~
Wednesday, September 30, 2009, 7:00 a.m.
37 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
This is the coldest morning we have see this autumn so
far.
The wind is right out of the north and there is no way to
sugarcoat
the chill and gloomy darkness that greeted me when I took
the dog out
to pee well before dawn. The kitchen fire had not yet
been kindled, and he
was taking his time sniffing at every fallen leaf before
deciding which one was
worthy of anointing; believe it or not, I got a little
cranky. It is amazing how
quickly one’s mood can shift as the fire crackles to
life and the aroma of
fresh-ground coffee brewing wafts through the house.
Tomorrow morning,
when the ground may very well be dusted with white stuff,
I will be sure to
wear a hat and gloves so the cold won’t seep into my
core as quickly. Being
dressed for the weather is so important in setting the
tone for any outing, even
one as brief as the dog’s morning toilette.
This is the time of year to toss a
waterproof jacket and an extra pair of dry socks in your
daypack, and tuck
a spare hat and gloves into your car just in case. Being
toasty warm in spite
of the cold and damp is a choice we can make, one that
will enhance any
outdoor activity and improve a less-than-perfect weather
situation.
Have a wonderful day,
and bundle up !
Daisy
Tuesday, September 29, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
47 degrees, breezy, overcast, raining
We had hoped the rain would hold off a bit so we
could get in a good
morning walk, but it has been pelting down pretty
steadily for at least an hour.
We had a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon, complete with
fireworks and hail.
I don’t believe it rained much overnight, not hard
enough to awaken me at any rate.
Yesterday morning we had a wonderful hike up the Smith
Road, appreciating the soft
misty morning and the shining highlights the wetness
added to emerging fall colors. I was
looking for some late daisies, which were not anywhere we
went; however, we did find
a lovely patch of black-eyed susans at an old farm site.
The predominant wildflowers on
Gomer Hill are royal purple asters, beautiful vibrant
goldenrod, and delicate queen anne’s
lace. We saw very few apples, except for one tree that
was loaded with sanguine crab-
apples hung so thick they bowed the branches right over.
We haven’t had time to go
looking for wild apples yet, but from what we have seen
at the roadside it doesn’t
look too promising. Today is a good one for cooking a few
meals ahead; this
weekend we will be tied up with putting 45 chickens in
the freezer, and it
is a good idea to have a few non-poultry dishes ready to
go, harmless
things like macaroni and cheese, or vegetable lasagna. I
have a bunch
of tomatoes and peppers that are just begging to be
combined
into something saucy, a good project for a rainy day.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Monday, September 28, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
54 degrees, breezy, fog
We had a very brief shower overnight, and it looks like
more rain is on
the way, with a possibility of thunderstorms and
accompanying high winds.
Things will cool down considerably as the front blows
through, with highs for
the rest of the week only in the fifties. The garlic we
planted last weekend is now
officially watered in, and will be snug under its thick
mulch of straw until it starts to
sprout next spring. Carrots continue to grow both in
length and girth; I pulled one out
the other day that was nearly four inches in diameter and
fifteen inches long. This monster
was just as sweet and crisp as any normal sized carrot;
we enjoyed it sliced into thin rounds
and dipped into bleu cheese dressing. We will harvest the
bulk of our carrots after frost has
kissed the tops and there are plenty of dry maple leaves
to put between the roots for storage.
The other big crop left in the garden is several
varieties of shell beans, which are maturing nicely
but need to dry on the vines before picking. Plants
twining high up their poles should be fine, but
there are also two kinds growing near the ground in rows
that may rot before they have a chance
to dry. The maple leaves outside my window are quickly
changing from green to orange, and
many of them have already been blown down by gusty winds.
