for their big trip, and can be
seen swooping in
unison over meadows and thickets. They line the upper
road between here
and Boonville, perched on high wires as regular as teeth
on a comb. Geese
continue to wend their way south, and last night we found
out that they are
not just picturesque, they are also tasty. A friend had
given us some wild
goose breast, and it is unlike anything I have ever
tasted. Not quite poultry,
almost like red meat only with a wonderful fine grain;
when smothered
in onions,it could have almost been mistaken for venison.
There is
always something new to try, at any age.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, September 25, 2008 8:30 a.m.
60 degrees, breezy, sunny
What a peaceful morning here on Gomer Hill !
The various logging operations have not yet revved
up their big harvesters, and the only vehicle that has
gone
by the house during the past hour was a neighbor on his
bicycle.
We could hear a partridge drumming in the distance, a
very odd
occurrence for this time of year; that is typically a
springtime ritual.
John James Audubon also reports hearing the sound in the
fall, when
the families regroup for winter: at this link
. The home page for this awe-
some site is here .
Of course, it is wonderful to also have an actual bird
book or two (or in my case, twelve) on hand for more
comfortable per-
usal, but for quick reference, this online source is a
real gem. We also
heard a momma grouse clucking to her young in the forest,
gathering
them in close, no doubt for a quick head count. There
have been
plenty of ruffed grouse around the neighborhood this
season,
possibly because there have also been lots of snowshoe
hares
in the copses and spinneys as well. We see fewer of these,
but
their tracks were plentiful in the spring snow. Hare is
the preferred
food of predatory mammals such as coyote, so as they chow
down
on those the grouse are left to flourish. We took a ride
around the
block late in the day, and the colors on Tug Hill are
spectacular
this year. Swamp maples have completely changed into
their
shimmering crimson finery, and as the late slanting rays
of
sunlight illuminated them it was almost too bright to
gaze
upon. Ash foliage has become glossy bronze,
and woodbine vines twine up tree trunks with
a scarlet exuberance that echoes that of the maples.
Take a ride this weekend, and prepare to be dazzled.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, September 24, 2008 8:30 a.m.
58 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
The sky is pale blue and the sun a little less
than toasty on
this second full day of autumn. Back-porch sitting is
still pleasant
this time of year, maybe even more so as the mosquitoes
have left
the Hill for a while. Not a leaf stirs, and the view is
quickly changing
from the deep emerald green of summer to the varied
palette of early
fall. The forsythia hedge has started to put forth deep
red glossy leaves
near the end of each branch, and maples all through the
hedgerow show
large patches of orange, crimson, and gold. Yesterday as
I walked along
the Smith Road, three ravens emerged from the deep woods
to greet me
with guttural croaks, and followed me for quite a
distance, often swooping
low one at a time to murmur a secret or two before flying
back to the fringe.
I love these big mysterious birds; they keep to
themselves most of the year,
and when they reveal themselves to me I feel like I have
been especially
chosen to receive some peculiar blessing from beyond our
ordinary
plane of existence. Of course I have done a little
research about the
raven as a totem, or guide; there are as many different
explanations as
there are cultures that revere and/or fear this
remarkable bird. It is found
throughout the northern hemisphere, and it has a
reputation as both creator/
god and harbinger of doom, depending on one’s
cultural bias. I see them as
messengers, a connection between the natural world and
the way of mankind.
Since I play and work outdoors much of the year and feel
a deep connection
with Mother Nature’s children, I feel that the
ravens are often thanking me
for my kindness in leaving part of our corn for the wild
things, or planting
sunflowers for their winter fodder. I, in turn, thank
them for letting me be
a part of their lives. Have you been touched by something
wild lately ?
Have a wonder-full day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
7:30 a.m.
40 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
A little early fog and a nice breeze kept frost away this
morning;
our low was 38, which is chilly but not fatal to our
veggies. Oh boy,
more tomatoes. At some point I need to cut back our
outdoor geraniums
and get them ready to bring in for the winter. We started
20 plants from
seed last spring for our window boxes. A friend has great
luck storing
them bare-root in a trash bag in her cellar; they look
all limp and dead
in the spring, but when planted back into moist soil they
spring to life.
I will try that with half of them, and the rest will
decorate the window-
sills of our cool upstairs bedrooms, where they can soak
up the winter
sun. This is also the time of year for christmas cactus
to be dried out and
stuck in a dark corner somewhere, so that it can be
placed in the sun at
Thanksgiving, given a good drink of water, and encouraged
to bloom
for the winter solstice. I have a plant that was rescued
from the trash
fifteen years ago, and it has been covered with blooms
every year
since I found out that trick. We have a beaut of a day
stretched
out before us, sunny and barely warm, perfect for
whatever
we can dream up. There are still countless outdoor chores
beckoning, but I believe a stroll in the woods is the
best
way to launch this beautiful day. Then on with the work !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Monday, September 22, 2008 8:30 a.m.
48 degrees, calm, foggy
Fog has saturated the neighborhood with so much
water
it looks like rain arrived. We never did get much more
than
a little drizzle yesterday, and were able to finish
filling the wood-
shed with big chunks of maple, cherry, ash and poplar for
the up-
coming winter. We moved our big woodstove into the living
room,
a true sign that the seasons are marching briskly along.
