simpleruralliving

Today’s one of those gloomy, grey days that summer’s supposed to serve up only infrequently, but that have been on the menu far too often this summer.  Still, I’m so glad that it’s really, truly summer, and that we can use the warm weather – no matter how cloudy — to get ready at our relative leisure for the coming fall and winter.

A serious family illness out-of-state takes me away from home for a portion of every too-short week, which is one reason why my writing schedule is no longer a schedule at all. I say that by way of explanation, not excuse. Things are what they are, and there are some things we simply can’t change with any amount of prayer or wishing, so no excuses are needed. Certainly one needs no excuse to spend whatever time they can with family, a truth that’s practically forgotten in this day and age, it seems.

I’m grateful every day, several times a day, for the seasonal and daily continuity of gardening, planting, hoeing, watering, harvesting and preserving.  I’m so lucky to be able to do that, to save my meager pennies not for “plastic pumpkins” for throwaway, but for canning jars discounted at the Goodwill store, or for a new clothesline, or to put towards next year’s seeds, so the cycle may begin again.

In these bruising times, that’s a reminder of renewal that I’m sure we could all use a little more of.

Every day, when I’ve been home, I’ve been out gathering raspberries and freezing them for sauces and pies.  The black-cap raspberries are typically small, but so sweet and juicy!  My fingernails are permanently stained purple!  I’ve also started picking basil from my garden for drying, as well as marjoram, thyme, oregano, sage, lettuce (second planting) and radishes.  

The fresh-picked herbs are all bunched nicely and hanging in my kitchen, waiting, I suppose, for me to make a big batch of homemade spaghetti sauce.  That’s got to wait for a cool day, as it sits and simmers in the kitchen for hours on end.  Mmmm, I can almost taste all those wonderful flavors on top of a big warm slice of fresh garlic bread – made from homemade bread and garlic from my very own garden! 

Remind me again about why people eat out?  I can’t seem to remember!

The ducks and hens are growing so fat and happy – and noisy!  I’ve discovered they absolutely love my radishes, and I’ve got plenty, so I toss them a bunch of the green tops and red fruit every time I’m out there, and they adore it. The  hens are producing about eight to 10 eggs a day now, so we’re happy and we do love our girls!

My potato plants are in full flower this week, so I’m anxious to see if my experiment with potato-planting-in-tires worked at all.  I’ll start nosing around in there after the flowers die down. We’ve got dozens of tomatoes ripening, and the corn gets taller by the day.  The pole beans are absolutely wild, climbing up not only their poles and the cornstalks, but also anything they can reach out and grab!

Down closer to earth, things are moving along as well. Yesterday I discovered a bunch of new strawberries clinging to the vine on one of the plants I’d replanted earlier this summer, and I’ve been digging a handful of wild leeks from the woods every other day or so.  They’re big and fat now, and at their best flavor, but wow, are they fragrant!  Sometimes I forget and go off to do another task with the leeks still in my apron pocket.  On a warm day, it doesn’t take long for that pungent scent to waft upwards and remind me to get thee to the kitchen and put those onions away!

The cucumbers and squash are amazing. For some reason, the cukes love the clay-infused soil on the hillside nearest the pond and they are flourishing there. The squash are equally obliging this year.  Every time I see a bunch of those new, bright yellow squash blossoms, I remember the Italian delicacy served at Tosi’s – a legendary local restaurant a couple towns over – and have to slap my own hands to stop myself from plucking those flowers off. 

Deferred enjoyment!  Better to have the big delicious squash fruits slathered in butter and brown sugar as a meal for all of us on a chilly fall day than to indulge in a solitary feast of fried squash blossoms when I really have so much else to enjoy today!

Speaking of today, the animals are fed, the laundry is on the line and it looks now like the sun wants to come out at last.  I’ve got to get organized to focus on several writing assignments that have languished here on my desk for several days before I can go out and get some real work done.

Enjoy!

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