As September turns the page
into October, we will continue to enjoy the bittersweet
adieu to summer and prepare
to greet Old Man Winter, with his first shimmer of
flurries and fresh clean view.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Sunday, September 27, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
55 degrees, windy, overcast, raining
I was in bed with a fat book when the rain started
last night,
and noticed it was blowing hard against the south windows,
which
were closed, and not in the open east window. I fell
asleep to the loud hiss
of rain pelting the tin roof, with overtones of an asian
water garden as trickles
gathered in the sheetmetal valley and cascaded onto the
porch roof with a thun-
derous gurgle. Yesterday was a gorgeous day, if a bit
chilly after clouds overtook
the sun. I picked dozens of ears of corn, husking it
right in the rows and piling it into
five-gallon pails. The variety is Spring Treat,
and I like the irony of picking it at the end
of September. It is a yellow corn, crisp and very sweet,
and will be a wonderful addition
to our winter suppers. Preparing corn for the freezer is
messy work, as sticky motes fly
all over the room when the blanched kernels are cut from
the cob. I had to stop a few
times to clean my glasses off, and if I hadn’t tied
my hair in a bandana I would still be
picking chunks out of my hair. I picked some beans as
well, and have them stored in
the fridge for eating fresh during the coming week. I was
walking around the garden to
check the bluebird nesting boxes for mice and noticed a
vigorous cucumber vine growing
in the grass; the vines in the garden died from powdery
mildew a couple of weeks ago. I was
delighted to find three very nice cucumbers growing in
the grass; fortunately we have been too
busy to mow around the gardens lately. I thought I had
seen the last of them for the season,
and as the deer have eaten most of our lettuce they will
combine nicely with tomatoes,
onions, olives, and basil for a fresh salad. We have a
few rainy days coming up,
and then the weather will become definitely autumnal,
with chilly days and
cold nights. It is still possible to have a bit of indian
summer, but it
is definitely time to rub a fresh layer of mink oil into
the
insulated boots and switch cotton socks for wool.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Saturday, September 26, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
52 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
I saw the sun come up this morning, a huge fiery
ball surrounded by every
warm color known to man. When it hurt my eyes too much to
watch, I finally
tore myself away from the window and enjoyed the sunbeams
on my face, and
drifted back to sleep for a few more dreamy minutes. We
have started the shift to
winter light, and there are now less than twelve hours of
daylight in which to accomplish
our outdoor tasks. There are that many fewer minutes in a
day to play as well, and often
our recreational activities take a back seat to the
mandatory chores that our way of life re-
quires. I find myself tweaking the jobs to make them a
bit more fun, pitching big chunks of
wood into the wagon as if they were basketballs, with
perfect placement in the pile garnering
big points for my team of one. Any that bounce off to the
ground give points to the other side.
If only I could figure out who the other side is. At any
rate, just to be outdoors on a perfect day
such as yesterday was rewarding enough; what an absolute
jewel of an autumn day! The very air
shimmered and shifted with unearthly light, clear and
shot through with adamantine brilliance. Geese
kept us company as we toiled, as well as crows and ravens,
who seem to have finally come to an un-
easy truce in their summer-long boundary war. We had time
for a long walk at the end of the day,
and came upon a deer grazing in the Evans Road meadow. We
were upwind, and as long as we
stood like statues when it looked at us, we were able to
get quite close. The pond at the end of
the dirt road is currently only about half full of water,
with grass tufting up from the shallows.
The lowering sun was glaring off of the water, and
painful shards of light assaulted my pupils
and kept me from looking for frogs or muskrat trails.
Sometimes geese stop at this little
pond for the night, but there were only coyote and
raccoon tracks in the soft muddy
banks. Sunset was slow and spectacular, and the night
clear and cold,
filled with stars and a perfect half moon. We are in for
a rainy spell,
so make the most of this gorgeous September day.
Have fun,
Daisy
Friday, September 25, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
A zippy north wind and absence of sunshine make
this seem like
a November morn with snow flurries possible. The current
temperature
is the low point for the past twenty four hours; it was a
chilly night for sleeping,
but we were quite cozy under flannel puffs. The forecast
is for sunny and cool, but
there is no sign that the thick clouds will disperse any
time soon. There may be some
patchy frost tonight, so we will spend at least part of
the day picking more tomatoes and
beans, finishing up the corn harvest, and laying blankets
over the best tomato and pepper
plants. Bluebirds filled the yard earlier; I counted
thirteen of them, feasting on insects and
flying to and from the power lines across the road. There
have also been a few flocks of
bluejays passing through, or possibly the same gang
several times. Geese are really on
the move today, probably urged along by the north wind at
their backs. Every time I
look outside there is at least one flock visible, and as
many as six at one time. I was
awakened at dawn by one large flock flying low over the
house; their plaintive calls
lasted for more than a minute. Their presence at this
time of year is a signal that the
busy season is finally slowing down, and the months of
rest and comfort are near.
Instead of hauling in hundreds of pounds of potatoes all
at once, we will be able to
slowly enjoy them one meal at a time, scalloped with
cheese and chunks of ham, or
mashed smooth with sour cream and chives. Instead of
moving firewood into storage
by trailer and truck, we will feed the stoves one or two
lengths at a time, and relax with
a good book by the warm glow, with the cats dozing,
replaying scenes of plentiful sum-
mer hunting, and the dog curled up on the sofa between us.
All of these homely delights
are implicit in every resonant wild goose note that falls
to my ears this time of year. As the
days grow shorter, the outdoor work that fills them nears
completion for another season.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Thursday, September 24, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
There has been a definite change in the weather, with dry
cooler air
once again in the picture. The last couple of days have
been almost steamy,
and we picked up nearly a half inch of much needed water
via a steady drizzle.
