More harvesting

 Pat’s memorial service was Saturday. I cried until I ran out if tears. I’ve been feeling a little better since then, comforting myself with my routines and the garden. The corn harvest is done. I was harvesting dry beans this afternoon, and boy, is it hot and humid out there! I have to rest a bit in the air conditioning before I can separate my clothes from my person to take a shower.

Picking the beans made me remember a time years ago when winter was coming, and we were way behind with our garden clean up. I had to go to work in those days. In particular, Hilda and I were faced with the odious task of unwinding dead bean vines from four full rows of pole beans trellises in a year when the beans had done well. Pat and Nancy came out to help. The four of us talked and laughed while we worked, and the trellises were clean in no time. Someday these memories will comfort me, but that is not be today. Today they make me sad and lonely. I miss Pat.

I roasted peppers yesterday. I like to skin and de-seed them before I put them in the freezer. I discovered a few things I didn’t know before. First, the pepper scorch faster if I put the lid on the grill. It seems obvious now, but somehow, I hadn’t put together that the skin will turn black faster if the whole pepper is hotter. I got the sweet peppers and jalapenos done before I had to leave for an appointment. I put the poblanos in the refrigerator until I could get to them this morning. My second breakthrough was that after an overnight rest, the skin in the little crannies that escape the direct heat came off easier than when I do it right away. I wonder if I will remember until next year.

Roasting peppers

Since Sunday, I have been getting 5 or 6 ripe cantaloupe per day. This is a great deal more cantaloupe than a household of three can manage. It’s not entirely bad planning on my part. I planted two varieties that allegedly had different maturation times. Both are ripening at once, just to be contrary. It was a lot easier to move excess produce when I had a job.

Daily cantaloupe harvest

There are seven tom turkeys that we see every day. They walk from north to south along the field in the morning and return in the afternoon, as if they were punching a time clock. At first there was a group of 2 and a group of 5. Now we mostly see a group of six and a lone turkey. Was it something he said? They keep trying to get at the grapes, which we covered with bird netting a few weeks ago. Terry chases them off whenever he catches them in there.

Five tom turkeys beneath the fifth oak

Butchering day is September 2, and it can’t come soon enough. The meat chickens are all roosters, and they’re getting feisty. One evening last week, one rooster challenged me when I suggested that it was time to get in the coop and go to sleep. I stepped toward him; he charged. I’m bigger than he is and did ultimately win.

It's getting crowded in the coop! The boys are getting big.

The meat chickens mostly lounge around the run in the morning and evening and spend their day sitting in front of the fan in the coop. Couch potaotes of the chicken world.

Enjoying the evening

The silver-laced Wyandottes are starting to show their characteristic white feathers with black edges. They are going to be beautiful when they grow up.

Silver-laced Wyandotte

For as much as I see monarch butterflies around here, I rarely see a caterpillar. I was quite excited, then, to see this little fellow on the butterflyweed by the garage.

Monarch caterpillar on butterfly weed

I hope to post some pictures of my vacation soon. It’s a busy time of year with the gardening, but I’ll get to it.