We have had
the Kalamazoo kitchen range blazing away almost every day
since the
cold front arrived a week ago. This sets the stage for
hearty slow-simmer-
ed soups and stews, and yummy slow-roasted onion-smothered
meats.
Saturday for lunch we had an interesting concoction that
started as
basic chicken soup made from one of our leftover nine
pound roasters.
Beyond the onions, celery, and carrots that are standard
issue, I decided
to clear out the refrigerator. Corn, green beans, and a
cup of vegetarian
spanish rice seemed logical. Then in went some homemade
baked beans,
and what the heck, cole slaw ? Why not ! A pint of
leftover spinach salad,
remnants of a random bottle of V-8, dregs of a bottle of
three-buck Chuck
burgundy, yee-haw, that’s fancy cookin’! Now I
have lots of room in the
fridge, and a few quarts of some absolutely delicious
soup. When I found
an oval red thing in the soupspoon, it was a tossup
whether it was a baked
bean or a broth-infused craisin from the cole slaw. The
way I see it, if it seems
like a good idea, it almost always is, especially when it
comes to vittles. Mean-
while, I found something on a walk up the Smith Road
yesterday that really made
my day: daisies! Down in a ditch where the cold north
winds couldn’t touch them,
a mass of little daisies stood gleaming white in the mist.
I picked half of them, and
mixed in some purple knapweed and little sprigs of
goldenrod; it is one of the best
wildflower bouquets I have gathered all summer. Indeed,
yesterday was the last
full day of summer, as the autumnal equinox arrives at 11:44
a.m. today. There
are a dozen deep pink rugosa roses abloom on our hedge,
truly the last roses
of summer if I go clip a few for the windowsill. The end
of summer is always
bittersweet, our busiest time of year and also one of the
most beautiful. The
bluebirds say goodbye, geese wave as they head south, and
deer clean up
our garden leftovers, sometimes before we are quite
through with them.
We are like the busy ants, scurrying from task to task to
ensure our
comfort during the long winter months, when we could use
a little
more goofing-off time like the fiddling carefree
grasshopper.
If we plan carefully, there is usually time enough for
both.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, September 21, 2008 9:30 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, overcast
It is a cool and somewhat dampish morning. Rain
seems imminent,
so we are waiting until the weather makes up its mind
before we move
another load of firewood, in case rain does show up. It
would be a shame
to get this perfectly dry load wet before storing it for
winter. We threw a tarp
on top of the trailer after dinner last night, and were
treated to a dazzling array
of bright stars overhead while sheet lightning lit up the
northern sky. There must
be some kind of ATV rally going on this weekend; I
couldn’t hang laundry out-
side yesterday because of the great clouds of dust
sweeping across the yard kick-
ed up by gangs of offroad traffic tearing up the Smith
Road; that is one that has
been closed (by law) to ATV traffic, but that hasn’t
slowed them down one bit.
Another hoard just came streaking up our road, so
I’m thinking the wash can
wait until tomorrow. Now it seems like a bit of fog is
creeping into our view.
What an odd morning. It will be interesting to see what
finally develops.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, September 20, 2008 7:30 a.m.
48 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Even though the leaves have only just begun to
change into
their autumn hues, several have zoomed past my window
this
morning, borne on a pretty stiff breeze. I have been
picking sticks
up that came down a week ago, which is a pleasant task if
done slowly;
every time I take the dog out for a little break, I haul
in a couple dozen
more twigs for the kindling bucket. We walked up the road
yesterday
to check out a couple of apple trees that have been
reliably productive
ever since we moved to Tug Hill. They were as bare of
fruit as the near-
by maple and ash trees. No fruit on the ground, none in
the branches, a
total bust. We also saw places in the cornfield that had
been trampled
by something large, stalks uprooted and broken, cutting
quite a large
swath through the rows. Was it a microburst? Or some corn-loving
critter. Why would something eat starchy field corn when
there is
so much yummy sweet corn in our own garden? Do bears eat
corn?
According to this site,
yes they do, and may damage the field enough
so as to make harvesting difficult. So, maybe that
mystery is solved.
I did see a large pile of bear scat near that very same
field last week;
it was full of cherry pits and blackberry seeds. If I
find a similar mound
filled with undigested corn, that will be proof enough
for me. I will keep
my eyes peeled for tracks as we hike; I wouldn’t
want to accidentally
sneak up on a bear, especially during this time of year
when they
are so focused on putting on their winter fat. Even
normally docile
black bears get cranky if interrupted during a feeding
frenzy.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Friday, September 19, 2008 8:15 a.m.
45 degrees, breezy, sunny
We barely avoided frost last night, with a low of
35 degrees.
That was probably cold enough to hurt the basil, but
everything
else gets a bye for now. Yesterday we picked two buckets
of tender
green beans the easy way, snipping the plants off at the
base, heaping
them into wheelbarrows, and pulling the pods off while
seated comfort-
ably in a sunny spot. Making dilly beans will be the main
task du jour ;
I reckon we should be able to jar up enough for a couple
of years. We
left half a row in the ground for eating fresh until
frost finally does show up.