Late in the day a brief hard rain passed through the area,
so short that by the time
I dashed in to close some windows it was over. I spent
part of the afternoon giving
our dog a long overdue haircut; my electric clippers are
broken, so I did it all with scis-
sors. There are still a few patches that need to be
trimmed better, but it was a peaceful
hour and a half cradling him in my lap and slowly
clipping his hair. I think he was happy
to get rid of his dreadlocks; he frisked around like a
young pup when I finally put him on
the floor. If you choose a dog breed that doesn’t
shed, be prepared to have to trim the
hair three or four times a year. Which is easier, chasing
little fur tumbleweeds on a
daily basis or doing the grooming? By doing it myself,
over the 11 years we have had
this little hairball I have saved about $1500 in salon
fees, a figure not to be dismissed
lightly. Oh ! I just saw a bluebird pass by my window ! I
wonder if this is the day
they will gather at the birdbath for a final splash or
two before taking off for the
winter. Starlings have been on the move for weeks, and
wild geese have be-
come a daily sight and sound as they fly high overhead.
We will be out-
doors much of today moving more firewood to the shed, I
know
the day will be rich with the poignant sound of goose
calls.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, September 23, 2009, 8:15 a.m.
63 degrees, breezy, overcast, drizzle
We have been having some pretty wonderful rain the
past twenty-four hours,
gentle and soaking directly into the ground, with hardly
any runoff. Believe it or not,
we have another batch of beans ready to pick, but I will
have to wait until they dry out
a bit. I have enough ripe tomatoes to make some tomato
and pepper jam, a sweet and
savory condiment that combines tomatoes, hot and sweet
peppers, onions, and sugar;
our meatloaf isn’t complete unless it has this spicy
glaze on top. It is also excellent on a
bagel with cream cheese, and especially good on grilled
fish. There is sweet corn to pick
too, and although I already have plenty in the freezer I
may freeze some additional bags
with sweet pepper and onion added in, like the Mexicorn
of my childhood. We never
had it in our own family, but my best friend’s mom
was a bit more adventurous in her
cuisine. Our mom cooked good, simple food, but it
wasn’t until I began to visit other’s
homes for meals that I grew acquainted with broccoli,
pizza, brussels sprouts, roast beef
(as opposed to pot-roast) zucchini, corned beef, spare
ribs, garlic, sausages, the list goes
on and on. I grew up on good midwestern fare, macaroni
and cheese, burgers and steaks
cooked very well done, Spam, baked chicken, and lime jell-o
with pears. Potato salad was
mostly boiled spuds and mayonnaise; the first time I had
someone else’s and it had big chunks
of egg, onion and green pepper my taste buds really woke
up. Our vegetables came in a box
from the freezer, and were almost always peas or lima
beans. I often wonder how I came to
enjoy just about everything that grows, swims, flies, and
treads the earth, and more importantly
how I came to love preparing food in so many different
ways. How did I evolve from a young gal
who refused to even touch raw chicken bare-handed to a
woman who can kill, pluck, and clean a
bird in less than twenty minutes? It helps that my own
family is as adventurous as I, and eats every-
thing I place before them with great gusto. Of course,
there are so many more opportunities to ex-
periment these days, with a gas grill on every porch and
ideas springing up from restaurants, tele-
vised cooking shows, and of course online resources.
Growing our own food also insures
that the raw ingredients for any meal, even a simple
salad, are the finest and freshest
available at any price. Take a look at what Jules Dervais
has to say; we feed not
just the body but the spirit when we take responsibility
for our food.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, September 22, 2009, 7:45 a.m.
60 degrees, overcast, windy, sprinkles
Rain fell for much of the night, and has tapered off to a
gentle drizzle.
This should help settle the dust that has been whipping
around the Hill
for much of the month. Our new plot of garlic has been
watered in a bit,
but we will need at least two inches more to reach the
depth of the cloves
underground and help establish good roots for next
summer’s harvest. Yes-
terday was an outstanding day, warm and breezy and
perfect for catching up
with the laundry. Fresh flowers were gathered and adorn
every room, sunflowers
and calendulas, dahlias and goldenrod, bachelor’s
buttons and zinnias, a riot of color
bringing the outdoors in. Today’s damp outlook means
that the indoor work can get the
attention it deserves, the usual dusting, vacuuming, and
mopping up, and the coatroom
shifted from summer jackets to winter coats. Trees have
started to change clothes as
well, with the first golds and reds of autumn showing
patchwork-fashion in the trees
outside my window. A few trees between here and Boonville
are 100% enrobed in
their fall finery, mostly maples. Sumacs are beginning to
blaze with neon crimson
hues; everywhere we look there is change in the air, as
well as on the boughs.
Today marks the autumnal equinox; we should be taking a
cue from the uni-
verse to seek better balance in our lives. Don’t you
just love this time of year?
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Monday, September 21, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
53 degrees, breezy, sunny
We have a clear view of some valley fog, which always
makes me
want to shout nanner nanner naaaaan-er! to the
flatlands. It seems
that they are fogged in most mornings of the spring and
fall months, while
we luxuriate in bright unfiltered sunshine atop Tug Hill.
