Harvest Moon

What a beautiful day we had today. Low humidity, sunshine, and temperatures in the low 70s--the perfect mix. Best of all, the weatherman promises more days like this are to come. This lovely day is being topped off with a colorful full moon. It is what we call a harvest moon.

The tomato plants are looking a bit ragged, but we are still getting tomatoes here and there. Most of them are smaller than the ones from earlier in the season, but I picked this giant tomato off one of the "Robert's Best Black" heirloom plants. The picture doesn't really capture it, but to me the tomato somewhat resembles a miniature pumpkin. The shoulders are ribbed like a pumpkin, and there is just enough stem to look like a pumpkin handle.

We have also picked some decent apples off our old apple tree. We don't know what kind of apple tree it is, and we give it only a minimum of care, but every 3rd year or so it produces a bountiful harvest of small, red, and fairly tart apples. Yesterday afternoon I picked some of the nicer ones and quickly put together an apple pie. It was absolutely delicious. I was proud of the fact that the apples went from tree to pie in only a couple of hours. Of course I did have help from the store bought refrigerated pie crusts.

The only bad part of the day came after dinner when Nick went to check on the chickens. He brought our little Silver Seabright bantam, Starlight, inside because she was being picked on by the other chickens and looked to be in pretty bad shape. Poor little Starlight's head had been pecked bald, and one of her wings seems to be hurt. She looks pretty bad, and we can tell she feels pretty bad, too. Starlight is one of our more elderly chickens, and the others in the coop have no tolerance for weakness. Sad but true, chickens can be pretty cruel. You've heard of a pecking order? It appears Starlight is currently at the very bottom. We'll let Starlight spend some time in the chicken crate in the basement and see if she perks up. I hope so. We have had her since we bought her from another 4-H poultry family 8 or 9 years ago. Starlight doesn't really know she is a chicken, and given the chance will follow us around the yard or fly up to sit on some one's shoulder. Starlight is the hen that taught us that chickens can have personalities. Starlight has also proven that she is quite a spunky and brave little hen. I'll share that story in another post. Starlight is special enough to us that all summer Nick would take her outside the coop at feeding time to be sure she got her share of the wild mulberries that the chickens loved and fought over. Hopefully, Nick rescued little Starlight in time. I'm hoping to see her regain her strength and spunk so she can go back to the flock, kick some chicken butt, and re-establish herself at the top of the pecking order. That's my wish for the harvest moon.

Signs of the Seasons

The rain this past weekend washed away the uncomfortably high humidity we've been experiencing and brought down the temperature. The cooler days are so refreshing and the even cooler nights make for excellent sleeping. In the morning, there is a chill in the air that definitely leaves the impression that fall is on its way.

Because it seems summer is really winding down, we were surprised to discover recently that a sparrow had built a nest within a morning glory vine that climbs an obelisk in a planter near the front door. Inside the nest were 3 little speckled brown eggs. Every time we went out the front door, the poor little mother sparrow jumped from her nest and ran across the driveway to safety. We're not sure why she chose to make her escape on foot, but we felt bad to see her panic and did our best not to disturb her. I didn't realize baby birds were hatched this late in the season. Aren't baby birds a sign of spring? However, the little brown eggs went from tiny, naked birds to youngsters who left the nest in an unbelievably short amount of time. It appears Mother Nature knew there was still plenty of time for our little sparrow to raise a family before the end of warm weather.

Then, this past weekend, I discovered Toby making a game of tormenting a baby rabbit in our back yard. Once again, I was surprised to see such a youngster this time of year. Aren't baby animals supposed to be born in the spring? You may recall that earlier this year, when I was upset that some of my young plants and a rose bush were destroyed by rabbits, I resolved to let Toby do some natural pest control and help keep rabbits out of the yard. My resolve dissolved, you might say, when I heard the little rabbit squeal in terror at being stalked by my dog. I just couldn't stand to think of Toby hurting the baby bunny just for the sport of it, so I sent my buddy to the garage and chased the bunny away. I'm sure I'll be "rewarded" for my kindness by having some more of my favorite plants chomped to the ground next spring. What a choice to have to make.

