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Rain, Sweet Rain

September 2nd, 2014

A smell of rain came on streaks of coolness through the hot wind.

“Oh, maybe it will get to us, Ma! Maybe it will!” Laura said. Inside themselves they were all saying, “Please, please, please!”

The wind blew cooler. slowly, slowly, the cloud shadow grew larger. Now the cloud spread wide in the sky. Suddenly a shadow rushed across the flat land and up the knoll, and fast after it came the marching rain. It came up the knoll like millions of tiny trampling feet, and rain poured down on the house and on Ma and Mary and Laura and Carrie.

…Just before sunset the rain went away. Down across Plum reek and away across the prairie to the east it went, leaving only a few sparkling drops falling in the sunshine. Then the cloud turned purple and red and curled gold edges against the clear sky. The sun sank and the starts came out. The air was cool and the earth was damp and grateful.

Laura Ingalls Wilder (On the Banks of Plum Creek)

rainy days 2
It’s been dry here, for quite a while. Thankfully the weather has been cooler, but things were starting to get a little too dry in the garden. This summer our rain has come in big amounts, very quickly. We have had 5 inches overnight on several occasions. The result is that a lot runs off and not much soaks in.
rain
I’ve had to water my newly planted shrubs quite often and I frequently find myself lugging watering cans around making sure potted plants are watered and prize plants have the water they need.
rain_drop_splash
Last night we had a glorious soaking rain, it was perfect. Not too hard, not too soft, just right. I was worried with the hot days we’ve been having and a long trip on the horizon. Thankfully this rain will keep things in shape until I return, I can now travel without worry of trying to explain which plants might need a long drink while I am away.

How has the rainfall been in your garden this summer?

Homegrown Tomatoes – Guy Clark

August 31st, 2014

Ain’t nothin’ in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin’ out in the garden

Get you a ripe one don’t get a hard one
Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter with out `em’s a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin’ & diggin’
Every time I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can’t buy
That’s true love & homegrown tomatoes

Guy Clark

Yesterday I harvested my first ‘Brandywine’ tomato, it was large, perfectly pinky red, soft to the touch and OH-SO-DELICIOUS!!!
BLT with heirloom tomatoes 1
We enjoyed it for breakfast yesterday paired with our own home raised and home cured bacon. There was lettuce from the farmers market and sourdough bread from a local shop. We put an egg ours making them more BELTs than BLTs.
BLT with heirloom tomatoes 2
This is one of my favorite ways to enjoy tomatoes in the summer, perhaps only topped by eating them with a little salt. The window for ‘Brandywine’ tomatoes is so small I’ll be eating them for every meal until frost.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy the first juicy beefsteak tomato of the season?

“A garden is never so good as it will be next year”

August 24th, 2014

“A garden is never so good as it will be next year”

– Thomas Cooper

Yes, I’m already mulling over the garden plan for next year. I find it to be of great value to do it this time of year when what you would like to change are fresh in your mind. As you walk around the garden, take a note of things that didn’t go quite as planned. One of the main things I want to bring back from previous gardens is the tripods for trellising climbing beans and cucumbers.
green beans  2
There’s a reason Thomas Jefferson used this method for his climbing plants year after year. I’ve tried many different methods of support and these have been my favorite by far.
thomas jefferson teppee
This winter I plan on heading out into the woodlot to start collecting large saplings for using as trellises. I also need to build trellises for peas and other climbers and I’ll be looking for good trees to use for tomato supports as well. Bigger, better, more natural supports is definitely the area I need to think about now and plan so I can collect my supplies while the garden is asleep. I’ve also been thinking about the quantity of each variety of vegetable that I want to grow, noticing what we eat up quickly and what seems to linger on the vine too long. The results should be better use of my garden space with less work wasted.

What things are you noticing this year that you want to change next gardening season?

Quote of the Day: Benjamin Disraeli

August 17th, 2014

“How fair is a garden amid the trials and passions of existence.”  

~Benjamin Disraeli

potager in bloom 1
Belfast Garden Tour #1 9
mclaughlin garden illuminated 5
Gingers Garden 4
I hope you are finding peace in your garden this weekend.

Quote of the Day: James Thurber

August 10th, 2014

“There are two kinds of light — the glow that illuminates, and the glare that obscures.”

-James Thurber

sun 1
overexposed
sun 2
When you take photos you become keenly aware of light and the intensity of it during certain parts of the day. Photos will look completely different when taken when the sun is high in the sky than they will be during that golden hour before sunset. Generally I try to take photos when the light is the illuminating kind. The same goes for us, we can choose to emit a light that illuminates and enhances everything around us, or we can cast a harsh light that obscures beauty, color and detail.

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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