It was very sunny and
pleasantly warm yesterday, and as the day wore on we saw
that frost had only
touched here and there, and we shall still be picking
beans for a while longer. We
packed yesterday’s haul into quart jars with garlic,
dill, peppercorns, and salty brine
to make the world’s best dilly beans, a treat with
any sandwich at any time of year. I
also prepared a gallon jar of our very last little
cucumbers for pickling, but when I ad-
ded the hot brine the bottom of the jar cracked and broke;
what a mess! The cukes
are truly toast in the garden, having succumbed to a leaf
disease (powdery mildew)
last week; frost was the final insult, and now there is
nothing but dried vines carry-
ing a few deflated tiny fruits. We planted garlic
yesterday, three long double rows,
four varieties, and spread straw over all to keep the
soil evenly moist. Our crop
was good this year; every year we plant back more, using
the best and biggest
cloves to give us the best and biggest bulbs next summer.
Garlic is very easy to
grow, and when you look at the price of locally raised
garlic, it makes sense to
save a few bucks if you really enjoy the pungent little
veggie. Make sure you
start with locally raised garlic purchased from a
farmer’s market or roadside
stand; that which you buy in the supermarket has usually
been treated to inhi-
bit sprouting. Poke a few cloves into your perennial bed,
see what happens.
Enjoy this day before the first official day of autumn,
it is a beaut !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, September 20, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
52 degrees, breezy, sunny
We woke up to patchy frost, which had been in the
forecast but which we
mistakenly believed would pass us by here atop Tug Hill.
Our thermometer is
mounted high on the barn, and recorded an overnight low
of 36 degrees, but
there was frost at ground level. Thank goodness we
covered our tomatoes and
picked everything else yesterday. We could feel a change
in the air as we walked
late last night under an amazing starry sky. I saw a
quick shooting star, and made
a brief wish for the peace that I felt at that moment to
spread to everyone on the
planet. How’s that working out so far? Today we will
be planting garlic, so now
I am off to bust up the bulbs into individual cloves to
poke deep into the soil.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Saturday, September 19, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
42 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
The overnight low temperature was thirty-eight;
that’s chilly enough
to wake me up and send me scrambling after a second quilt.
There is
a frost advisory for tonight, and while we usually escape
the fires couple
of freezes that hit the lowlands, we will still be
scrambling to pick all of our
tender crops and cover the tomatoes and peppers with
blankies just in case.
The wind is right out of the north, and this morning it
feels like it may have pick-
ed up some wintry vibes from the Arctic Circle before
sweeping across Tug Hill.
Since yesterday started out rainy and drab, we headed
down to the city to pick
up a few supplies. As we traveled back up route 12, the
most beautiful clouds
appeared, big sweeping banks of billowing white against
deep delft blue, neat
rows of cumulus. We have had some really nifty sky shows
lately, from the
gorgeous colors of sunset last night to the unbelievably
bright stars in the
moonless sky during the wee hours. Today there are more
fair-weather
cumulus clouds drifting lazily across a bluebird sky, and
as soon as I
can dig out my winter hat and gloves I plan to go out for
a walk to
enjoy the current view up close and personal. Here is a site
that
has gorgeous photos of some unusual and rare cloud
formations.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Friday, September 18, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
54 degrees, windy, partly sunny
A stiff west wind and rising valley fog combine to
make this
a pretty chilly morning. There are enough clear patches
of sky
appearing between massive deep grey cloudbanks that I am
cautiously
optimistic that the weather will become a little more
comfortable as the day
wears on. We have finished with several huge projects
involving moving massive
amounts of dirt from one place to another, and will take
the first calm day to re-seed
the bare spots and put some fine mulch hay on top. If we
were to try that today we
would end up planting grass from here to the Black River
Valley, and chaff would
blow into the hedgerow. We started moving firewood into
the barn yesterday,
taking our sweet time and moving just a load or two a day.
Normally, south-
bound geese would be keeping us company at this task, but
all we could
hear yesterday was the drone of heavy equipment as it
scooped, hauled,
and dumped various things here and there. Today it is
once again quiet on
Gomer Hill, and we will work with our ears wide open to
see if our timing
is in synch with the winter migration. I would like to
point out a very cool
event taking place tomorrow, the Rodman Landfill Open
House. We
went to this a few years ago, and it is more interesting
than it sounds.
For an overview of tomorrow’s schedule, check out this link.