We also hauled in sixty fine tomatoes, some nearly ripe
and others showing
only a little color. They will all eventually ripen, and
those left on the plants
will soon catch up. Our hot pepper crop is very
disappointing this year,
barely enough for a few stir-fries. All in all we have
had an excellent
year in the gardens, with good quality and quantity for
all vegetables
except peppers. Flowers did very well, except for our
gladiolas;
they are all infested with tiny hungry thrips, so their
colorful blos-
soms fail to open properly. We will have to discard those
bulbs
and replant new ones in a different spot next year. So
much for
the great glad experiment, where we though we could keep
the
same bulbs forever. Our two long dahlia hedges more than
com-
pensated for lack of glads, and are still a mass of
magenta and
scarlet pompoms, even though many were broken off in
Sunday’s
wind storm. Sunflowers continue to be wonderfully
prolific, and we
gather them by the armload, decorating indoors and out
with great
bouquets. Roadsides have nurtured the best goldenrod I
have ever
seen, more deeply golden than usual; I could stand
surrounded
by these lovely weeds all day, drenched in their sunny
glow.
A few trees are beginning to turn; one big maple in the
hedgerow looks like it is wearing a crimson hat.
I love this time of year, no longer summer
and yet not quite autumn either.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, September 18, 2008 8:00 a.m.
48 degrees, windy, overcast, foggy
It is a cool and foggy morning on Gomer Hill. The ground
is as
wet as if rain had fallen, but last night was mostly
clear. There is
a frost warning for tonight, and although we hardly ever
get one in
September, we will pick our tender crops and cover the
tomatoes and
peppers with blankets just in case. We have a freezer
full of beans, corn,
and broccoli, and I am one kettle of beets away from
being done for the
year. I may still make some dill beans and tomato sauce,
but so far we
have been able to sell, trade, or give away our excess
produce. One
of the best deals is an exchange of carrots for free-range
eggs. The
chicken farmer uses the carrots for their healthful tasty
juice, and feeds
the pulp to the hens. This makes their yolks extra
orangey, and loaded
with vitamin A. It’s a nice cycle, don’t you
think? We are able to store
carrots in our cellar well into February, keeping us in
fresh eggs for half
the year. Yesterday we walked up the Evans Road looking
for wild apples.
What few we found are small and wormy. I will be hard
pressed to gather
enough for a couple of pies this year. I haven’t
found any yet that are good
to eat out-of-hand; they have been pithy and sour. We
prefer wild apples,
because we know they haven’t been sprayed with any
chemicals. The
Evans Road is still very muddy from Sunday’s storm,
and we saw lots
of coyote and turkey tracks pressed into the goo. The
farm pond at
the gateway is overflowing its banks, right up over the
road. Last
year at this time that same pond was nothing more than an
empty
grassy basin. I think the muskrat burrows are currently
under
water; there was no sign of the playful little critters
yester-
day. The fog seems to be thinning out a bit, enough to
see that the sky is filled with swiftly moving clouds.
Better get cracking; there is plenty to do !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, September 17, 2008 8:00 a.m.
54 degrees, breezy, sunny
The bite of autumn is in the air this morning, clear and
chilly and
smelling faintly of musk from a skunk that bit the dust
nearby. Last
night I was awakened three separate times by coyotes
running amok
in nearby meadows, emitting not their usual merry yodeled
songs, more
like frantic screaming and ear-splitting shrieks. I
wonder if someone was
hunting them, although I heard no shots. Perhaps the
cougar was afoot and
giving chase. Yesterday was the first day that huge
flocks of geese were on
the move across Tug Hill. We were outside most of the day
and saw several
smaller groups flying low and making lots of noise. I saw
three strands of hun-
dreds or more as I drove home from town late in the day,
all in perfect vee
formations. I saw another large flock just after moonrise,
which was spec-
tacular last night. It was not yet dark, but the moon
rose slowly into the
purple dusk, huge and deep orange. Look up tonight just
before 8:00
to see a waning gibbous moon, it should be just as nice,
maybe even
better as it will be darker outside. We finished
splitting some odds
and ends of firewood yesterday, a pleasant task for such
a cool and
skeeter-free day. Opening a chunk of wood is like a
birthday gift; you
never know what’s inside. It could be a deep red
vein of heartwood, or
dark grainy veins of purply mold, or twisty rippled
fibers that would have
made beautiful furniture, if only we had known. Sometimes
the surprise is
not so good, like a colony of huge ants or a giant spider
with the ability to
jump from the log to your glove really fast. Now we have
finished with the
hydraulic wood splitter, and can put it away for another
year. I never minded
splitting wood with a maul, but when dealing with such
large quantities it is nice
to have some new-fangled equipment to work with. The time
we save can be
spent taking a walk or bike ride, feeding the spirit if
not the wood stove.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, September 16, 2008 8:00 a.m.
