Status Report: August 2024

Sitting: Inside with all the windows open and the AC off.  While I'm ever thankful for the air conditioning on those sweltering hot summer days, it's sure nice to be able to turn it off and just enjoy the fresh breeze coming in the windows. 

Been busy with: the garden always keeps me busy but my current (ongoing) project is beautifying the cottage space. When I had it built a few years ago the intention was to have it be dual purpose. A garden cottage to store all my garden supplies as well as guest cottage bunkie.  We did have a surprise guest for a week long stay a couple of years ago and I quickly turned it into a bunkie with an inflatable bed, night table, privacy curtains, lamp, fan & charging station. After seeing how cute it looked with a very rushed "hurry, turn that into a bunkie!" job, I'm even more excited to see how it will look once it's all done. There is much work to do from insulation, sheetrock, better lighting, additional shelving, building a small storage loft & probably 10 other things I haven't thought of yet, but it's a project I'm very pleased to be working on. I'm enjoying watching the YT channel Made by Mick while he renovates a storage area off the side of his house, turning it into a small apartment for his daughter. Getting lots of ideas on how to translate some of his techniques to what I'm aiming for in the cottage.  

Re-evaluating: the garden for next year.  Every year I dial it in just a little more.  I've had a lot of fun growing experimental items and I do dedicate a small space every year for that but I've toned that down the last couple of years to spend more time growing what grows well here, and what grows well for me. Also re-evaluating raised bed areas for spots that currently don't have them. For my piece of land, raised beds tend to produce much better results than in-ground planting so I'm planning on adding at least 4 more for next growing season. 

Feeling: Kind of sad that the growing season is coming to an end in a few short weeks. Technically, my growing season is from mid May through mid October, so there's roughly 7 weeks left, before we're looking at the first frost of the year.  Although there really isn't much time to be sad, since fall zips by faster than it should, and between mulching all the falling leaves for free garden bed mulch, there are roughly 32 million things to take care of to put the garden to bed for the winter.  My carrots are doing amazingly well this year and I've decided they'll be the last to harvest, after the first hard frost.  An old time farmer told me they're ten times sweeter if you leave them in the ground until then, so I'm taking that advice as Farmer Gospel. 😊

Looking forward to: The next round of canning!  On the list to finish out the summer will be zucchini bread jam, Cowboy Candy, and my world famous homemade ketchup.  Okay maybe not world famous but my kids & grandkids, in-laws & outlaws all love it, so, that's good enough for me. 

Well, that just about does it for this month's Status Report. 

Thanks for stopping by and checking in! 😊 I hope you have an incredible day. 

Garden 2024 Update #12

Mid August is also mid season for harvesting & canning. I've been busy with a lot of both, from my own garden & the local farmer's market for the freshest possible goodness. 😍 Canned so far this season have been garlic dills, bread & butter pickles, peach sauce, blueberry sauce, fruit syrups, peaches & pickled carrots.

Well then, let's go on a walk through the garden:

I couldn't be more delighted with this year's blackberry yield so far. 

This is year 3 and so far it's produced 1.5 pounds of berries. 

By comparison, last year it produced a handful. Literally 😂 

Looking forward to enough for a lovely, late summer blackberry pie. 

Lemon Balm on the left, was growing in a pot. 

The one one the right, I planted from seed last year, indoor greenhouse overwintered, 

then planted in the raised bed in the spring. If plants could talk? 

The yellowing one on the left would say "I'll have what he's having!" 😀

My Scarlet Runner beans never fruited this year but they did provide this lovely, living decor 

over the arch trellis. Over the last few seasons this trellis has had pumpkins, squash & beans.  

Next year, I'm looking forward to trying something different.  

Some days the harvest looks like this. 

Tomatoes, sweet roasting peppers, jalapenos, pickling dills and some chamomile flowers. 

I counted and tried to be accurate and I *think* there are 46 jalapenos here on these 12 plants. 

I've already harvested a handful so that's a pretty good return. I'm seed saving this year so, 

next year, Lord willing, the entire bed of peppers will be 100% homegrown. 

I finally got my act together (mostly) and tidied up the dining room canning shelf. 

I'm going to add another shelf to divide the section 2nd from the top. 

(More space for jams, jellies and sauces!)

Home grown & home canned food is not only better for you, it's also really pretty sitting there on 

your pandemic era lockdown project #436 "canned food shelves" mostly with lumber you had on hand. 😁 

My new Hibiscus Mars Madness bloomed today. 

Flowers will be used for tea blends. 

Concord grapes and sweet potatoes are both doing really well this year. The grapes will be 

generously pruned this fall and the grow bags for the sweet potatoes were just a test. 

I may be replacing them with a permanent raised bed this fall or next spring. 

First time Elderberry grower. I have 2 plants, and they're both doing amazing.

Terracotta Yarrow early blooms. So adorable. 💗

Thanks for stopping by and going on a pictorial trip through the garden. I hope it encourages you to use whatever space you have to grow what you love! 

Garden 2024 Update #8

Well, we cashed in the rain & wind for the same heatwave most of north America is also currently having.  Temps have hovered right around 95 degrees for days on end, with off & on thunderstorms (helping to alleviate the need for watering, for sure!) We've had some wild weather for June so far, from a frost warning the first week, to a heat wave 2 weeks later, but things are growing, and I'm thankful for that.  

Come take a stroll with me through the back wee garden and see how things are coming along!

Mr. Hodus, aka HoHo, supervising from afar. 

Garlic scapes will be dried and turned into a garlic powder blend for cooking.

Blackberry blossoms are so pretty 💖

Last count, there are 10 Honey Crisp apples. It's anyone's guess how many make it to full maturity! 

Of the 2 cucumber plants that survived the flooding, both produced a single cucumber each, so we're off to a very weak & slow start, but hopefully things turn around. 

Jalapenos are doing wonderfully well.  Looking forward to that Cowboy Candy!

Yellow Alpine strawberries grown from seed.  So excited to try these!

Roma tomatoes off to a good start.

I lost count of how many berry clusters there are, but at least 50+  

Last year there were only 9, so this is a wild improvement. 

Russet Potato flowers are SO adorable & dainty. 

I've added this cute little water feature on the side of the clover path leading to the cottage.  

A simple solar pump, dollar store bowl, a flipped over cracked pot & some large river rocks from the yard.  There's truly something quite magical about a stroll through the garden while you can hear running water.  All of the wildlife, cats, birds and bees love the back pond, so in my effort to beautify my space this year, I chose to add even more of what's already a success. I also have another one sitting on the deck railing for the critters that come to the feeder cam station. 

The view from my chair after a long day of work in the garden.

Fairy lights, crackling fire, toes in the sand, amazing views and a lovely beverage. 😊