It looks like it will be a perfect day for just about
anything.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Thursday, September 17, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
53 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
A small amount of rain fell overnight, and it
looks like more may
be on the way. The gardens could use a good drink,
although heavy
dew every morning has kept everything fresh and green for
most of this
dry month. Yesterday I was happy to see quite a bit of
broccoli had formed
peculiar twisted heads on the huge plants in the early
spring garden. Each head
is shot through with dark green leaves, and while smaller
than normal, I managed
to find them while still tight with no trace of yellow
blossoms. I need to write to the
seed company and see if other customers report similar
mutations in this variety of
broccoli. A friend who planted the same time I did lost
all of her crop to a hungry
woodchuck. My late planting of the same variety more
closely resembles tradi-
tional broccoli, but so far no heads have formed on those
either. At least I now
have a few bags tucked away in the freezer; last summer
we froze nearly as much
broccoli as we did beans, picking fifteen times from the
same dozen plants. Our
beans are still going to town, with the earliest planting
of Providers left to go to
seed. They have a small deep red seed that is perfect for
tex-mex style suppers,
similar to a kidney bean but half the size. We planted a
whole messa shell beans
this year; I can almost taste baked beans now, three or
four varieties of home-
grown beans swimming in a thick molasses and onion gravy
with just a hint
of Old Grandad. Is there anything homier than a plate of
smoked
sausage, mashed potatoes, baked beans, and applesauce ?
That is some comfort food, for sure !
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, September 16, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
50 degrees, light breeze, mostly sunny
A sea of fog covers the entire valley, but we can
see the top
of the Adirondack Mountains rising above the thick mist.
Sun shines
with the rare clarity of autumn, with every leaf, every
flower gleaming
brightly with morning dew. The colors are so pure that an
artist would
weep with frustration trying to match them on canvas.
Even a photo-
graph cannot capture the sharp edge to this morning, so
it will best
be kept in the mind’s eye as an example of
perfection. I am sure
there would be flaws if one were to examine the scene
more
closely, but the big picture is just fine the way it is.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, September 15, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
56 degrees, breezy, partly sunny
A breeze from the north cancels out any sunshiny goodness
on this nippy
autumn morn. just when a good glow gets going, clouds
roll over the sun and
the breeze picks up, so while sitting on the porch seemed
like a good ides for a
while, I came inside to put on more clothes. We will soon
be warm enough, as we
are planning to split the big hunks of maple that came
from the front yard tree. That
work is pleasant, if a bit monotonous, but it will be
interesting to see what wriggly critters
inhabit the more rotten chunks of wood. There are deer in
the east meadow, following the
path with their heads down, nibbling at the second crop
clover and timothy, fattening up for
the long months ahead when forage will be scant. We too
are getting ready for winter, picking
and blanching and freezing and simmering, pickling and
potting everything we can preserve, and
putting everything else in bins in the cellar. Carrots
have a few more weeks to go, as they are
sweeter if touched by frost. Shell beans will be easier
to shuck after a frost dries the pods,
a good job done by the stove on a chilly October evening.
I don’t know if our fall broc-
coli will ever develop heads; the plants are still a few
weeks away from being ready.
We may yet have more good growing weather; the rest of
this week looks promising.
We are taking things one day at a time, lucky to
accomplish half of the chores on
the list, and happy to have such meaningful work to
occupy these beautiful days.
Enjoy your day,
Daisy
Monday, September 14, 2009, 7:30 a.m.
50 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
It seems that autumn weather has arrived a bit
before the official start
of the season a little more than a week from now. Last
night the air was cool
and had a bite to it that has been missing until now.
There is a little more woodsmoke
and the smell of fermenting berries and ripening apples
brushes past the nose now and then
as we go about our outdoor activities. The apples we have
found so far are small and pitted
with insect damage and various pomological diseases. Our
one remaining tame tree has no fruit
at all, even though it was filled with blossoms last
spring. I heard on NPR that New York orchards
in general have had a very good year for quality and
quantity of apples, but the ones in our neck of
the woods seem to have suffered from the lack of sun
during the growing season. We haven’t yet
checked out the tried and true grandmother apple trees in
the backcountry; perhaps those have
fared better. A variety of projects have kept us close to
home lately, but soon I would like to
hop in the truck with my long-handled picker and check
out the old orchards and farm-
steads along the dusty back roads of Tug Hill, not only
for apples but also elderberries.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Sunday, September 13, 2009, 12:30 p.m.
64 degrees, windy, mostly cloudy
We spent the morning at the Flywheels and Pulleys Steam
Show
in Constableville. What began as a bright sunny day soon
gave way to
chilly rain showers that seemed to spring out of nowhere.
We got soaked
to the skin and cut our outing short, having seen most of
the displays anyway;
we bought only one odd spark plug for our cement
mixer’s engine. We saw a
dozen or so women competing to see who could throw a cast
iron frying pan the
farthest, and several young children in a toy-tractor
pull event. The sweet sausage-y
smell of breakfast in the main barn had given way to
fragrant chicken barbecue smoke,
tempting out taste buds, but as wet as we were we headed
home earlier than planned. It
is time to test our own flock of birds, and see if they
have reached freezer weight yet. By
mid-week our own back yard will be rich with the tang of
fresh home-grown chicken, slow
-cooked over apple-wood coals. If that bird is big enough,
the rest of the gang will meet their
maker and provide us with tender tasty dinners for at
least a year. Processing a few dozen
chickens for the freezer is a little like doing any other
crop, except messier and requiring at
least one day of pretty hard work on our feet, but we
manage to have a good time anyway.
