END OF SEASON GARDEN REPORT

A morning photo

Mike and I made an overnight trip to the farm on Monday (Sept. 25). Rain was predicted, so we knew we had a short window of opportunity to accomplish some things here. We came in the old Dodge Ram so that we could carry the 4-wheeler and the lawnmower back to town for winter storage, signaling the beginning of preparations for winter.

I took advantage of the big oak table to square up the “Peanuts” quilt. Now it’s ready for the binding. I also baked cookies.

Despite the encouragement of many gardening websites to “extend your gardening season” with fall plantings, I’m afraid this would just be a lost cause at altitude here in the Inland Empire of the Pacific Northwest. It’s too hot to plant in August, and then with the shorter days and cooler temps of September, gardening just doesn’t seem to be an option. And anyway, I’m tired of fooling with the garden and ready to move on to other endeavors.

In the week we were absent from the farm, not much happened in the raised beds. Ripening has slowed. Mike helped me pick 2-3 cups of very ripe yellow pear tomatoes. The “Early Girl” vine sports many green tomatoes, and I’m not hopeful that they will ripen on the vine. Whatever – I’ll pick them on our next stay. I picked one misshapen zucchini to be grated for bread and one small crookneck. I see green strawberries and the plants are blooming again, but it may be too cool for development.

Apple Report: We have three apple trees in our little orchard – Honey Crisp, Empire, and Freedom. Last spring, we sprayed the apple blossoms, and I’m pleased to report that I picked a dozen beautiful, unblemished Honey Crisps. An additional seven apples were wormy and a few had to be discarded. Still, the tree produced this year, and we got usable apples. Yay! The Empire and Freedom trees each had one blossom in the spring, and each tree produced one beautiful little apple. Mike and I enjoyed apple-tasting at lunch.

"A dull day," as Grandma would say.

And speaking of shorter days, I was amazed at the change! I love outdoor solar lights – string lights and single units – which Mike helped me recharge and place this summer. Anyway, nine days ago, I watched as the lights came on at 7:30. Last night they were beginning to come on at 6:50, although I admit that it was a dark evening.

The forecast was correct. It rained, and we returned to town. Son Murray graciously offered to bring dinner this evening so that I wouldn’t have to cook. So thoughtful! So delicious! KW

MOVING INTO AUTUMN

Today (Sept. 23) is the official beginning of autumn. Gone are the hot days and warm nights. I put the electric blanket back on the bed several days ago and even started wearing warmer pajamas. For that matter, I’m even wearing my fall uniform – warm-ups, t-shirt, and hoodie. Oh, we might have some warm afternoons, but the hot temps of summer are gone.

I felt the change in the weather on Labor Day, so I began to set out my spooky Halloween decorations. Harvest, Halloween, and Thanksgiving are sort of one thing in my decorative world.

“But Halloween is a long way off,” noted Mike.

“It will be here before you know it,” I affirmed defensively. “Just look what happened to July and August.”

And now the end of September is in sight. I rest my case.

Bess on the warm pavement

Mike participated in the annual three-day motorcycle group ride to Thompson Falls, Montana, so once again, Bess and I staycated. She hunted with Mike four days in a row (Saturday through Tuesday) before he left, and even though she was active only a few hours each day, she was stove up. She’s ten years old in dog years, which means that in human years, she’s somewhere between 53 and 70, depending on which chart you follow. Well, she had a few days there when she felt every bit of 70, but she still loves to hunt. She also loves her master and wants to please him. And of course, she moped while Mike was gone.

I always feel that I’m entitled to a gift (or several gifts) for staycating with an out-of-sorts dog. I used to reward myself with any number of relatively inexpensive yet inspirational items to be delivered while Mike was away. This year, I’ve been hard-pressed to think of any smaller items I’d like to have, so I decided to think big and buy a new sewing machine. The current sales promotion at the local shop is 25% off with trade of any sewing machine.

So, I chose a model, and after much mental wrangling – also called vacillation, dithering, etc. – I negotiated the deal with the owner / salesman.

"Peanuts" quilt soon to be finished

But – on the day I was to complete the deal, the salesman talked me out of it!! Why did I want a new machine anyway, he asked. I replied that my husband’s new motorcycle entitled me to a new sewing machine. (I wasn’t going to explain the whole “staycation gift” thing.) Apparently that reason wasn’t good enough. The salesman enumerated my machine’s excellent features. He didn’t think the new machine offered many advantages. Long story short, we agreed that I would take my machine to him for service, and barring any unforeseen problems, I will just keep it.

