Summer Solstice

I started the year off with the good intention of updating this blog at the end of every month.  We've been busy.  So, here it is the end of July and I have totally missed June.  Let me summarize: Gardening, Food, Wildlife, and Projects.  Gardening has by far taken most of our time. I have a great new respect for the farmers of America.  If I were dependent on my ability to grow food for money and table, I'd be both poor and hungry.  

Our garden beds are quite fertile. The hugelkultur concept  in combination with deep wood chip mulch is working very well in terms of growing plants. So well in fact that Carolyn seems to be out there nearly every day trimming off excess vegetation.  We have great numbers of cucumbers which have been eaten on salads until our skin is becoming green and bumpy.  Many jars of pickles have been put up. Same for peppers.  And now, just when our tomatoes are about to overwhelm us with vine-ripe fruit, a blight has struck which threatens our entire crop. And this after we have fought off a variety of pests including tomato horn worms, grasshoppers, and leaf-footed bugs.  Still, the joys of planting a seed and being rewarded with something tasty to eat or beautiful to behold far outweigh the frustrations that come with it.

Some of the things we have eaten were grown here but were not planted by us. For example, these delicious puff-ball mushrooms.  When I was a kid, I took great pleasure in kicking them to watch them explode in a cloud of dark brown spores. It was only recently that Carolyn educated me that when taken young (before they develop spores) they are quite good to eat. Here I have sauteed some slices in vegan "butter" and seasoned them with a little marinara sauce.  Another fine example are these wild blueberries. They make a most excellent pancake.  Carolyn continues to experiment with delicious vegan frozen treats and I continue to perfect my sourdough bread making.  Lately, Carolyn has discovered the art of sorbet and I have discovered the benefit of proofing my bread overnight.

Most of the projects these past couple of months have been small ones such as this recycling station,  a generator "hat" or this battery watering reservoir.  Some projects were simply to provide raw material for other projects such as these planks for paneling the shop or these wood chips for mulching and "paving" walkways. Some were utilitarian like mounting these windowboxes on the porch railing, fashioning a new handle for my cant hook from a white oak sapling or extending the sides of my trailer so I can haul more chips.  Everything takes some amount of time.

I guess gardening is kind of the main intersection of all the roads of Richmond Woods - Food, Wildlife, Projects.  I've already discussed some of the less desirable wildlife - those that attack our garden.  Insects and spores are impossible to keep out.  The electric fence has so far deterred larger raiders that would love to get at the fruits of our labor.  Alas, there is no fence around Carolyn's herb garden and one afternoon, a big black bear wandered through our yard and decided to take a roll on top of her prize rosemary bush. The poor plant was totally destroyed. Fortunately, she was able to root some cuttings from the remains. Lately we have learned that there's a mama bear with two cubs in the area. Maybe that one had just had the cubs and decided she wanted a rosemary spa treatment?

Among the less destructive wildlife are these little fellows: a red salamander, a promethea silkmoth and a young rat snake of some sort who managed to trap himself in a plastic bucket on the back porch.

That's about all I have time for. I hope you enjoyed. Stay safe. See you next month.