breezy blowy transition to fall

What a weather year! Wet spring, perfect July, dry August (all three seasons with bouts of HEAT waves) and a September that just can't make up her mind. Hot, cold, sunny cloudy, humid, dry - we are getting it all.

We keep puttering away at weeding, wooding and getting things ship shape.
Will plant garlic in 2 weeks. Only one bed of potatoes left to dig up. Hopefully a few carrots too but they are TRULY tiny this year. Some herbs to dry for the bunnies - and hopefully a little more hay to make for them too. But there is a real sense of things winding down, down, down. Picked our last pumpkin on the vine last night.

Cleaned out the cars, scrubbed the bathroom. Big T made bread. It really must be fall.

Wanted to do a last trim of the grass but our new to us borrowed to perhaps purchase mower won't start. Not a good sign but I have never been able to start it so I had concerns about buying it anyhow.


Open Farms was last weekend - really interesting and informative. We went to a honey place (they might put a hive on the farm next year- cross your fingers for us), a huge organic veggie farm (more money than sense but BEAUTIFUL), and a local meat and maple syrup producer - all were helpful and genuinely pleased to answer questions. What a great idea.

fair day ...

Our local town has it's fall fair this weekend ... hoping it's fun but not too crowded as I seem to have picked up a back to school cold this week - just stuffed up and itchy throat but still fighting through reams of people sounds like NO fun to me today :)

Picked a nice bunch of tomatoes last night but one of the dogs ~cough~ sampson ~cough~ who shall remain nameless jumped UP on the kitchen island and ate them all ...

Saves me from some processing I guess - but what a BRAT!

camping at the farm ...

Sally quite enjoyed the tent trailer luxury - a bed with a direct view of the field and a nice breeze too!

it was windy

it was rainy (for the first time in five weeks! so there were no complaints)

the coyotes sang for us most of the night

the stars were AMAZING

it was LOVELY

we are so very lucky ...

garden daze .. and woody ways

I was chatting to some coworkers last week and they were amazed at what we grow in our garden.

This year's list is pretty impressive: peas, beans, garlic, onions, spring onions, a honey dew melon, zucchini, sunflowers, cucumber, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, blackberries, dill, sage, parsley, thyme, lavender, oregano, rosemary, chives, the wild grapes actually did very well this year too

not as happy with but also grew/growing or tried to grow : carrots, potatoes, watermelon, fennel, lettuce, chard, strawberries, corn (we ended up getting enough corn for one feast - 8 small but very tasty ears) and a couple of strange things I'm still not sure of what they are ...

and of course feed for the rabbits too - clover, plantain, dandelions etc

Big T is working hard to get ahead with the wood this year - when I go collecting for hay for the rabbits winter supply he grabs his chain saw and tackles the woods ... I miss helping him but I can hear the saw running and taking breaks as I snip my way around Judy's field (which is where I'm considering creating a bunny hay field)

Tomato Time

Tomatoes
Oh the acid dip for fingers
Making sauce
Aching hands and back
Tasty January
Oh the joy!

oh what a summer

Ms. Chook looking to see what her sisters are eating - a tomato? a grape? a bug? of course she rushed right over to see

Notice if you will Mrs M's tongue. She was chewing a piece of clover as I started to snap the photo, by the time it clicked the clover was gone!

summer winding on ...

and a lovely summer it's been too

Balance in a garden seems so hard to attain .. last year the tomatoes were pretty much a write off but the potatoes were great - this year the pendulum has swung - more tomatoes than I can cope with and I fear for the potatoes. Zuchinni are doing their thing taking over the world. Peppers are doing better than before and I've finally managed to grow some sunflowers for Big T. I think I have a pumpkin and a watermelon but the honey dew melon hasn't produced any fruit. I have two squash type vines that I don't even know what they should be let alone are.
The beans were good- pretty much done now. Basil fine; fennel got overwhelmed between zuchini and sunflowers. Garlic was as great as ever and onions did better than they ever have - I could plant 60 next year though!

Working the dogs (well we think it's playing but it is all training) is amazing. Rabbits need more grooming (and half need homes) but are looking good. Cats and parrots seem content.

The Buckeye chickens are thriving but not laying well. Frustrating as they are NICE chooks. We get 2-3 eggs a week which is enough for french toast and the odd boiled egg in salad but not enough to give anybody. I wish they could stay longer I'd like to know if they'll start laying better as I'm enchanted with their temperments.

Wooding, our never ending fall job, has been happening all summer - Big T took down a big old dead maple which has put us ahead of ourselves I hope. If we could get a full year ahead I'd be delighted!

how does your garden grow?

my weeds are doing just fine thank you very much

so are the zucchini - I let a couple get away and they are the size of my thigh now ..AMAZING

watermelon looks good
having trouble finding the cukes .. planted a LOVELY round variety this year - so sweet and tasty but have only found one so far ;)

beans are nearly done

peppers are looking good - have a nice red one on the plant and some nice small green ones that might be most excellent to stuff

potatoes look awful - think they needed water a critical times .. but we'll see

carrots are STARTING to plump up - heavens they are slow

beets are puny and tiny

corn has some small ears starting ... yum yum yum

and that's how our garden grows

a couple of hours of paradise

We saw the coolest dead tree on our way to (and from) paradise today. Full (well 10 full) of Turkey Vultures. No camera to hand so had to use the camera in the phone. Apologies. But worth posting anyhow.

onto paradise - aka Point Petre ...

At the end of the county there is a little spot known as Point Petre.


Point Petre is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been in the world. And I've been lucky enough to be on some beautiful beaches in my life - in Australia, all around the Chesapeake Bay, Southern France, Dover, Hawaii, California, Florida ... Point Petre can match them all.



We took Sally, Sampson and Brody to the point today. A little piece of heaven right here. Except the camera batteries died. So the picture is from a previous trip when the lake was quiet. Today was lovely- moderate waves crashing around; nice and warm. dogs swam and ran and splashed. We did the same thing. Nice not to be weeding, cleaning rabbits and otherwise trying to work in this heat.

be careful what you wish for

The tomatoes are getting yellow, orange and even red.

I see a lot of sauce making in my future. There are MILLIONS of them. Millions.

And does anybody want a zuchinni (or two or three?) bigger than my thigh?

Big T is off this week. Lovely. Hot. Busy.