The view off the front porch through a tangle of morning glories!
We are having a great day here in Central Vermont. As August advances and the summer starts to wind down, the garden is gearing up with its bounty. The cherry tomatoes are popping and the zucchini shows no signs of slowing down!! We now have beets and carrots to add variety to our dinner plate.
More zucchini and the start of cherry tomatoes.
The garden has tripled in size over the last six weeks overflowing the edges of the garden boxes and trailing along the ground. I spend hours every day picking and sorting through the resplendent harvest delighting in each and every vegetable. There is a sort of ownership here.
This time of year can be bittersweet though as the nights get a little shorter and a little cooler. The days are still hot and humid with bright blue skies and often a bit breezy. Then we have a morning hitting a low of 47°F and a yearning to grab hold of what is left of summer overtakes me. I remind myself there is still lots of summer fun to be had……
Freshly picked! And so sweet!
This year has been remarkable as my days have been focused on picking blueberries and blackberries. I have close to 90 quarts of berries in the freezer along with the surplus zucchini chopped up and ready to add a summer taste to my winter smoothies.
We also got our firewood delivered last week. A behemoth pile
Two cords of wood that needs stacking.
in the backyard waiting to be put into the tidy rows, handled for the first time this summer. With all the healing going on this summer, we anticipate stacking the wood will take extra time this fall. The focus is to get a few pieces in place before needing to take a break. Patience and perseverance, both hallmarks of seasoned Vermont residents.
More Things to Do for Winter
There are many other activities that mark the passing from summer to fall. Every time we drove out the driveway my husband would comment on fixing the rut from all the rain. We live toward the end of a dirt road quite far from the center of our small town. The road crew showed up unexpectedly with truckloads of gravel and the road grader to fix some of the exposed ledge that has been a challenge for snow plowing. This very much alleviated the fouled access into our driveway from the dirt road.
I look towards the beds and cutback flowers and do the divisions and move them around it’s one of the beautiful things about Perennials is they multiply and give you many more perennials if they like the new living arrangements we get them. what I’ve really learned in my process of healing has been that we have such abundance and so many things to be thankful for!!
With gratitude,
Patricia
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