50 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
What a big difference a day makes ! We had a low
of
thirty-eight last night after the clouds cleared, and it
was
downright chilly out there. It is definitely time to put
the flannel
sheets back on the beds. Geese have been on the move, and
their
plaintive songs split the night along with coyotes moving
across the
meadow. We missed moonrise due to clouds, but
tonight’s show
should be just as nice at around 7:30. As we draw close
to the
autumnal equinox, we lose about three minutes of light
every day.
With Daylight Saving Time lasting all the way until
November 2nd
this year, it will be very dark in the mornings until
then. I’m glad
I don’t have to be at work at 7:30 any more; it will
likely be
hard for Moms to get their kids off to school in what
seems
like the middle of the night. Another summer is winding
down, another trip around the sun continues its fas-
cinating cycle. Life goes on, changes happen;
it is best to count your blessings
instead of your disappointments.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Monday, September 15, 2008 8:00
a.m.
55 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
The remnants of hurricane Ike swept through our
neighborhood
after midnight with stiff steady wind and some nasty
roaring gusts
that sent several tree branches crashing into the side of
the house.
Thank goodness no windows were harmed in the production
of
last night’s storm. We had gone walking after dinner,
and a nearly
full moon lit up the Hill even though it was partially
behind clouds
much of the time. It was balmy and breezy, warm enough to
forgo
a jacket; crickets were so loud I almost missed hearing a
pack of
coyotes in the distance. As we neared the forest edge,
trees were
swaying in all directions, dark silhouettes against the
bright moonlit
sky, dancing as if characters in an old Disney fantasy.
Our yard is
littered with leaves, twigs, and larger branches that
weren’t even
dead yet. That was some mighty wind. We have had so many
violent windstorms during the past year that I am amazed
our
oldest trees haven’t been stripped down to nothing
but trunk.
Today will see a few random showers, then we are in for
a perfect late summer week with warm days and chilly
nights. Look for the full Harvest Moon to rise tonight
just before the sun sets, 7:00-ish. It should be a beaut!
have a great day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, September 14, 2008 9:00 a.m.
69 degrees, breezy, overcast, rain
Rain started to fall during the wee hours and came down
quite
hard at times. It seems to be lessening both in frequency
and quantity;
if the sun breaks through later we will have one of the
hottest days of the
summer stretching out before us. Humidity will be off the
charts, and we can
only hope that this nice breeze sticks around after the
rain moves off. Yesterday
we went to the Little Falls Garlic and Herb Festival, and
came home with three
new varieties of garlic to plant next month. The only
variety we currently grow
is music, a pleasantly spicy medium pungency
garlic with very large cloves,
which makes prep for cooking very easy. We have decided
to branch out
and explore the hotter varieties, as that extra intensity
will be nice in pasta
and rice dishes. After we browsed the booths and enjoyed
the music of
Annie and
the Hedonists we
walked across the causeway to Moss Island
and explored for a while. There are huge potholes that
have been worn
right into the rocks by water eons ago, and the whole
island is covered
with many varieties of spongy green moss. Scads of
blueberry bushes
were bare of fruit, and oaks had already dropped their
acorns. We
found a few oak galls scattered along the ground, shiny
green orbs
speckled with red that probably had a wasp egg inside. I
brought
one home in my pocket, but I can’t seem to find
anything of con-
sequence inside of the gall with a magnifying glass. We
also got
to see Lock 17 in operation, as it let in massive
quantities of
water so a little motorboat could travel upstream. We
enjoy-
ed a very interesting day spent off of Tug Hill for a
change.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday, September 13, 2008 9:00 a.m.
69 degrees, calm, mostly cloudy
The sun is trying to break through the clouds on
this muggy morning,
but so far the shroud holds its own. Fog fills the valley
right up to the
neighbor’s house; we plan to drive to Little Falls
this morning, but will
probably have to adjust our departure time to accommodate
the weather.
Rain, snow, wind, all are do-able, but fog in the North
Country puts us too
much at the mercy of many folks who drive with their
lights off. Must be the
same idiots who plunge into winter white-outs or drive at
dawn and/or twilight
lights-free, what the heck are they thinking. Meanwhile,
two deer just strolled
out of the beans, no doubt having just pruned all those
extra leaves that only
get in the way as we pick. We have left an entire row of
older broccoli for
their enjoyment, but they seem to prefer the bean foliage
for now. I don’t
think they eat the actual beans. Our fall crop of
broccoli will be ready any
day now. We picked side shoots from the early stuff eight
or nine times,
and gave up when the cabbage loopers got ahead of us. Our
latest sowing
of sweet corn has been left alone by raccoons who were
very interested in
July; we are delivering dozens of plump juicy ears to
friends in the Valley,
as our own quota of frozen corn has been filled.
Sunflowers that have
been left to ripen are attracting scores of birds,
starlings and bluejays,
crows, and finches and grosbeaks of every color. Tug Hill
teems with
wildlife this time of year, with all creatures putting on
fat for their up-
coming migration, or if they are locals, getting ready to
hunker down
for a long sere winter. Meadows are lush with legumes and
grasses,
but it is the nuts and seeds that will really supply long-term
energy
for the months to come. Don’t forget to eat your own
good
breakfast to fuel your upcoming tasks and adventures.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
~
Friday, September 12, 2008 8:00 a.m.