There also seems to be a sudden increase in the grasshopper population this time of year. All at once, they are everywhere. I hate grasshoppers nearly as much as I hate Japanese Beetles. Every year I consider getting a few guineas to do bug control on our property. I have heard guineas eat enormous amounts of harmful insects, including ticks. I have also heard they are noisy and obnoxious to have around, but would really like to see for myself. Apparently they are pretty wild, sleep in trees, and require little interference from people to survive. If they would really help reduce the grasshopper and tick population, it might be worth the extra bird noise.

So while fall is just around the corner, I am seeing signs that it's not here just yet, which is fine with me. There is still a lot of gardening I want to get done before it is time for the snow shovel!

30 Days and Counting

One month from today I will be on my way to Colorado Springs, and I am so excited. The purpose of the trip is twofold. First is just to have a break from all the busyness of every day life and to simply enjoy some "me" time. The second and most important reason is to visit my good friend Robin who moved to Colorado just under a year ago, and whom I have missed very much.

One thing I have discovered about vacations, even short ones as this will be, is that much of the enjoyment of the event comes from the planning and anticipation. I am by nature a planner, organizer, and problem solver. Therefore, it has been fun to apply the skills I normally use at work every day to something just for fun. It has been so much fun researching all the details from flight schedules, to tourist attractions, to hotel reviews. I've looked at dozens of pieces of luggage and finally purchased a new carry-on bag. Of course I have already started to think about the clothes I should pack, and which creature comforts I'll have room for in that carry-on bag and which ones will stay at home. Robin graciously offered to let me stay at her home, but I have never been a good house guest and asked her to help me find a nearby hotel, instead. I have to confess I am looking forward to some selfish ME time to simply soak in a bubble bath, read, and watch what I want on TV or simply flip through the channels. After busy days of sightseeing, shopping, talking, laughing, and girl stuff, it will be nice to slip on some cozy pajamas, lounge around, and just listen to my own thoughts. I think they are still in there!

So what does this story have to do with a blog about "gardening and the rural lifestyle"? Maybe nothing, but then again, maybe everything. Because you know what will be the best part of all about my much anticipated get-away? Coming back home, of course. There is nothing like time away from home and those you love the most to make you appreciate everything you have. Be it ever so humble, there is no place like our little home in the country.

Garden Surprises

The last 10 days or so have been so busy at work and at home that not much time has been left for blogging or gardening. These days I really appreciate how the garden boxes have simplified my gardening chores. About all I have to do is keep the reservoirs full of water and pick the ripe tomatoes. The growth of the vegetables has slowed down enough that the boxes only need filled with water every other day. It is very relaxing at the end of a busy day to loiter about the garden, filling the reservoirs with water and inspecting the plants. Even though the season is winding down, there are still surprises to be found.

One recent surprise was a most unexpected visitor to the garden. I was delighted this weekend to spot a colorful green frog sitting in one of the boxes enjoying the shade of an eggplant. I have to wonder if he spends some of his time swimming about in the water reservoirs? Hopefully he feasts on some of the insects in the garden while he visits as well.

The eggplant I am growing this year is another one of my garden surprises. It is a newer variety called 'fairy tales' and it is a delight. The eggplants are baby-sized and very cheerful with colorful purple and white stripes. The eggplants grow in clusters and it appears one plant will easily produce enough for two or three people. To save time, I marinated some of the sliced eggplant in Italian dressing and grilled them on my George Foreman grill. They were pretty good prepared this way, but I think they would be even better cooked over charcoal. Next time I will marinate them in olive oil with fresh herbs and grill them with some other fresh vegetables. Delicious!

Fairy tales is so cheerful and fun in the garden that I have added another goal to my list for next year's garden. My goal is to find even more colorful and novel vegetable plants to grow such as colorful bell peppers and different kinds of squash and beans. Now I can hardly wait for the garden catalogs to start arriving in the mail. I would also welcome your suggestions!

