Summer Winding Down

There was a good sized flock of canary finches at the top of the hill today. I was very happy to see them in larger numbers than in year's past.

The Jimson weed is blooming and wild turkeys have been strolling through the fields for about two weeks.

Today it was just around seventy degrees all day long, so very pleasant to sit outside in between winemaking sessions.

Purple and Gold

My kitchen is full of Concord grapes and small yellow pear tomatoes. I'm making wine. The carboy of peach wine is chugging along. Today, I started the grape wine, while some apple is fermenting nicely. I fully intend to try making yellow tomato wine, so cut up about a gallon to freeze while I finish the grape.

You can probably imagine how good the kitchen smells.

The Cherokee Purple tomatoes I grew from seed and put in the garden in June are now ripening. They are intensely purple-red and meaty inside. 'Tasty, too.

The grapes were a gift from friends. They are so ripe that I can't let them sit in the cooler too long or they'll go moldy. I hope to finish processing them tomorrow. We took over a peach pound cake as a thank you gift and sat and talked for a while after picking.

Rain has come and greened up the fields and lawns. It looks like we'll get another cutting of hay, thank goodness.

The big barn is getting all dug out and cleaned. Tomorrow promises rain and much cooler temperatures. At last.

Long Dry Spell

I hate to seem obsessed with the hot, dry weather -- but I am! It creates a tension just below the surface of my consciousness that is irritating. During the few one-time only rains that we've had these past two months I could feel that tension melt away. But as the dry days build and build, I feel the tension building as well.

In other parts of the country and the world, people are suffering from too much rain.

Ah, well, perhaps Mother Nature is displeased with some of the folly of mankind messing with oil in oceans or genetic engineering...

We picked the peach trees to thwart the crows, the groundhog, and the deer, all of which were snacking on the fruit and the leaves. I guess it's hard to find a square meal in the dry fields.

My kitchen looks like a scene from The Attack of the Killer Peaches. I've made peach jam, peach chutney, and fresh peach poundcakes. I think I should make some more small cakes and freeze them for winter. Something tells me that peach wine will substitute for the blackberry wine which will not materialize this year. Apples are next. It's a good thing I held off planting tomatoes. They are just starting to ripen. There are lots of heritage yellow pear which might even make some good, interesting wine.

The workers are almost finished extending the rooflines of our big barn. It will be great to have shelter from RAIN (when it finally comes) and snow where I park my UTV. There is nice shade for the cows when they are in that pasture and a place to put large round bales for them without worrying about it getting WET.

So, I better get down there and do the chores before the heat kicks in. The guy on the radio seems to be taking delight in forecasting temperatures "near 100 degrees" for today.

We're Done!

All right, Mother Nature, we're baked. You can turn off the oven now.

I don't know about official temperatures, but our thermometer on the kitchen door has been wearing out the 100 degree mark. Enough is enough.

Rain is forecast for the next week or so. We'll see if it materializes. In these hills and ridges, rain is a hit or miss proposition. We didn't get much the last time rain was forecast.

On the bright side, the tomatoes are developing nicely. I didn't put them in the ground until June, but think they'll be ready to pick before long.

The goats are venturing out even at midday. You'd think they'd stay in the big shady barn, but no -- they have plans as they've progressed to pastures new to them. There must be enough yummy stuff out there to give them the incentive. They don't come back to the barn until it starts getting dark.

I heard a cow in labor two mornings ago and see her with her new calf. Cows have been switched over to the pastures near the houses and barn, where much standing hay is available. They're doing a moderate job of chomping it down. My husband took the opportunity to try to mow the stickweed and dried grass in some of the resting pastures. Stickweed is a nasty plant that NOTHING eats. As far as I know, it has no use at all except to take over where it can succeed against other plants.

Peaches and pears are on the trees but we really need some rain so that they do not just dry up on the trees.

Okay, Mother Nature, you've got your orders. Now, come on and deliver.

July

July is a month, like February, that you just want to get through -- preferably in one piece.

We're expecting temperatures up near 100 F. this week. I don't even care much about temperature. Just give me the humidity forecast. There is no chance of rain for many days.

My husband was getting in as much of the neglected hay as possible this past weekend. His round baler could not make bales because the hay was too dry. Picking up square bales and putting them in a hay wagon is not something to look forward to in the heat.

I found one lone sunflower out in a field when looking for nearly nonexistent blackberries. Every year has its own unique agricultural yield. This is the first year that blackberries have been scarce on our farm.

Beans, on the other hand, have been extremely prolific. The freezer is full of them and some are in the dehydrator, cut up small, for vegetable soup in the winter.

The wasps are as mad as hornets! I've been bitten twice so far and travel with a can of spray in the cup holder of my UTV. I even had to spray inside the mailbox, as wasps were building a nest inside.

So, I'm up early. The daylight is already full out. I must drag myself down to tend to the animals while I can still breathe. The vegetable garden needs a little bit of water so that it can get through the heat of the day. I can hear the bulls in neighboring fields getting their daily rage out of the way before the heat builds.

Relief is on the Way...

...or so they say.

It's been hot, hot, hot and the promised rain has missed our road. I heard it poured a short distance away.

When I walk on the lawn, it crunches. The humidity could bring you to your knees and take your breath away.

