Tag: autumn

Seasons

My Summer Vacation

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And just like that, the summer is over. We went from clear skies and mid-80s to overcast and 68 degrees basically overnight. Not a moment too soon, in my opinion. It’ll be tomato canning time shortly and that’s never fun when it’s still toasty outside. But more than that, I’m ready for autumn. Our summer was very full, not always in the ways I’d planned, and not particularly relaxing. I’m still trying to overcome my disappointment that I wasn’t able to give Caitlyn the kind of summer vacation I wanted to, with outings and hikes and projects of either artistic …

homesteading, in the kitchen, Seasons
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Back in the spring, I spent a Saturday making Traditional Cheddar. Apparently, I didn’t document the experience, and I don’t seem to have a clear memory about it. It took all day, but most hard cheeses do. Six months later, I opened it up for tacos last week and discovered My Best Hard Cheese Yet. The other cheeses, the gouda, the jack, the colby – they each came out ok, if harder and drier and sharper than expected. But the cheddar Actually Tastes Like Cheddar! I’m rather pleased about that. So the plan for next spring is to make as …

homesteading, Seasons
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I’ve given up waiting for the first light frost I thought I was waiting for and put the plot in the p-patch to bed for the winter. One last weeding, tucking in the garlic and asparagus under a mulch of maple leaves, raking in a sowing of cover-crop seeds (thanks to Celeste!). Maybe I misread the how-to sheet that came with my garlic, but I thought I needed to wait for a light frost before putting the garlic in; now I’m wondering if I misremembered, putting in the garlic three weeks late. The cover-crop labeling certainly seemed to think we …

Caitlyn, Seasons
 

Big shout out to our neighborhood’s park’s maintenance crew, who has left a huge pile of leaves in the park across the street from us. I don’t know if they planned this deliberately for the enjoyment of the neighborhood’s kids or if they’ve just gotten busy elsewhere. Doesn’t matter, and I don’t care – this pile has been leapt in, rolled in, scuffed through, thrown in all directions both before and after school, and will be one of Caitlyn’s favorite fall memories for at least the next 12 months. Save

homesteading, Seasons
 

It’s a blustery day, with the leaves skipping off the trees downtown and swirling around before flying away, kind of like Ridley Scott was in town. It’s cold and wet and grey, much like someone threw a switch and our Last Gasp of Summer (mild, golden days that light up the color on the trees so everything just sort of glows, again, in some filmmaker’s lighting dream) is over. So, it seems reasonable to inventory the work of the summer: 39 qts canned tomatoes 12 pts peaches + 7 pts & 1 qt left from last year 2 qts + …