Blueberries, Beans and Hail OH MY!

What an incredible week! We’ve had very high temperatures and the late tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen. When it hasn’t been hot and humid, it’s been torrential thunderstorms.

We had a hail storm with very heavy winds come thru the other day that cause some severe damage in our area. We only lost a large limb off of our maple tree. But the remaining peas were blown over and the hail did considerable damage to the leaves of many of the plants.

I picked 3 gallons of green beans to put up. I will freeze some, can some with red sauce, and also make some “dilly beans”. We still have plenty of beans coming. And the late sowing of the red ones is proving successful. The plants are full of blossoms. One of those summer pop up late day thunderstorms interrupted the cleaning efforts. We completed those today.

Today we also planted 6 blueberry bushes and 4 rows of very hardy raspberries, which I call the 'Aunt Angela' variety. They were shoots from the raspberry patch at our family cottage in Maine. They make it through those winters and just keep coming back stronger than ever. I’m hoping for the same results. I had Joe digging holes and mixing compost/humus all afternoon. This is also in an area that gets full sun from morning to evening. It is protected on the north side by a fence and flower bed from any heavy winds and snow. Wow! I can't believe it was 86 degrees today and I'm thinking of snow already!

We should have known another storm was headed in when we saw this cardinal on the post in the garden. LOL. It is coming down so hard I don’t think I have to worry about watering the newly planted stock.

Tomorrow I will tackle the remaining peas. What do you think I should plant there for a fall sowing? Hmmmm Maybe some swiss chard.

Blueberries!

Took some time yesterday to pick over 8 pounds of blueberries. Some to freeze, some for jam, and some to just plain eat with fresh yogurt. So glad that I got them in before all this rain today. The rest of them will nice and plump after a few days of rain.



Had to really dig underneath all the foliage to find the wonderful clumps of juiciness!

Highbush varieties of Blue Boy, Patriot, Elizabeth and Collins.

Mud Can Be 'Heaven On Earth'

So while we’ve been busy with the garden and beginning to put up the fruits of our labors, we paused to ‘put up’ some mud. That’s right! MUD! Writing about “Gouldsboro Glow” appears appropriate since it is also located above 44 degrees latitude.

Our visit to the family house on the coast of Maine is always such a welcome reprise. Full of fun, family, relaxation and mud. As children we would go play in it at low tide slathering our bodies with it, letting it dry, and rinsing off in the cold salt water. Then each of us having one bucket of fresh water from well (now we use the water from the cistern) to finish the cleaning job.

We have such a special mud to be found there during low tide. It is the most perfect sea mud for facials. It is on the cleanest portion of coastline according to National Geographic. A small bay protected from the pollution of industry and cities and fed by various local mineral springs. This has resulted in the accumulation of many natural sediments over the years. The mud has a very high concentration of magnesium, calcium chloride, potassium and salts, which provide the skin with both healthy and beautifying effects.

I’ve always claimed that I would bring mud home with me each year because the one or two facials I get in while there just doesn’t seem to be enough for the entire year. And as each year goes by, the mud has been left in place. This year was different. Low tide worked out perfectly with the timing of our departure and I gathered an extra large Glad container of this wonder mud.

I mixed it with distilled water to loosen it consistency in order to strain out the seaweed, small pieces of clam/mussel shells and small rocks. The simmered it down to original consistency and introduced some myrrh and lavender oils to it. Put it up in some 4 oz jelly jars and water bathed it.

Heaven on earth!

Second crops and finding treasures

I should have posted this almost 2 weeks ago. But was not very diligent with the computer time.

I’m so happy that the second crop of peas is blossoming out. I wasn’t sure if they would with all the heat we’ve been having. These blossoms are so pretty. I wish they would last for flower arrangements.

We hated to do this but had no choice. With the amount of overgrowth between the garden and the picket fence, there was no telling what was a “good” plant and what was a weed. And then there would be the issue of getting to it! So Joe weed wacked the entire bed. I’ll be waiting another week or two to see what begins to sprout and leaf out; dig up and pot what I want to save; then we will dig up all the roots in this area and replant. It is the only way to get through this bed that was neglected for 12 years. I’ve already found some lupine, a rose bush (which he didn’t whack and will remain where it is), chives, irises, some variegated euonymus, and phlox. It is truly like opening boxes on Christmas morning.

Tomorrow I will get caught up in the garden after being away for 10 days. Thank you Joe for keeping up with the watering and weeding. I knew there was a reason I loved this guy. :-)