There is no shortage of help; many of our friends like to
see exactly how it is all done and
then they have tales to tell for years. And at the end of
the day, we all sit down to a
fine meal of... lasagna, or spaghetti, or corn chowder,
anything but chicken.
Have a fine day,
Daisy
Saturday, September 12, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
59 degrees, breezy, mostly cloudy
There were a few sprinkles of rain during the
night, enough to keep
the windows closed while we slumbered. I enjoy night
sounds at all times
of the year: the local dogs saying goodnight to each
other, the occasional whinny
of one of the horses up the road, or soft lowing from the
new herd of cows that just
moved into the neighborhood. Occasionally there are the
high-pitched yips and yodels
of coyotes on the prowl, and although it has been a while,
the deep melodic howl of a
lone wolf or two that wandered down from the far north.
There are few birds singing
at dawn these days, but in the spring they are loud
enough to make an alarm clock
unnecessary. Soon we will hear geese on the move, as the
lakes and small streams
north of here start to build some ice at the edges. Our
farm is on a major flyway in
autumn, but not in springtime. Every year the geese begin
their migration the same
time we are filling the shed and barn with winter wood.
This year’s wood is all cut
and dried, stacked in neat rows at the edge of the meadow;
whatever instinct com-
pels us to begin piling it under cover must be the same
thing that triggers wild geese
to take flight. One day we just wake up and decide it is
time to button up the place
for winter, get the chimneys cleaned out, and bring in
the wood. So far we are still
wrestling with the gardens, getting in the final crop of
green beans, preparing onions
for storage, and planting the empty potato field to
winter rye. But soon, all too soon...
the firewood, the snowplow mounted on the truck, the back
porch enclosed in its
winter siding, the sweet autumn ballet of dancing leaves,
the swan song of sandals,
the wooly socks and fleece hats coming out of storage...
life as we know it.
It’s all good,
Daisy
Friday, September 11, 2009, 8:00 a.m.
51 degrees, calm, mostly sunny
The pale blue sky blends nearly seamlessly with sheets of
bluish-grey
clouds; shadows are blurred, and not a leaf stirs in the
calm chill of this
September morn. A trio of deer crossed the road just
below our garden,
a doe and her two growing fawns on their way to the
neighbor’s place. He
passed on a few years ago, but I think the local deer
have a memory of the
feeding station that he used to maintain this time of
year and all through the
winter snows. I hope they didn’t make a stop at our
lettuce and spinach first;
our greens are doing very well with these cooler nights,
although they could use
a good watering. We have many more beans to pick today,
and then we should
have enough stored in the freezer for the year. Yesterday
I walked over to the
bean garden to check things out, and there were about
twenty mourning doves
scattered among the sunflower heads, pecking away at the
seeds. They flew off
in a murmur of soft hoots, the flapping of wings louder
than their gentle voices.
While I was picking cucumbers, they came back to the
patch, two by two,
until they were once again dining, making loud crunching
noises as they
cracked each seed to get at the heart. We are accustomed
to hearing birds’
voices, but there is a whole world of additional
accompanying sounds if we pay
attention to passing flocks. In the dead calm of winter,
I recall hearing chickadees
flutter from branch to branch as they followed my winding
ski trail after me, never
uttering a sound but noisy nonetheless. As quiet as I try
to be as I hike, the crunch
of leaves and twigs underfoot and gurgle of the water
bottle in my daypack must an-
nounce my presence to all wild critters as if I were
singing a merry marching tune.
Perk up your ears the next time you are outdoors; what do
you hear ?
Have a great day,
Daisy
Thursday, September 10, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
60 degrees, breezy, mostly sunny
There have been some awesome cloud formations the
past few days,
and this morning is no exception. Streaks of natural
cloud cover vie for
attention with more sharply defined jet contrails against
a baby blue sky,
laid out in rows like the tattered fringe of an old lace
tablecloth. The sun is
warm, the breeze is cool, and the air is as pure as it
can be on Tug Hill in
autumn. I heard a large number of coyotes yipping and
yapping in the middle
of the night; they sounded like they were right in our
yard. This morning when I
let our own little dog out, he wanted to take off up the
road after some fresh scent,
so they very well might have passed that close to our
house. I am glad our chickens
get shut in for the night, otherwise we might be missing
a few. It has been some time
since I heard that many coyotes, and I welcomed them back.