55 degrees, breezy, cloudy
It sure looks like it could rain at any minute out there.
Plans for a bike ride later this morning may have to be
modified,
depending on the temperature. If it warms up, sure we can
ride in
the rain; but if it stays this chilly, better to hike
instead. Sometime soon
I need to relocate about a hundred feet of spring bulbs,
mostly daffodils.
I noticed that they were a little crowded last spring
when they bloomed,
and if I dig them up, till the row to kill weeds, and
replant them with some
bone meal and wood ashes, they should be back in full
glorious bloom by
next season. That is a big project, but maybe if I do it
twenty feet at a time
it won’t seem so daunting. We are filling the
woodshed that way this year
too, one load a day until it’s full. We started
yesterday with a pickup load
of smaller wood for the kitchen range, and this morning
we will manhandle
some bigger stuff into the other woodshed for our big
Ashley stove. That
is a much bigger load, about twice as much as will fit on
a truck, but the
task will go faster because the chunks are large. At this
rate, we should
have both woodsheds filled in about a week. The barn is
already stock-
ed with big wood plus a whole lot of kindling that we
whacked up last
spring. If we have a bitterly cold winter, we will have
dry wood in the
barn that we can shuttle over to the woodshed in the
front-end loader.
We grew up on tales of our elders keeping warm during
blizzardy New
England Aprils by burning chips, chunks, and leaves so
we tend to
overstock our firewood supply to avoid that here on Tug
Hill.
Vittles in the cellar and wood in the shed,
blow out the candle and snuggle into bed.
Winter is long but nights are cozy,
grab your honey and dosey-dosey...
Yee, haw !
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Thursday, September 11, 2008 8:00 a.m.
65 degrees, breezy, sunny
We have a beautiful morning here on Gomer Hill,
warming up
nicely after a starry cool night. As I suspected, there
were reports
of scattered frost in some valley neighborhoods, but our
temperature
never dipped below 42. Yesterday I picked five gallons of
unripe pink
tomatoes just in case, but they will be red in a
week’s time, no harm done.
If anything, picking them a little early eliminates slug
damage. It seems like
every time I allow tomatoes to fully ripen on the vine,
there will be a few
holes mined into them by slugs, ugh. I have one grape
tomato bush
(sun sugar) that yielded three quarts of beautiful
little orange globes
in a single picking, perfect for snacking. The peppers
need another week
or so to reach full size; now that the frost hurdle has
been successfully cleared,
it looks good for the warm-weather crops. The late
broccoli is sporting tiny little
heads, and we are looking forward to harvesting those
sooner than one would think.
I will give the row a good spritz of bacillus
thuringicide this morning so that we can
enjoy worm-free spears. Yesterday I pulled a whole bunch
of weeds from the late
beans and cucumbers, mostly galinsoga, which has
become horribly invasive in
the gardens this year. The calypso shell beans are
slowly drying on the bushes,
and I was able to pop a couple of quarts of the small
black and white dry beans
from their crispy pods last night. Scarlet runner beans
need another couple of
weeks before their long pods will begin to mature. It has
been an odd summer,
dry to start then rainy and cool, so it is hard to
predict when crops will be per-
fectly ready. All of our gardening friends ran out of
cucumbers a month ago,
but we have just picked our first bushel. It is starting
to look like autumn in
our neck of the woods; swamp maples are already crimson,
with woodbine
and virgin’s bower vines echoing the bright red hues
as they twine up tree trunks
along the roadside. A few sugar maples have patches of
orange and gold within
their deep green canopies, and ripe cherries and
beechnuts drop like rain as we
walk along the forest paths. Hollyhocks have been cut
down and replaced by
hardy mums in the flower bed by the house, with marigolds
providing a color-
ful border. Soon we will have to dig the geraniums from
outdoor flower boxes
and repot them for our sunniest windowsills. I started
many new plants from
seed this year, so our windows will be more colorful than
ever during the
long winter months. Today looks perfect for just about
anything; we are
going to begin to fill the woodsheds, one load at a time,
no rush. I hope.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, September 10,
2008 9:00 a.m.
50 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Big masses of heavy grey clouds are beginning to scoot
off,
leaving us with crystal clear air and dazzling sunshine.
There is a
scattered frost advisory for tonight, but we seldom see
it this early
on Tug Hill. I’ll bet money that friends on the
valley flats will wake up
to sugar-coated lawns and gardens tomorrow morning. I
think I will pick
all of the tomatoes that are showing color anyway; this
will encourage more
to ripen and give me a little peace of mind, just in case.
Frost at this point
would be a real pity, as we are finally getting a few
cucumbers and I would
like to make another batch or two of sweet pickles. We
have all the green
beans we need in the freezer, and those that ripen from
here on will be
packed into jars with garlic, hot peppers, and dill,
covered with brine,
and sealed up for a zippy garnish to our winter lunches.
Not to mention,
it wouldn’t be a Gomer Hill bloody mary without a
dilly bean sticking up
next to the celery like a flag. Meanwhile, there is a
flock of turkeys strolling
out of the garden across the road, four mommas and a
whole lot of young-
sters. I hope they haven’t been helping themselves
to our shell beans, which
are nearly ready to harvest; we are waiting for them to
dry out a bit more.
