Now that it seems spring is finally here to stay and not just tease, I’m feeling a little more confident about this year’s garden. There have been a few setbacks: the frost that came through after several weeks of warm temperatures not only killed off the hydrangea’s new growth, but it did a number on the seedlings in the greenhouse on the deck as well. I had hoped they’d be well-protected, sitting as they are in a bright and sunny spot, completed covered in clear vinyl. Alas, not so much. So, seedlings take two are currently in their place, and -for the moment – thriving.

Several years worth of gains and losses in the gardening arena have given me a bit more patience and a bit more knowledge to rectify early mistakes.

Currently there are many, many tomato and herb seedlings growing steadily in their pots. They won’t go into the garden until they are quite a bit bigger, and until nighttime temperatures are a bit warmer.

The past two weeks have been spent getting the larger spaces ready for that, among other things.

I planted three blueberry bushes, two elderberry bushes, twenty crowns of asparagus, and three grape vines (the blueberries were exciting simply because I used our kitchen compost for the first time since starting it in the compost tumbler).

I deep-mulched the smaller back garden with waste hay and composted hay, and so far I’ve put cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, cantaloupe, and watermelon seeds in.

Out in the way-back, we are using a section of the pasture for corn and winter squash. That part of the field needs a fence overhaul if we are going to keep livestock and dogs in it, but it is just fine for gardening. When I took the tractor in to do some tilling, the soil nearly sang to me in its perfection. Three years of composted manure and hay have resulted in a beautiful, slippery, sweet-smelling, black dirt that I am very happy to have for planting.  Those seeds will go in either today or tomorrow. I’ve got a big bag of diatomaceous earth at the ready to hopefully avoid the squash bugs this year, and I’m hoping we finally have a good harvest year!

In the front garden, I’ve carved out space for the ducks, who have made the transition out of the brooder.

Eventually they’ll get free-range of the entire garden, but not until the chard and the peas are more than just little shoots that would be easily damaged.

The chicks are still in the brooder for now but are getting big and feathering out nicely. Within the next week or two I will put them out in the chicken tractor until they are old enough to hold their own with the general chicken population here.

And this sweet guy was dropped off this morning with the vet to have his big boy parts removed.

There’s something about August.  I want it to be all about enjoying the last month of summer, of no school, of swimming. I want it to be about never-ending fresh garden tomatoes and basil.

In a sense, it is.  But there’s something else. There’s something in the late afternoon light, and something in the way the garden starts to stretch out and look ragged and ready to give over to the cooler-weather crops. Something in the way the wool starts to look ever so much longer on the sheep than it seems it did just last week. There’s something in those first tendrils of Morning Glories stretching up the porch railings that reminds me to think about getting the canning jars ready and spend the next few weeks putting up the summer’s bounty.

I’m starting to get lots of monster-sized “German Johnson” heirloom tomatoes out of the garden.  The basil looks just awful, and I may have to harvest it out and make pesto a few weeks earlier than usual.

The butternut squash looks great; I’ll probably cut them up and freeze them in cubes for soup. I’m completely over the zucchini, as per usual this time of year. Thankfully, the plant itself has had enough as well.

Egg production has slowed somewhat as the heat has intensified lately.  We also have two broody hens who have stopped laying in an effort to hatch a few, and that’s not helping matters.  I’ve marked two eggs and left them there for them to hacth; whether or not they do only time will tell.

The tomatoes that we are not eating right away are getting slow roasted for sauce. It makes the house smell divine to have these lovelies roasting all day long.  Sometimes I like to throw them on some fresh pasta with a bit of olive oil, some garlic, and some basil.  Fabulous summer dinner!

The jars are patiently awaiting tomatoes and pesto.  If things continue to go well in the hive, some of those honey jars may get filled as well.

As for the milking buckets and milk bottles, I’m about 85% sure I’ll start to look for a rental buck soon to breed the dairy goats. I’m craving fresh goat cheese for the spring.

But that is a concern I will focus on later, because tomorrow I am headed to Virginia Beach with some of my favorite people.

Summer’s not over yet!