Let’s hope they caught
their fill of rats and raccoons while on the run last
night. Coyotes are an important pre-
dator in the North Country; kill them and the smaller
vermin multiply accordingly. I will
look for tracks in the soft garden soil later this
morning, and scat piles along the shorter
grass of the meadow paths. Unlike domestic dogs, which
have been conditioned to do
their business in tall grass, I notice that coyotes like
to leave their sign as visible as pos-
sible, in the road or along a mown pathway. I will listen
for them again tonight, as long
as rain doesn’t prohibit sleeping with the windows
wide open. There is a small chance
of rain for tomorrow and Saturday, but not enough to
alter any plans for outdoor fun.
The annual Flywheels and Pulleys Steam Show is in
Constableville from Friday
through Sunday, and we hope to get to the Little Falls
Garlic Festival as well.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Wednesday, September 9, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
66 degrees, calm, partly sunny
Fog has crept up the hill almost as near as our
meadow’s edge,
but we have a clear view of the sky with many pearly
swarms of
cloud formations moving right along. Yesterday there were
awesome
billowing towers of bright white clouds set against a
deep blue sky. This
morning’s offerings are all muted in hue, the soft
blue of the sky nearly the
same shade of pale etheric endlessness as the vapors it
bears. We had a fine
walk up the Smith Road yesterday morning, enjoying the
first vivid red and orange
maple leaves that have shifted into autumn mode a bit
early. We cut the trek a bit short,
as I had forgotten to bring along a water bottle, and
there was no source of clean water
for the dogs to drink. They were both panting after a
couple of miles, and all of the little
grottos and watering holes are currently dry as a bone.
We haven’t seen any rain in nine
days; it is amazing how quickly the ground has absorbed
all of the summer’s downpours.
I need to carry some water to the fall broccoli, along
with a handful of nutrient powder to
assure a good crop. Deer had been trimming the plants,
but haven’t been back since I drib-
bled some old cologne next to the row. Our early broccoli
plants have formed a three-foot
tall hedge of healthy deep green leaves, with only two
plants forming edible heads, and no
side shoots at all. Last year we grew the same variety (fiesta),
and were able to pick from
those plants more than a dozen times; chalk it up to
another mutation caused by this grow-
ing season’s goofy weather. There are still plenty
of green beans, and last night we sliced
some of the biggest ones vertically with the old cast-iron
bean-frencher and cooked them
into that familiar holiday casserole from the fifties,
only with fresh creamed mushrooms in-
stead of canned soup. Our shell beans are getting huge,
and some of the bush variety
(tiger eye) have yellowed and are getting crisp,
almost ready to pick. The scarlet
runners are a foot long and still loaded with blossoms at
the top of the poles, as
beautiful as they are tasty. I shelled some out fresh the
other day and mixed
them with corn scraped from the cob, succotash at its
finest. The beans
are hot pink at this stage, but unfortunately turn grey
when cooked.
Now I am off to pick some cucumbers for a friend’s
pickle jars;
having made all we can use it is time to share the bounty.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, September 8, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
69 degrees, windy, mostly sunny
Yes, I am still here... but took a few days off to
enjoy the moe.down music
festival down the road a piece. This is the tenth year
this festival has rolled into town,
and the weather was perfect for it, if a little chilly at
night. The music was mostly excel-
lent, and the fans are some of the friendliest people on
the planet. A great time was had by all.
Yesterday we got caught up in the gardens, picking beans
and cucumbers and storing them in
their freezer bags and jars. We took some time Friday and
Sunday mornings to dig most of our
potatoes, using an old McCormick-Deering digging machine.
I found a picture of one like ours
at this site.
I pulled it with a tractor and Gomer operated the levers
that adjusted the depth of
the blade; it worked really well unless it hit a rock,
and then it had to stop and be levered back
to the surface to skim over the obstacle and readjusted
to dig once more. The soil has to be
fairly dry, and the rows nearly weed-free for this
machine to do its best work, but consider-
ing that we ended up with hardly any damaged spuds and it
saved the back-breaking task
of digging them out of the ground by hand, it was worth
the time we spent figuring it all out.
The biggest drawback seems to be that each row must be
picked up immediately after it has
been dug, otherwise the tractor runs over the potatoes as
it unearths the next row. Perhaps next
year we will plant one long row the entire length of the
back meadow, instead of ten shorter rows
We had our first sweet corn last night; the ears are
small and reminiscent of corn from my youth,
before sweetness was bred into it. It is very corn-y
flavored, and will be great in casseroles and
chowders, but as a fresh nibbled ear it leaves a lot to
be desired. It’s early sunglow which has
been very sweet in years past, but it may have crossed
with the cow corn in the next field. Per-
haps the cold wet weather of most of the growing season
had a hand in its sub-standard sweet-
ness as well. Our second planting is a different variety,
spring treat, and is nearly ready to
sample. We already have our winter corn in the freezer,
courtesy of a friend’s garden,
so anything in our own garden will be enjoyed fresh or
shared with friends.