Perhaps they were picking up the corn that was knocked
down during yes-
terday’s bluster. We have plenty of corn in the
freezer, so I have invited all
manner of wild things to share in the bountiful harvest
of that, hoping that they
will leave enough so we can enjoy it fresh on the cob for
a few more weeks.
Maybe they are merely out for a stroll, and our garden
was on their route.
What a perfect morning to take a walk; laundry can wait !
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, September 9, 2008 8:30 a.m.
57 degrees, windy, cloudy, raining
A doozy of a thunderstorm woke us an hour before
dawn,
sending me scurrying around to close windows and unplug
the
modem. There wasn’t too much loud thunder, but the
frequency
of lightning strikes was awesome. I haven’t seen it
lit up like that in
a long time. It is still raining, but the fireworks have
moved on. We
have brought the chairs in from the back porch so we
could cozy up
to the kitchen range with our morning brew, perusing
magazines instead
of watching wildlife. It is a good day to stay in and
sort through things in
the cellar, defrosting the big freezer and putting empty
jars into boxes. The
shelves are still full of tomato sauce and salsa from
last year’s super-harvest;
I probably won’t be doing much canning from the few
plants we have this year.
The veggie freezer needs to be reorganized, so we can use
up the remaining few
bags of beans and corn from last year before busting into
this year’s stash. In an
old-fashioned chest freezer, stuff keeps for well over a
year without too much loss
of quality. The modern frost-free freezers use fans to
keep ice from building up;
this also dehydrates the contents, no matter how well
they are wrapped. Wow,
it is really pouring now, and the wind has kicked up a
notch or two. I hope the
corn and sunflowers are able to stay vertical in this
sudden onslaught of harsh
weather. I know the lettuce and spinach will love the
rain; since I thinned
them they will probably double in size by the time the
storm is over.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
~
Monday, September 8, 2008 8:30 a.m.
58 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
Fog fills the valley and has crept almost as far as the
beanpoles
in the near garden. Sun occasionally filters through the
edges of big
dark cloud masses and makes the whole scene shiny. It
almost looks
like it could storm in a little while. We just had a
short walk up the dirt
road, and saw a huge pile of raccoon scat, smack dab in
the middle.
It is filled with berry seeds and cherry pits, no corn
stuck in the mess,
so that was good news. Our late sowing of corn is nearly
ready to pick,
needing just a few more hot sunny days to urge it to
sweet perfection.
I had feared that the cow corn planted in a neighboring
field might
cross-pollinate with our crop, yielding tough starchy
ears, but that
hasn’t happened (yet). A pair of bluebirds has just
landed on the
line outside my window; it is that time of year when they
bring
their kids over to say goodbye and thanks for
the hospitality.
I will keep an eye on the birdbath, as that is where the
tribe
usually gathers for one last splash before taking off.
Have an excellent day,
Daisy
~
Sunday, September 7, 2008 8:00 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
The sun is a beacon this morning, shining out from
between
huge banks of big grey and white clouds. The little bits
of sky
that are occasionally revealed gleam with a sharp
cerulean vibe,
true blue against the masses of cloud that try to close
in. The quality
of light is clear and shows off all of September’s
vivid colors to their
best advantage. The dahlia hedge has never looked so
beautiful, with
hundreds of crimson and magenta flowers nodding amid deep
emerald
green leaves. They are backed up by burnished golden corn
tassels with
odds and ends of randomly planted sunflowers towering
above it all. The
kitchen range has been kindled to chase the September
chill from the house,
as this gorgeous sunshine may be short-lived as clouds
increase in density. A
morning hike is in the works, as we take advantage of the
cooler temperature and
feisty breeze to keep the mosquitoes from spoiling the
trek, which happened yester-
day afternoon. We were checking out a new logging road,
but were chased all the
way home by a swarm of hungry skeeters who were lurking
in the forest, waiting
for easy prey (us!). They haven’t been much of a
problem this summer; it seems
like it will be prudent to tuck a little repellant into
the daypack from now on.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Saturday,
September 6, 2008 7:00 a.m.
65 degrees, breezy, cloudy
It is a cool, cloudy, breezy little morning out there,
with the smell
of rain in the air. Our gardens could use a good drink,
so we welcome
anything we can get, even if it interferes with our plans
for the day. This
is the weekend of the Flywheels and Pulleys Old-time
Steam Show in the
nearby town of Constableville. We have attended every one;
the first was in
1976. It has grown from a small field with a couple of
old tractors, a hay press,
and steam-powered shingle-cutter to a permanent location
just off of Route 26
with several large buildings, plenty of great food
vendors, a flea market, and
enough old farm equipment, tools, and single-stroke
engines to fascinate any-
one with a yen for the good old days. We will dress for
the weather and en-
joy whatever the day presents. Meanwhile, there is a
wonderful starling swoop
going on right outside my window, with about a hundred
birds moving en masse
as if choreographed to the windsong. Earlier there was a
rowdy caucus of crows
vocally sparring with a few ravens in the nearby hedgerow.
