September 4, 2024
It’s not officially autumn,
not yet. But in our neck of the woods, the children have headed back to school,
and the rich summer blue of the sky has given way to a paler hue. Calendar or
not, that changing of the sky says “fall” to us. And the fact that the last few
early morning hours have been cool—about 52 degrees Fahrenheit outside and 65
inside—adds to the feeling of having slid into a new season.
I asked my husband this
morning if he wanted to put the heat on—65 isn’t cold by any means, but as one’s
body ages, so does our perception of being cold at times. He, like me,
declined. As a matter of principle, we prefer not to switch the furnace on
until October. That’s not set in stone. We also both believe that being older
affords us the right to be comfortable. Translation? We’ll turn that sucker on
for an hour or so if we need to.
Because comfort is important,
I have turned my electric heater on here in my office the last couple of
days—but only until the “chill” has been taken out of the air.
Bella dog is not happy about
having to wait until 9:00 a. m. the last two mornings for her porch time. She
can be very insistent, and one needs a strong will to resist her pleading.
Mostly, I do and I can. But especially over this, because the little ones don’t
need to be barked at as they wait with their parents for the school bus to
arrive.
Our garden…. Well, what can I
say? It has been a disappointment this year.
I believe that has more to do with the fluctuating weather, the less
than ideal rainfall, and the dearth of pollinating insects as any lack of human
devotion. We have had several meals of green beans and they’ve been tasty. But
we haven’t yet been able to put any down for the winter.
The tomatoes are my great
disappointment this year. Perhaps, considering the bounty of last year’s
perpetual harvest, we should have expected that this year wouldn’t be quite so
great. Last year, none of the critters had developed a taste for tomatoes—not like
they have this year. I think that we are going to have to be a bit more
intentional next year about every step we take, when it comes to planting and
maintaining our gardens.
The good news is that I have
indeed been able to satisfy my craving for a fresh lettuce and tomato sandwich.
The bad news is it looks like I’m going to have to go to a farm market to
purchase what I need to make my annual summer treat: baked stuffed tomatoes.
We have managed to purchase
and process sufficient corn this year that we have about a dozen two-cup bags
in the freezer. Our regular farmer, the one who had officially retired at the
end of last season, was actually operating part time at his former farm.
Apparently, there are tenants there now, folks who used to come by and purchase
his produce in the past. They’d become friends, and they invited him to open up
his stand Thursday to Saturday during the summer.
We were grateful he accepted,
and he told us he will likely do the same next summer—but that next year may
indeed be his last.
We discovered his return on
our way out and about to find another roadside stand, so that was a truly nice
surprise for us.
As the summer wanes, and as
the season is in flux—there will still be hot days but more and more less so—the
time is now for us to think ahead, to what comes next. Daughter and I, at some
point in the next couple of weeks, will go through our freezer, reorganize and
then decide what, if any veggies we will put down. I am past the pickle, relish
and jam making stage of life. I did what I could, when I could, and I take satisfaction
in knowing that over the years I saved us a lot of money while keeping us supplied
in a combination of the necessary and the little extras for the dining table.
It used to be a question of
time, or money. Which ever I had the most of, was what I would base my
activities on. When I was out of work, and therefore we would be short of
funds, it seemed logical to produce home-made rather than to purchase finished
products from the store.
Now, our calculations are
slightly different. We have to make a judgement if the veggies we’d like for
the winter months will be as plentiful then as they are now. I haven’t heard a
lot of rumblings about supply chain shortages this year—yet.
And of course, I have to decide
if I am up to the amount of labor required to purchase fresh veggies and then
process them. I have a feeling that is going to be a “decide in the moment”
sort of thing.
In other words, my plan going
forward is to be impulsive.
Love,
Morgan
https://www.bookstrand.com/morgan-ashbury
No comments:
Post a Comment