Meanwhile, my friend Chris and I have enjoyed a bit of fun with these negotiations, and our creative muses were reinvigorated without costly new machines. KW

HERE’S ONE FOR YOU

As I shopped at Albertsons recently, I had an “elder moment,” though I like to think that these things can happen to anyone.

Anyway, while shopping, I put a carton of cottage cheese into my cart. Next, I picked up a quart container of vanilla yogurt. Then I remembered that it might be better to get the yogurt at another store, so I returned it to the case.

Back at the house, I put the groceries away. It wasn’t until I went to get the cottage cheese for lunch that I realized I had purchased the vanilla yogurt, not the cottage cheese, which meant that I had put the cottage cheese into the cooler with the yogurt.

“Oh well,” I said to Mike, quelling my embarrassment. “The store will take care of it. They undoubtedly have quite a bit of this sort of thing for one reason or another.”

Three days later, I returned to Albertsons to pick up a few things for our stay at the farm, including cottage cheese. I was amused – but maybe not too surprised – to see the container of cottage cheese still there in the yogurt case. And yes, I bought it.

Clearly, store personnel is not paying much attention. KW

UPDATE: LANE AND RING

Look down that lonesome road

Last week while we were in town, the excavator came and repaired our lane – the driveway from the road to our farmyard.

Larger rock laid under the gravel

The original family here, my grandparents (Jack and Ina) and their children, accessed this farm through the neighboring homestead, which was owned by my great uncle and his wife (June and Bertha). 

Big boulders unearthed

The old road, of which not a vestige is left, came across the top of the hill east of us and then down into our farmyard. But when Uncle June sold his place in 1948, a part of the deal was that the new owner, Earl Wright, would doze a new access for us. This was done, but it was not a great road. In recent years with weather issues and agricultural practices on west edge of June’s field, the lane has washed at the bottom during spring run-off. Improvements were needed. It looks good right now, but I suppose we won’t know for sure until next spring if the work is successful. The work is finished except for another load of gravel.

The ditch was dug out & the bank shaped

We came back to the farm Wednesday (Sept. 13), and as I disembarked from the Jeep, the gold band I wear as a wedding ring somehow got caught on the door, becoming bent and twisted. Honestly, visions of my finger being ripped off flashed through my mind. No amount of soap would allow the ring to slip off, and yes, it was a bit painful. Mike immediately went to his shed for pliers and straightened the ring enough so that I could remove it. Then he shaped it back into round. No jeweler necessary.

Some people don’t wear rings for the very reason that they can get caught with dire consequences, but I never thought it could happen to me. KW

Low place at bottom filled in

BLENDING LEMON AND CARAMEL

The other day at Albertsons, I noticed they were clearing short-dated Nestle’s “La Lechera” sweetened condensed milk. I hadn’t used this brand before, but sweetened condensed is the base for Mike’s homemade ice cream and also his mother’s recipe for “icebox lemon pie,” one of his all-time favorites. As the product grows ever more expensive, I watch for it on sale.

At home, I researched online to be sure La Lechera was really sweetened condensed milk and found that it was indeed interchangeable with Eagle Brand. Back at the store a week later, I was surprised to see that those cans were still in the clearance bin, so I bought half a dozen. “What a deal!” I thought to myself.

That afternoon, I decided to give my great purchase a try and make an icebox lemon pie. For once, I had everything I needed – fresh lemons, fresh eggs, a graham cracker crust, and my newly-purchased sweetened condensed milk. First, I juiced the lemons, and then I opened the can of product. Uh-oh! Instead of creamy and off-white, it was stiff and brown! At this point, I learned something new of which other shoppers were evidently aware – that sweetened condensed milk is also available in varieties, including caramel and chocolate. I had caramel – every can.

So, there I was with a half cup of freshly-squeezed lemon juice and an open can of stiff caramel sauce. I wondered what I might do with this odd combination and came up with absolutely nothing. Searching harder online, I eventually found a food blogger who said she prefers to use the caramel product for her lemon pie. Something about the caramel tempers the lemon, she said. So, on the strength of her words, I finished making my pie. The color wasn’t great, but after devouring several slices, Mike agreed with the blogger and said he prefers it. He also looks forward to trying it in his ice cream.