I don’t know if such
arguments ever lead to actual combat; I do know there are
issues of territory that
come up between the two species from time to time.
Speaking of trespassers, our
local blackberry crop has been wiped out by a pair of
bears. Friends spotted a
mom and cub leaving the patch a couple of days ago, and
the canes had been
stripped of all fruit, ripe or not. The next wild fruit
to look for is apples, but
those seem to be scarce this year. I haven’t looked
too hard yet, but I be-
lieve I will tie a bear bell to my pack and sing loudly
as I ramble along,
so I won’t surprise any foraging bruins. Bears in
this neck of the woods
are generally not a danger to humans, but I still
wouldn’t want to get
between a momma and her cub. I think it is pretty neat
that we
live in a place where such beautiful animals still roam
free.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Friday, September 5, 2008 8:30 a.m.
73 degrees, breezy, hazy sunshine
We have a repeat of yesterday’s haze on the Hill,
looking out
over a sea of thick valley fog. It is going to be a
scorcher, with
temps approaching ninety. I am glad I did the weekly
bread baking
yesterday. Although I was planning to make a cake for
tonight’s round
of company, I think I will serve sundaes instead.
Yesterday I pulled half
of our remaining beets and cooked them up in our biggest
kettle. Deer
have been nibbling the tops, and it is just a matter of
time before they
start pulling the roots out and munching on them. Beets
freeze very
well, and are easy to heat up for a colorful and tasty
midwinter side
dish. Some of the beets are as large as footballs, but
still sweet and
tender. Younger beets are good grated up raw on a salad,
or mixed
into cabbage slaw for unusual color and flavor. This time
of year I wish
we could eat five or six meals a day, just to take
advantage of the abun-
dance of fresh vegetables at our fingertips. Last
night’s supper featured
fish tacos with a spicy pico de gallo made from
our own tomatoes,
onions, and chili peppers. A huge salad full of crisp
lettuce and bits
of this and that was the perfect cooling accompaniment to
the well-
seasoned fish. Although we will enjoy our canned and
frozen fruits
and veggies all winter long, there is nothing like
chowing down on
something that was hanging from a bush just hours before.
I will
finish up freezing most of the beets today, and do one
last thinning
of carrots to make room for the big’uns we are sure
to find after the
first frost. We pulled all of the onions and they are
drying in the barn,
spread out on racks like the cast in the last scene of Les
Miserables.
In consideration of today’s upcoming swelter, might
I suggest you
drink plenty of water, and take a short siesta during the
hottest part
of the day. This will leave you refreshed for a leisurely
stroll under
the stars after dinner in the cool September air. Listen
to the cric-
kets, and make sure you catch the crescent moonset just
after dark.
If you are lucky, you just might see a shooting star or
two.
Have a great day and a better night,
Daisy
Thursday, September 4, 2008 8:00 a.m.
65 degrees, breezy, hazy sunshine
There is fog right up to the edge of our garden;
we can’t see a
thing beyond the hedgerows. Sunlight is filtered through
high thin
clouds that obscure the big picture, so we aren’t
sure if it is cloudy
or not. There was a very heavy dew, or possibly fog mist,
so the
whole scene is glistening in the soft light, not
blindingly shiny, rather
an all-pervasive glow. It looks like an anything-can-happen
day, no
promises, no demands. I need to get the beets out of the
ground be-
fore the deer do, and cook them up for the freezer. Our
freezers are
getting full of good things; one of them must be
defrosted so I can
rotate the stock, putting the few bags of last
year’s veggies on top
of the new crop. We have found a local supply of
naturally raised
grass-fed beef, so that has taken quite a bit of space in
the meat
freezer, which is already full of chicken, pork, and last
year’s
venison. Our bread supply is very low; a month of company
will do that, so I guess I will turn last night’s
mashed potatoes
into beautiful golden loaves before I head out into the
garden.
Our latest sowing of lettuce has to be thinned, yielding
a pail full
of baby greens sweeter than any pre-bagged stuff on the
market.
Fresh is best, you betcha! While the tasks of September
are daunt-
ing, this year’s abundance is a blessing, one which
may was bestowed
either because of the weather, or in spite of it. Take a
few moments to
thank your powers-that-be for a full table and freedom
from hunger.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 7:00 a.m.
63 degrees, calm, partly sunny
The sun is out there, but is currently obscured behind an
eastern layer of thick clouds. Feathery wisps fan
northward
until the sky eventually becomes a clear pale blue
directly over
the house. At some point today it will be as hot and
sunny as yes-
terday, not the best conditions to be on the roof
repairing a chimney.
Fortunately for us, appointments in the Valley will keep
us well grounded
until later this afternoon, when the weather should be
more user-friendly.
The heat has brought a few cucumbers into the garden, but
for the most
part, the vines have failed to set much fruit. One whole
row is covered
with yellow blossoms, but they all appear to be male.
Could this be
Mother Nature’s way of sending us a message? I have
heard that
in times of war, more male babies are born than female.
Perhaps
the assault on our planet from so many fronts has
prompted this
odd occurrence in the cucumber patch. I’m just
sayin’... May
I suggest that you check the track record
of a certain vice-
presidential candidate with regard to environmental
issues ?
