Common Sense Home Good News Letter 8/20/23
“We would load up the yellow Cutlass Supreme station wagon and pick blackberries during blackberry season or spring onions during spring onion season. For us, food was part of the fabric of our day.” – Mario Batali
Today late summer bathed us in sultry heat, creeping in during the wee dawn hours as a warm front moved in to the area. This week is expected to be a hot one (at least for Wisconsin), but a respite is due in for next weekend.
The trees and shrubs know the seasons are shifting, though summer clings in the shortening daylight. Here and there around the yard, splashes of color from the fall leaves playfully draw the eyes away from the flowers and fruit.
Like Mario and his family, gathering food is part of the fabric of our day, especially during this time of year. Moving between the different crops is like a dance, watching for the nod of a partner as one crop ripens, and then the hand off to the next partner as another crop comes in.
Garlic is dug and curing in the attached greenhouse. Blueberries and blackberries are wrapping up, while the grapes and apples are starting to turn, but not quite ready yet. The raspberries have been rejuvenated with the recent rains, and promise a late fall crop, if the hard frosts hold off.
We’ve been pickling green beans and restocking tomato soup, while this week is likely to include processing sweet corn and cucumbers. The early potato vines are starting to die back, too, but those will hold in the ground until needed.
The guys have started on the new outbuilding for tractor storage and woodworking, but the plans don’t quite match what they should be, so August has been spending a lot of time refiguring to make sure things fit the way they should. His schedule for his regular job has been extra hectic lately, too, which means very little spare time. It’ll all come together eventually, it’s just that middle part that’s messy.
The power just went out randomly, so I’d better wrap up to conserve the solar batteries.
All our best to you and yours,
Laurie (and August IV, August V, and Duncan)
This week’s featured articles…
We’ve been stashing some of those blackberry jam. This article includes instructions for blackberry jam three ways.
The ragweed is in full bloom, and along with it, allergy season. We share 15 home remedies for seasonal allergy relief.
Learn how to restore cast iron cookware to clean up those garage sale finds.
Popular on Instagram this week – the bones of the outbuilding and monster tomatoes.