ApriJune Suminter

I firmly believe in looking for a better perspective.. a bright side of things... so... 

If it were April this weather would be delightful... better than what we saw in April.  

If we lived in the southern hemisphere we would be entering winter and this weather wouldn't give us any qualms.  

If we ever are upset about dry and hot days... HA HA HA.. not here... but let's say IF we were.. we could remember the middle of June 2020 when it kept snowing and raining and hovering in the 40's.  

Since the weather here is less than ideally suited for gardening... or of me ever hoping of being warm!  

Since I may have planted an overabundance of seeds in my eagerness of our garden project in the spring.

Since the weather teases every few days and pretends to be spring and then winter returns to mock and point and laugh at my pitiful attempts to produce plants and greenery and shade and beauty on our few acres of life, Patrick and Jim spent a few hours in the barn (out of the rain and cold) and built these charming "take that Wyoming Wacky Weather!" cold frames.  

I feel like my garden may one day become like Mr. MacGregor's delightful space.  I suppose I need to keep an eye out for bunnies. 

 I certainly need to create a scarecrow out of a blue jacket and little shoes.  

Gateway to Garden

Summer visited for a few days and we did some gardening.  

The fence to keep out the antelope and geese is up, but we still need a gate.  (fence with out a gate isn't very effective)

I told Patrick it should have an arched entryway. 

An hour later I looked out and saw this,

Circus training?

Time to put it in place. 

Oh my.   Quite a grand arch.  Still no gate though.

I thought the circus show was over, but I turned back a moment later and saw this!

https://youtu.be/owPGDRQE8nI

Some people have to buy tickets and wait for the circus to come to town to see such acrobatic acts... I just have to step out onto my porch!

Cucumber Chatter

The following chatter was heard.... in the garden.

The Colour Orange

About 1/3 of this year's squash and gourd harvest.  Our favourite squash ever is the banana jumbo.  These mini pumpkins were super growers.  I think we ended up with about 25 of them from only 2 plants.  One year I'll plant a garden that I have time to tend and won't be able to handle the harvest.  I still haven't dealt with an entire full freezer of tomatoes for salsa yet!

Early harvest

Considering that my focus has not been my garden this summer, I'm quite surprised that I have anything to harvest at all let alone a fairly large harvest of certain items.  Three overflowing bags of assorted peppers for the upcoming salsa making project, along with some bags of tomatoes, and a bushel of onions.  It will be garden fresh salsa this year.  And I only picked half what was out there.

The biggest surprise however were the cucumbers!  A neighbour has been giving glowing reports about a variety of cucumber that they love.  The Armenian cucumber.  I tried a few nurseries before I found one that carried them.  I picked up a 4 pack and also grabbed a 2 pack of Japanese cucumbers as well as some pickling ones.  I set the plants out on the deck during the day and covered them at night while we prepared the bed for them.  The day for planting came.  The cucumbers were the last item to plant.  We discovered that they had not been watered for two very hot days and they had wilted terribly.  Unsure if any would recover, I planted them anyway.  Three showed some promise, but in my haste to plant them, I neglected to notice which variety was planted where.  So they became mystery cukes.   When they were about 8 inches tall we noticed that they were among the plants in the garden being devoured by what we could surmise to be an infestation of earwigs.  they were so badly eaten, I assumed they were a lost cause.  But weeks later there were two remaining and rather thriving plants.  Go figure.

The summer of garden neglect, included, forgetting to water, forgetting to turn off the water, not weeding for weeks at a time until the morning glory had nearly choked the surviving plants completely.  Then one day weeks since having checked on the plants, we noticed some strange growing items.  Could these enormpus, oddly shaped items be the famous Armenian cucumbers?

Indeed they were.  No other cucumber variety had survived, but, these were delicious.  I could understand now why the neighbour had been so excited about a cucumber.   Not to mention their obvious hardy nature.
Now to figure out some cucumber meals to use up these enormous beauties....  I'm kinda glad we only had 2 plants out of 10 survive.

Save the Tomatoes!!

The cries heard around the house this morning... "Save the Tomatoes!"  "More towels!"  "We need clothes pegs!"  "Make Hot Chocolate!"

Such are the cries in Salt Lake in May when you awaken to snow... again.... 

 

 

Derek had been asleep through the ordeal... when he awoke we teased that he had slept in soo long that he'd missed summer and it was winter again. He wasn't impressed...  or fooled.

Prompt --- What we like about September

Our school this year has a journal prompt for each day. The kids thought it only fair that I write along with them. I didn't bother explaining my philosophy on fair again.. or that I have already learned to write and this is their activity... if me writing with them makes them write then write I will... I will title the ones I blog as Prompt.. (then the prompt) to identify them as school assignments... I may include their responses as well... since some are fabulous!

Interestingly... What do you like about September assumes that you've given some thought to which months you like... and I suppose... 'don't' like... I had to consider if I did or not. I think I prefer September as a fresh beginning almost more so than January's New Years'.... the weather is not so hot as it was in the summer and it's nice to be able to do things outdoors. The school year is beginning and although my children are still at home, we are getting back into the groove of doing school after a fun summer of playing and visiting. The garden is finally proving it's worth after all the work... fresh tomatoes daily and zucchini that I can't keep up with... This year I had success with my onions even.... I look so forward to next year when I actually plant my whole garden... This year was spent making my whimsical brick beds, and moving dirt and planning the garden.... organizing the garden shed and getting ready for a garden, but I did manage to plant my squash and tomatoes.

September brings back old favourites in the wardrobe for me... sweaters and boots, an excuse for hot cocoa or apple cider, soups and bread baking... last year it brought apples by the bucket non stop for 20 days.... (this year the trees weren't as laden... and I'm finding a blessing in that)

September finds all the neighbourhood children back at school and us at home in peace, and I somehow find that after a hectic summer that it is a time to reconnect with my own children and not have the constant distractions and albeit fun interruptions of summer.

So if nothing else... this September finds me at home... At home with my children, at home with my choices, at home and happy. Yes... I do like September... I think I like it a lot!