If you care for our planet, this just could influence
your vote.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, September
2, 2008 8:00 a.m.
69 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
We have been watching a
flock of turkeys pick their way across
the near meadow, well within range if they were in season.
The poults
are nearly as large as the mommas, if still a little
skinny. When the dog
walked over to investigate the trespassers, they ran
swiftly down to the
hedgerow, some flying a few feet off the ground. We
seldom see these
birds in full flight; I think it must be hard for them to
lift off. They will be
very happy that we dug potatoes over the weekend; one of
their favorite
treats is the culls that are scattered all over the plot.
I think they also find a
lot of insects and worms in the disturbed soil. Our spud
harvest was awesome
this year, in both quality and quantity. I guess potatoes
like rain. Tomatoes are
just getting going, and the coming week of hot weather is
just what they have
been waiting for. Our final sowing of green beans will be
perfectly ready by
the end of the week, just as the last ones will be all
picked out. Sunflowers
are loaded with blossoms in many sizes and hues, from the
palest yellow to
deep mahogany red. One variety has dozens of flowers
along a three foot
stem, every bit as lush as the taller ones but well
suited to a flower bed rather
than rowed out separately in the vegetable garden. I like
to plant some in every
spare space, both for our enjoyment and as bird food.
There are so many new
varieties out; I remember when the only choice for home
gardeners was the
mammoth grey russian, twelve feet tall or more,
bearing just one flower
at the end of the thick stalk. The newer varieties keep
blooming after the
center flower is gone, much the same way that broccoli
sends out side
shoots after the main head has been cut. The next thing
to be harvested
en masse is onions. If we pull them today they
should be dry enough to
put in the barn by the time rain falls Thursday. After a
couple of weeks,
their outer wrappers become papery and then they can go
into the
cellar with the spuds. September is always a busy month
for a
gardener, but well worth the toil. If it ever seems too
hard,
I suppose we could plant less the next time.
Have a pleasant day,
Daisy
~
Tuesday, September 2, 2008 8:00 a.m.
69 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
We have been watching a flock of turkeys pick
their way across
the near meadow, well within range if they were in season.
The poults
are nearly as large as the mommas, if still a little
skinny. When the dog
walked over to investigate the trespassers, they ran
swiftly down to the
hedgerow, some flying a few feet off the ground. We
seldom see these
birds in full flight; I think it must be hard for them to
lift off. They will be
very happy that we dug potatoes over the weekend; one of
their favorite
treats is the culls that are scattered all over the plot.
I think they also find a
lot of insects and worms in the disturbed soil. Our spud
harvest was awesome
this year, in both quality and quantity. I guess potatoes
like rain. Tomatoes are
just getting going, and the coming week of hot weather is
just what they have
been waiting for. Our final sowing of green beans will be
perfectly ready by
the end of the week, just as the last ones will be all
picked out. Sunflowers
are loaded with blossoms in many sizes and hues, from the
palest yellow to
deep mahogany red. One variety has dozens of flowers
along a three foot
stem, every bit as lush as the taller ones but well
suited to a flower bed rather
than rowed out separately in the vegetable garden. I like
to plant some in every
spare space, both for our enjoyment and as bird food.
There are so many new
varieties out; I remember when the only choice for home
gardeners was the
mammoth grey russian, twelve feet tall or more,
bearing just one flower
at the end of the thick stalk. The newer varieties keep
blooming after the
center flower is gone, much the same way that broccoli
sends out side
shoots after the main head has been cut. The next thing
to be harvested
en masse is onions. If we pull them today they
should be dry enough to
put in the barn by the time rain falls Thursday. After a
couple of weeks,
their outer wrappers become papery and then they can go
into the
cellar with the spuds. September is always a busy month
for a
gardener, but well worth the toil. If it ever seems too
hard,
I suppose we could plant less the next time.
Have a pleasant day,
Daisy
~
~
Monday, September 1, 2008 10:30 a.m.
71 degrees, breezy, sunny
What an excellent morning to sit on the porch and enjoy
peace and quiet after three days of music and fun !
I know there are beans to pick, greens to thin, and
taters to gather, but for one sweet half-hour it was
heaven
to bask in the warmth of September’s first sun, feet
up, dogs and cats dozing at our feet, with a cool breeze
wafting the scant of late-blooming roses to our noses.
Later... 1:00... some friends have stopped by to admire
the view and bathe in the delicious sun/breeze combo.
We have been through the gardens and picked slender new
beans, corn, greens, and flowers to send out of town, but
there is still a multitude of home-grown goodness
awaiting a trip to the blanching kettle or salad bowl.
Tender
sweet corn will be just the ticket for supper, along with
the first ripe tomatoes, crisp fried potatoes, and some
good grass-fed burgers cooked over applewood coals. It is
a real luxury to have this short period of rest with
friends before getting back to the nitty-gritty of autumn
harvest. All of the real chores can wait until tomorrow,
along with the official end to my month’s vacation
from part-time work off the Hill. What an interesting
and complicated August it has been; it will be good to
get back into a routine.
Have a great day,
Daisy
~
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