Sundays, posting from the frontlines.......

Another week and I am just ticking down those August days.  I gotta say this is not my favorite month.  February gets a little brutal around here but August is the waiting month.  Waiting for northern breezes to start blowing, humidity to drop, rain to start falling, seeds to sprout, shows to start up and the wait sometimes seems eternal.  

The late summer gardens are pretty, especially in the evenings.  

Hydrangea Unique

Nicoctiana for the moths and make the yard smell of vanilla.

Lobelia and Fairy Roses

The bean screen is working remarkably well this year. 

My van is behind that green wall. 

The full blown garden bounty is coming in and I am pretty careful about what happens on which weather day.  I could never punch a time clock!  Yesterday my list was pretty full but then mid-afternoon the humidity dropped, the wind shifted, I stopped weaving and ran out to get garden chores done.  The back 40 got my attention.  Seeds once again were tossed in the ground.  Carrots, Swiss chard, red Russian Kale, Toscano Kale, Romaine and Butter crunch lettuces.  Still to toss are radishes and beets.  Might be late for beans but will give it shot as I have the seeds.

This has been a learning year.  There were so many things that got crossed off the master list and then seeds and plants were unceremoniously slammed in the ground.  I said the garden prayer over the whole lot; GROW DAMMIT!  and moved onto other stuff on the list.  In past years I spent hours pouring over companion planting charts, moon planting charts, researching what seeds were resilient to pests, wilts and blights, heirloom or hybrid but not this year.  And a HUGE mistake was made!

I let volunteer potato sprouts grow where they wanted, ala Ruth Stout no till, no work gardening method.  
If you don't know Ruth Stout check her out here:  Ruth Stout video

One big problem, tomato blight winters over on potato tubers left in the ground.  Guess who got tomato blight for the first time ever!  So many lessons...... not from Ruth Stout this time!

My blighted tomatoes but the nasturtiums are doing great!  

As luck would have it there is a terrific farmer up the road and I can get tomatoes for $20 a bushel.  I am using the tomatoes I have for eating and soups and buying a bushel or two from my local farmer who thankfully, is pretty pesticide and herbicide free.  And can I just rant for a minute?  I am so over the boutique farm stands!  I have been going to a local farm stand for 35 years.  This year I had sticker shock!  5 peaches were $7.00.  A watermelon was $9.00.  I can't even remember what the "heirloom tomatoes" were going for as I stumbled around wondering where my old farm stand went.  There were custom jams, pickles, jellies. Custom paring knives. Honey was crazy expensive!  I am so grateful for my honey lady who lives a stones throw away.  I bought a dozen ears of corn for $6.00, which I thought was very fair.  As I walked out I noticed the cars in the parking lot; an Audi SUV, a Mercedes, a huge Suburban and my cute little work van.  Yikes, when did this happen?  and why did this happen?  My favorite orchard where I got Molly Red apples is closed this year.  Are farm markets being gentrified like everything else?  Ok I got the boutique corn home and half of ears were not filled out so I only got half an ear of corn or 6 ears.  I get you have to put your kids through college, and need equipment and and and ...... we are all in this together.  I guess this gets shelved with the $100 mug dilemma and I sure need time to ponder all this!  Phew February is coming!

My few tomatoes have been roasted and turned into soup.  I wish you could smell my house right now!  Almost better than Christmas!!

This is the easiest and best tomato soup recipe ever!  No need to skin or seed the tomatoes just core, cut and roast.  Toss in a head of garlic, some fresh basil, thyme, onions and roast at 375F until slightly charred.  Blend in blender or food processor adding stock as needed.  At this point I can put it in the freezer or add a bit of almond milk or half and half and make a nice bisque for dinner.  If you choose not to add stock it makes a super fab spread for crusty bread or crackers.

This works for squash too!  In the hollow put sage and garlic, roasting upside down to seal in the flavors. 

Let it cool, peel, toss squash, garlic and sage in a big heavy bottomed pot and start adding stock or water to thin out.  I use my stick blender.  This freezes super duper too!  

The birds won on the elderberries this year....

The white raspberries are doing OK this year.  These were a pass along from neighbor Joan H. and best gift ever! 

Last year they were stupendous.  This year between the Japanese beetles and drought not as well. The gardener fell down in her duties. 

The studio is humming along too.  Those raku pots from last Sunday have been polished up or hammered.  Weaving is taking way too much time but still love weaving!  

I'm also on the learning curve for terra stigillata.  Just when you think you've nailed it you open the kiln to find it peeled right off the bottom half of the pot.  Not sure if the pots can be fixed or worth the effort of fixing so I will sit and look at them for a week and then decide.  Nothing to loose at this point so time to play!! 

When all else fails back to pots you know and love :) 

So I must say just about the time you plod along through the week opening less then stellar kiln loads and trimming blighted leaves of tomato plants or spending a morning killing bean beetles, squash beetles, potato beetles, cucumber beetles.  

Then out of the blue this pops up. 

And you can't believe it and it makes you a bit teary because you realize you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing.  Planting seeds, making pots, plodding along through life and then one day you pop that sun warmed cherry tomato in your mouth and the explosion happens.  For a moment in time all is right in my little world on this tiny half acre and you can't stop smiling and you know you will always be planting those seeds.  

Hoping everyone a sun warmed cherry tomato week!