To Every Thing (turn, turn, turn)...

There is a season...

I went out to the garden yesterday morning after ignoring it completely for almost a week. It appears that we've reached that dismal time of year when the garden stops producing. The dreary weather did much to reinforce how sad the whole thing looked. The Tomato Hornworms have wreaked havoc on my remaining tomato plants, although I was able to bring in a basket full of lovely red ones. I pulled out the fluffy purple flowers before they could seed the whole garden in. The girls' magic beans are still going strong. All my neglected basil is woody and bitter, but there are some lacy green shoots of dill coming up where the dill went to seed.

I found two mice in two days in the mouse trap.

My Bodum french press carafe broke last night.

I packed one bookshelf of books and already have 4 boxes full.

There is a time for planting, a time for harvesting, and a time to rest. There is a time for good coffee, and a time to drink tea. There is a time that the mice like to visit, and a time they leave us well enough alone. There is a time to pack, and a time to unpack (and then a time to pack and unpack again). I just need to remember that although one thing may end, something bigger and better may be just around the corner.

And now, it's time for a weekend. Have a lovely one!

T

Magic Beans

Just in time for our Language Arts unit on "Jack & the Beanstalk", we found some magic beans in our garden! Can you believe these pods? I have no idea what we are growing, or if they are highly toxic or not. Any ideas anyone?

They must truly be magic because just an hour after I put out our FOR SALE sign, someone called and is coming to look at the house tomorrow! Wow!

T

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

THE GOOD...

THE BAD...

THE UGLY!

T

Why I'm Not a Farmer

Do you remember in all those Laura Ingalls Wilder stories how Pa decides to wait a couple of days to let the wheat ripen before harvest and then the grasshoppers come, or fires, or some other such calamity? We've all heard stories about Tornadoes ripping through the week before the wheat harvest in the mid-West and not only flattening the wheat, but sucking up the barn and harvester too. Those are some of the reasons that I'm glad I'm not a Farmer. I don't depend on my "crops" for my livelihood, or even for my meals. I'd have a lot more learning to do anyway, before I could join the ranks of "Farmer".

My 2008 peach harvest, though much anticipated, was a bust. I picked about 2 dozen peaches today, most of which had holes in them from the bees. The girls and I ate a couple off the tree on Tuesday, when I noticed that they were almost ripe. I picked a few on Thursday, but still encountered many green ones. By this morning, however, they had vanished, although not entirely. There was plenty of evidence scattered around to show that someone/thing enjoyed LOTS of peaches! While J grumpily denounced the "naughty deer and groundhogs", I was berating myself for not watching more closely. To be honest, this isn't the first time I've missed the peaches. A couple of years back, I was giving them a couple more days to ripen up and a doozy of a thunderstorm whipped through over night. By morning, all that was left were the tell-tale pits around under the tree.

Another year without peaches to put up. Bummer. We did eat all the peaches we could hold today...mmm...were they good.

The ones that got away...

A Hard Life

Over dinner this weekend, J and her friend, M, were discussing their future vocational goals. J stated that she wants to be a Veterinarian. "I want to have a hard life when I grow up." said M. Perhaps the stunned silence that followed prompted her to explain. "I want to live in a log cabin and cook all my meals over the fire. I want to have a corn crop." (True to her love of all things Pioneer!)

"We have a corn crop." I announced. M didn't appear to be impressed.

In all honesty, our corn patch is not all that impressive. Personally, I find the stately rows of tall, green stalks very beautiful. I only managed to get about half of it weeded and mulched this year before running out of mulching material. The weeds between the remaining rows were knee high, so I actually pushed the mower between the rows this weekend!

I was delighted by the thunder storm last evening! I refilled the rain barrels, and imagined how happy the garden and corn patch would be with all of the water. I surveyed the landscape following the rain with dismay, however. Two-thirds of the corn patch was flattened. Several limbs and many branches littered the ground. The bird feeder was dangling upside down from the suspension wire.

This morning, coffee mug in hand, I strode out to right the fallen stalks. An hour and a half later, I had 6 rows tied up and had weeded another row, straightened and filled the bird feeder, and tossed most of the litter into the woods. With a satisfied sigh, I came in for a bowl of cereal with blueberries.

Not a hard life, certainly, but hard work. Hard work that yields amazing rewards and is personally fulfilling. I can handle that!

T

Today, in my garden...

This is my tiny garden harvest today, minus 2 lovely strawberries which were immediately devoured. The new items we are trying this year are:

- Gurney's Hybrid Sweeter Yet Cucumber

- Burpee Kaleidoscope Mix Carrots

T