Garden Notes

Early this morning I picked a nice mess of green beans. Once again this year I planted the variety 'Provider.' A bush bean, Provider bean pods are long and straight with small seeds and a nice flavor. My only complaint is I wish the plants were a bit stronger and would hold the mature beans more upright. Even though it would be easier to pick the beans off plants that stayed upright, at least with the garden boxes the beans are held up off the ground and stay very clean. The beans are simmering now with some fresh onion and the aroma is nothing less than heavenly!

A few more tomatoes were also ready, and we now have pretty ones in addition to the less attractive heirlooms. Another discovery yesterday were some ripe cantaloupe. I didn't so much pick them as pick them up. They were lying in the garden already detached from their vines. I'm glad I decided to check on the melons and discovered the self-harvested fruit before they started to rot. The standard sized cantaloupe on the left I believe is Ambrosia' (although I can no longer find the plant tag) and the personal-sized melons are 'Loupey-Lou.' I can't wait to see how they taste!

Today I made a decision to remove the Brussels sprouts plants. All season long I have been fighting worms and bugs on these plants. The sprouts weren't growing very quickly, and I decided I didn't want to eat anything I had to put so much Sevin dust on anyway. I might try Brussels sprouts again next week as a fall crop, or an earlier spring crop, but I sure wasn't happy with them this year.

The garden box which had held zucchini and cucumbers earlier in the year now have some little sprouts of spinach poking up from seeds I planted about a week ago. I guess that even though some of the garden is winding down, I'm not quite ready to give up on gardening for the year.

Soon I will cut seed pods off the lettuce and radish plants I allowed to go to seed. I have also collected seed from the banana peppers and acorn squash. Can you tell I am already thinking about next year's garden?

Ugly Tomatoes

At long last, and after a setback or two, the tomatoes are finally starting to ripen. The first to start turning red are some of the heirloom tomatoes I planted. I must say, these are not the prettiest of tomatoes. Having said that, let me add that in my opinion, these tomatoes taste really, really good. Think about it. Many of the pretty, uniform, picture perfect tomatoes available today look good, but lack the old fashioned tomato taste we look forward to every year. This is because so many of them are hybrid varieties, genetically designed to look good and travel well. Many of them have been bred so that all the tomatoes on the vine ripen at the same time, making it easier to pick and preserve them. Hybrid varieties may have their place in the home garden, but I'll never grow them exclusively. Heirloom varieties on the other hand are just what they are. Good, old fashioned tomatoes are not always big on outside appearance, but are straightforward and unpretentious, offering up honest tomato taste. Who would bother to save the seeds of an ugly tomato year after year, from generation to generation, if they didn't grow well and taste great? Given the choice, I'll take an ugly, great tasting tomato any day over the cover girl variety that is all glam and no substance. If you would like to make room in your garden for some heirloom varieties, ask a friend to share some seeds, or check out the heirloom section of your favorite garden catalog. One of my favorite catalogs is "Totally Tomatoes." I haven't yet visited their website, preferring the paper catalog, but their web address is www.totallytomato.com. I also like to look for unusual heirloom tomatoes at my local farmer's market. Many growers specialize in heirlooms. If you find a variety you particularly like, save some of the seeds to grow in your own garden next year. Give an ugly tomato a chance. I don't think you'll regret it.

Fall is Just Around the Corner

How do I know? Here are some of the signs.

There are some pretty good looking apples on the old apple tree.


The resurrection lilies are putting on a show!

The gray dogwood shrubs are sporting these lovely blue berries. I don't think they are edible, but aren't they a pretty shade of blue? They dry nicely for use in crafts.

The sedum are getting ready to bloom and will add some fall color to the yard. In only a few weeks they'll be sporting shades of pink and red.

And last but not least, the State Fair is always a sign that summer is coming to a close. As always, summer flew by too quickly.