Well, finding this product was a happy surprise. It’s not pourable like sweetened condensed, but we can deal with it. And while I’m on the subject, I’ll just add that the less expensive store brand sweetened condensed milk was not to our liking. KW

ANOTHER ELECTRICAL OUTAGE

A setting sun reflects off June's field after a rainstorm

The fridge and the noisy timer in the kitchen were suddenly silent, as if someone had thrown a switch. Only the wind-up mantel clock continued its steady “tick-tock.”

“The electricity just went off,” I announced.

“Really?” said Mike in a tone of gleeful incredulity – gleeful because here was his chance to try out his new gas generator. The unit was in readiness in the mechanical room, and without ado, Mike carried it onto the kitchen porch, started it up, and connected the fridge. Eventually, he also connected the TV set.

These outages are not “blips” or surges. They require a repair or reset, and the troubleshooter drives in from somewhere. If the electricity is off, it’s a given that it will be off for a matter of hours. This outage lasted three hours, and the generator hummed along, keeping our food cold and our football game recording.

We have had several rainstorms, and it’s much cooler. It has the look and feel of fall with crisp mornings gradually warming to afternoons in the mid-80s in town (70s at the farm). I took the hummingbird feeders down and put them away. Surely the hummers get the message now, and if they don’t, it’s time to help them along. No more free nectar – until next spring, that is.

Looking at our September schedule, Mike and I decided to return to town Monday afternoon (Labor Day), where I found another mouse in trap and the bait carefully removed from the others. This week I will look for the point of rodent egress and examine the content of closets for corruption. We kinda think maybe they just came in the door, and I also wonder if we brought them from the farm with the load of wood now stacked at the back door.

Naturally, something of importance – Mike’s cycling computer which he uses to gather and maintain his cycling data – was left behind at the farmhouse. This was a problem for him, but he and son Clint used it as an opportunity to ride their motorcycles back to the farmhouse this morning. “If life hands you lemons, make lemonade.” KW

 

LATE SUMMER NATURE TALES

Ripe small sugar pumpkin

You know, the hummingbirds leave in late summer. Sister Harriet said they leave when the yellowjackets come, but strictly speaking, I haven’t found that to be true. Most of them did leave several weeks ago, perhaps wisely so, but a couple of diehards keep visiting my feeders.

Every day I think I’ll take the feeders down and put them away.

“I see the hummers are already flitting around out there,” said son Clint on Saturday. So, I left the feeders in place.

Sunday morning, it rained. “I’ll take those feeders down today,” I announced to Mike.

“The hummers are still out there,” he responded.

A neighbor confirms that she also sees just two hummingbirds. I wonder if it’s the same two. Perhaps it’s so good here that they just can’t leave.

A couple of weeks ago in town, I heard a rustling in the kitchen, bringing to mind the sound a mouse might make while cavorting in plastic sacks. I was momentarily concerned, but I was busy at the time and forgot about it. A day later, Mike happened to look up from the newspaper he was reading to see a mouse scamper across the carpet and into the bedroom. We haven’t been troubled by mice in town for several years, so most of our traps are at the farmhouse. However, we found two and set them out with no results. I wondered if said mouse had found its way out of the house, but then I spied “sign” at the kitchen sink.

“We’ll bring back more traps from the farm,” Mike said.

“Oh no! We just can’t let the mice cavort in this house for days without at least trying to trap them,” I responded.

So, Mike dutifully made a trip to town to buy a set of mousetraps.

Valid reasons exist to keep the mice out of your home, chief among them that they aren’t clean and carry diseases. They also gnaw on afghans and blankets and love to build nests with the fluffy stuff I keep in my sewing room. Much is stored in bins with lids, thank goodness!

So, the traps were set as we left on Thursday. On Tuesday, when we returned to the town house, I was pleased to see that we had trapped one mouse. Hopefully, that’s all it was – just one random mouse. (Dream on!) When we left again, we reloaded the successful trap and left the others in place.

The hottest days of summer are surely over now. My gardens look a little stressed after the last hot spell. The plants also read the signs and know that the season is ending. I wonder how many tomatoes will ripen and if the zucchini will set on again. It’s time to harvest the small sugar pumpkin.  

Some gardening websites promote fall gardens, but that never seems to work for me. KW