Can you believe we’ve hit the August mid-way point?! I’m not sure where the summer has gone but POOF…
Between the irrigating and weeding, harvesting and kidding…
It’s just nearly gone!
While most (human) kids are heading back to school this week, we’re still soaking up all the summer vibes and working our tails off to get all the needed seeds sown and the ripe fruit and veggies harvested.
Homeschool will begin, officially for us, the first week in September, when we’ll establish a new rhythm to our days and weeks.
In the meantime, it’s been a bit since I’ve written in this space so I thought a general farm update was due!
Sowing
This year we’ve really focused on succession sowing as many items as time and energy will allow and I’m proud to say that we’ve truly done better than ever before with rounds of bush beans, basil, roots and greens all growing at different stages.
Tired of fighting with the critters for our veggies, though, we’ve also decided to invest in the materials to build a couple of raised beds with a wire mesh base that will be planted out with the last two sowings of the year.
Aside from garlic, of course.
More on that soon though 🙂
Growing
Everything. Everything is growing. Including the weeds 😉
But seriously, Mid-August brings an abundance that can only be surpassed by September.
So, instead of trying to cover everything, let’s talk about the things I’m most excited about right now:
Blue Corn: Hands down, my favorite things to grow. A combination of saved and gifted seed, we planted more corn this year than ever before and, despite getting behind on weeding it due to illnesses in May & June and a massive thunderstorm in July, it’s still thriving.
Elderberries: The stems I got from another local farm a few years ago have grown into a five foot bush that, for the first time this year, is laden with berries! It’s almost time to harvest them and I can’t wait to turn them into a syrup for our Autumn immune support.
Berries: Honestly, the berries were one of the main selling points in us accepting this caretaking gig four short years ago. We’ve learned a ton about how to properly care for them throughout the year and the health of the plants is paying us back in terrific abundance. Raspberries and Blackberries for the win.
The Kitchen Garden: The bush beans have been skeletonized by critters and chasing squash bugs is not my favorite thing to do, but the tomatoes, cukes, and roots are beginning to size up, the flowers are gorgeous, our Jerusalem Artichoke experiment looks good, and the Scarlet Runner Beans are enveloping my garden fencing in their gorgeous red blossoms and are set to have a banner year.
Harvesting
Currently gracing us are:
- Peaches! Two and a half trees worth!
- The first flush of Raspberries & Blackberries
- All.the.herbs.and.teas. But seriously… basil, sage, oregano, lemon balm, bee balm, yarrow, mint, rosemary, thyme, calendula, chamomile, cota, and rue
- Summer squash
- Carrots
- Beets
- Potatoes
- Cherry tomatoes
- Early cider apples (just a few for now)
Preserving
Right now, in the thick of it, we’re mostly:
- Drying all the herbs except for the basil, which we freeze in olive oil cubes for using as a base for all our basil needs throughout the cooler months.
- Freezing berries and peaches that don’t make their way to our bellies immediately or into a crisp for late night desserts
- Freezing all the excess eggs. Yep, you read that right! If you keep a small flock of hens who lay like crazy all summer and taper off in the winter, now is the time to freeze some eggs for your winter baking so you don’t have to hit the store in December.
I do hope to actually make some jam this year, but time will have to tell on that one.
That’s it! I think! Surely I’ve forgotten a thing or two, but that’s OK!
Whew!
I hope your garden is growing in abundance and offering you waves of nourishment and joy as we slide through our days and weeks at a rapid pace! I’d love to hear all about it if you’d like to share 🙂
xoxo,
M