My son in Pennsylvania called today and told me it is in the 70s there today with record lows predicted overnight. It could get down into the 40s!

We've been promised similar daytime temperatures, starting tomorrow. But, then, they've been promising rain "tomorrow" for days now.

There's a deer with a newborn fawn trapped in one of our fenced pastures. I guess she is jumping over several times a day to nurse the baby. I saw a newborn calf today, three tiny bantam chicks newly hatched from one of the secret nests and a cute yellow gosling sitting up straight next to Mom, who is still setting on a big bunch of eggs.

The days are so long now. It is almost 9 p.m. and the sunset is just getting into full swing with beautiful streaks of orange and pink on a purple-blue background. Red sky at night - sailors' delight? Well, I think the chance for rain is over for now.

Surprises

What surprised me yesterday as I did my gardening rounds?  Well, it turns out we have not one, but two apricot trees.  The younger of the two has begun bearing fruit this year -- not a lot, just a little.  I picked some slightly under ripe fruit to put under a dome and let ripen inside the house to foil the bugs.

When I went in the vegetable garden just to monitor the newly climbing bean plants, I found, to my amazement, that there were lots of fully mature beans ready to be picked.  I filled a bag with beautiful purple beans, which I blanched and froze.  Since these were mostly self-planted from last year's crop, it was especially surprising.  Slow food isn't just a catch phrase around here, and I wasn't in a big hurry to start harvesting in the heat.

Two long cucumbers were ready for picking, and eating, evidently.

Much chard must be cut, cooked, and frozen.  Some of the fennel is ready for picking.  It is all self-seeded.  Black raspberries are abundant in certain parts of the weedy lower yard.  The cherries are all pitted and in the freezer.  Zucchini is shredded, the recipe for muffins open on the counter for later today.

So, continuing my voyage of discovery, I'm out the door to do the chores before the sun gets too high in the sky.  I'd like to trim some goat hooves early and start to catch up on their maintenance.

June is Also Cherry Month

'Got a chance to pick some tart cherries yesterday.  A neighbor invited me to help myself.  If I get a chance I'll pick some more today, as the window of opportunity closes quickly on ripe cherries.  I'll need to get them pitted and either frozen or preserved before they get moldy or rotten.

I don't want to jinx the deal, but I think I found the breach in the goat fencing last Sunday.  It was behind the greenhouse, so hidden from human view, although, evidently, not from goat view.  Crossing my fingers  -- no visiting goats on the lawn checking out the developing peaches and pears for the past week.

A mysterious bag of summer squashes showed up on the kitchen counter yesterday.  Hmm... wonder where that came from?

Yesterday, I pulled some beets, boiled and skinned them, made a harvard sauce and froze a container for our winter enjoyment.  There is much chard to be cooked and frozen.  That will be a task for later in the day.

I made lavender and thyme salve yesterday.  It promises to be a useful concoction.

So, now to go down to sort goats in the barn for an early morning customer before the heat builds and the day becomes sticky.

June is Berry Month

The little band of renegade goats was at it again yesterday afternoon.  They have found a way to get out of the fenced pastures and up on our lawn to browse on developing fruit.  It's probably nearly irresistable for them.

Chasing them on foot is fruitless (forgive the pun.)  I must run down and get my motorized Mule and vroomvroom them.  They know exactly where to go.  They wait in front of the back gate and I unlatch it and let them through, lecturing in a stern voice about "bad goats" and how they have plenty to eat in the legal fields.

At least I learned that the red raspberries are ready to pick, as are a few of the black raspberries and gooseberries.  Boy, it was just the 5th of June, which, after all, is Berry Month, and already berries are ripening.  These guys go on schedule.

The hayfield is mowed, raked and baled, so I'll be driving up to the areas where black raspberries grow to gather some.  My husband is already out gathering the round bales to get them under cover before the next rain comes. 

It's hot and humid and I dread having to walk the fence line to find the breach that allows bad behavior to thrive.  But, let's face it:  this is a priority and if I can thwart the behavior there are peaches in our future.

End of May -- Rain Roulette

It seems it's always like this for the first hay cutting.  The threat of rain looms and area farmers are consulting crystal balls to decide when to cut.  You don't want hay laying on the ground in wet weather if you can avoid it, because it will rot or mold.  It needs to be dry before baling or you risk poisoning your livestock or burning down your barn.

What to do?  What to do?  I guess you "bite the bullet", make a decision and keep your fingers crossed.

We're now into the weather in which you slather on some sunblock and spritz on some mosquito repellent before venturing out to do the morning chores.

The humidity is sometimes notable and we've been all the way up to 90 degrees recently, although sometimes 80 seems like the new 90 in terms of humidity.  It's muggy and buggy.

On the bright side:  plants in the vegetable garden have experienced a growth spurt in the heat.  There are already baby cucumbers forming.  Chard is big and beautiful.  Fennel has self seeded and already formed nice hands.  Bees are in the borage; snow peas will be part of today's dinner; beans are climbing right up to the sky.

Geese set on massive nests in both flocks.  In the chicken house, a goose is minding lots of guinea eggs laid in a ground nest along with goose eggs.  It's unlikely anything will come of it - but if it does, I'll let you know.