Hello, October! Maples are changing to their fiery, brilliant colors. Driving by the farms, there are baskets and buckets full of pumpkins, gourds, and squash. Anyone else feeling like spooky season is here?
My mind is starting to drift from gardening to other Fall chores–we heat our house with a woodstove, and I’ve got four cord of split wood to get stacked before the snow comes. I am trying to decide if I want to start putting the gardens to bed for the season.
You can absolutely still plant your cold weather crops for another round of harvesting. What can you plant, dear reader? Try leafy greens (lettuce, kale, swiss chard, spinach), peas, and plants of the brassicus family (like broccoli and cauliflower)!
The Reliable Narrators is a column about reading and books for readers and non-readers, alike from two moms who also happen to be educators and library personnel. Emilee Williamson and Erin Roth are a school-proclaimed “dynamic duo” who love kids, books, and hosting gatherings in the library.
We have also had some questions about birds disappearing from yards lately. It could be that your feather friends are being harassed by predators, or even in search of more water in this dry weather. It is also a busy migration period for many birds.
Sympathetic noises are just that, but empathic ones sustain friendship because they create emotional resonance, a sense of solidarity with our friend in facing immediate and long-term challenges living with dementia or other long-term conditions. Empathy breeds compassion.
I’ve seen a couple of monarch butterflies gliding around the yard–one even sampled some nectar from my okra’s flowers! My strawflowers and celosia are still in bloom. I’ve been deadheading the strawflower to encourage more buds.
Traversing around the yard and around the local trails, I’ve been seeing so many mushrooms! With the humid weather, mushrooms and fungi can really flourish. At Nashua Farmers’ Exchange, it is not unusual for customers to come in concerned with mushrooms growing in lawns.
This week I’ve been harvesting and processing! It’s always a fun time of year–to see the work in the garden pay off with tasty crops that will hopefully last through at least part of the winter.
Weather conditions have been a bit mixed this week, except for the humidity! It always seems to be humid. I’ve been enjoying my early morning and evening strolls in the gardens–with the shop dogs loping by my side.
Remember when I was dancing at the prospect of rain? Well, you might have noticed we got some! My gardens underwent significant downpours, but the wind caused some damage. Earlier this week, I woke up to find one of my tomatillos flattened to the ground.
If you remember from a couple weeks ago, I found damage that I was unsure if it was fruitworm or blossom-end rot. So, it’s time for a dissection! I cut up one tomato and found no evidence of fruitworm, so I am more confident that the plant has blossom-end rot.
The walking paths and roads are mostly dirt and gravel covered. There is a Loop Trail that starts at the farm and takes you to a beaver pond through forests and fields and there is access to the Piscataquog Land Conservancy, where you can hike and snowshoe in the winter.
What’s the dirt? Well, it’s been hot, smokey, and oh-so-humid. Weeds have been flourishing–they aren’t as picky water-wise and don’t mind heat as much. My lawn is a little crispy (I don’t water typically in an attempt to conserve), but the
Do you track your reading? Do you log books in an app or write titles in your planner or notebook? A spreadsheet? Do you color a section of a cute bookmark every time you finish something? Do you rate books or just collect them? Do you post to social media
The sun is a-shinin’ and it has finally cooled off a bit. As I said last week, I struggle with hot temperatures, so I am so thankful for this reprieve–and I think the gardens are too. Between the rain, I managed to get out in the veggie bed