There are so many good things to eat this time of year;
it is a real joy to
have such a variety of fresh fruits and veggies from
which to choose.
Have a wonderful day,
Daisy
Friday, September 4, 2009, 9:30 a.m.
72 degrees, breezy, sunny
All of the rainy and cold weather that graced much of our
summer
is a dim memory in this winning streak of sunny days,
with more yet
to come. Dew has been heavy every morning, and a
gazillion tiny water
droplets puts a polish on the view that would be
difficult to capture in any
medium but the mind’s eye. I will resume my daily
musings on Monday, as
the moe.down music festival will occupy most of my time
and energy for the
next three days. The weather should be perfect, as long
as we remember to
take some warm layers for the chilly nights. Make your
own festival this week-
end; play your favorite tunes loud, put on your best
twirly skirt/ wide-legged
patchwork pants and dance like a dervish. If you are
attending the
moe.down, look for me at the library cookie booth on
Saturday.
Have a great weekend,
Daisy
Thursday, September 3, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
66 degrees, breezy, sunny
Warm sunshine and a gentle west breeze are a winning
combination
on this late summer morn. Dew sits heavily on the short
meadow greenery,
diffusing the bright emerald hue into a frothy sea-green
carpet, opaque and
glittering at the same time. A marsh hawk is ranging low
over the east boun-
dary line, and from the frantic clucking coming from the
hedgerow I would
guess its prey is a young turkey. Marsh hawks have a
fairly small body and
a huge wingspan, disproportionate when compared to other
hawks; these
features aid in their speed and maneuverability on the
wing. They will hover
and swoop low to the ground while hunting, and then drop
like a rock onto
their prey, which they rip apart and devour on the spot.
If you see a marsh
hawk pounce and then rise again quickly, it means their
target has avoided
the talons. make sure you appreciate the nearly full moon
tonight, which
will rise right around 7:00 EDST. The true full moon will
be tomorrow,
and with the beautiful clear skies we have been having
lately,
the viewing should be perfect.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Wednesday, September 2, 2009, 8:30 a.m.
58 degrees, calm, sunny
There is much commotion outside the window on this
fine summer morning.
We have decided to take down half of one of the
grandmother maple trees that
bracket the yard, trees much older than any of us living
under their shade. A bucket
truck and team of tree-removal professionals assure that
the job will be done as safely
as possible, but it is a daunting task and a little sad
too. We hope to be able to save more
than half of the beautiful maple, but the first few cuts
will determine its fate. Meanwhile, three
sugar maple trees that we moved from the woodlot to the
roadside thirty years ago have grown
to be pretty big, and are on their way to assuming
grandmother status themselves. There is much
to admire about a really big tree: how many birds have
perched among their branches, how many
storms has it survived, who has rested under its broad
branches. This particular tree has been win-
ter home to dozens of starlings; if the whole tree has to
go, I wonder if the birds will return this
winter? Where will they sit to greet me with their
cheerful chirps and whistles when every
other living thing has taken shelter in the deep woods?
Meanwhile, the harvest
goes on, with more cucumbers waiting for the pickle vat.
Have a great day,
Daisy
Tuesday, September 1, 2009, 9:00 a.m.
60 degrees, breezy, sunny
There may have been frost warnings in the
Adirondacks, but we settled into
the comfortable mid-forties last night, perfect for
sleeping once the fracas on the
roof settled down. It sounded like a moose was galloping
around, but in fact it was
probably a raccoon trying to gain access through the
eaves or perhaps attempting to
pry off our critter-proof chimney caps. I kept an eye on
the ladder outside the bedroom
window, but saw nothing coming or going in the short time
it took Morpheus to guide me
to his realm. It was a fine morning to enjoy coffee on
the back porch, and the birds of autumn
have started their interesting vocalizations, less lovely
than those of spring, but not lacking in ur-
gency. Hen turkeys keep up a nearly constant clucking as
they try to keep their nearly grown
chicks safe from predators, and ravens do the same, with
low growls and husky clatterings.
Crows are loud as they signal to each other from treetop
lookouts, and bluejays have re-
turned to chime enthusiastic greetings from ripe
sunflower heads that are filled with tasty
seeds. Starlings are mostly silent, but have been a
constant swooping presence as they
flock in the new-mown meadows cleaning up seeds and weeds.
Soon the combine will
take the oats from the field next door, and we will once
again play host to dozens of gulls
as they forage for dead rodents among the straw. We have
not yet been visited by autumn
bluebirds; they always stop by to bid adieu for the
season. There was such a late hatch
this year that they may also be later than usual heading
south. I head back to my part-
time job today after a busy month’s hiatus, and
shall schedule the day accordingly.
It is nice to have a plan, but just winging it has been
fun too.
Have a great day,
Daisy
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