Old Fashioned Lifestyle

August brings in a mix of feelings for the gardener. The garden is in full abundance. All the hard work that was put into the soil earlier in the year is now paying off. And yet, there is a feeling of regret. It is too late for this year. Time already to think of next. Next year, I will get more tomatoes into the ground. Next year. Next year.

The feeling is accentuated if something has gone wrong. Perhaps a hail storm has come along and wiped out your harvest. Perhaps the animals found their way into the garden and helped themselves! Perhaps you were busy, and the seeds went into the ground late. I have coped with these gardening dissapointments by thinking of next year.

Until Now.

Why?

Because, I’m reading the book, ‘Four-Season Harvest’ by Eliot Coleman. Mr. Coleman lives in Maine and he manages to harvest greens all year long.

What? I can plant seeds in August and September? Let the dirt digging begin. I am inspired.

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I record this for numerous reasons:

• Humor.  We must remember to laugh.
• As a Benchmark.  One day, I will look back and feel pride and accomplishment at how far we have come.
• Did I mention Humor?
• As a way of celebrating the baby steps.  The small stuff.  For it is the step.  and then the next one.  and then the next one that carries us to our dream.

What is all this about?  The first Homestead harvest, of course!

Our projects – combined with my husbands wanderlust carried us away from the homestead for most of the spring and early summer.  As a result, the seeds didn’t even make it into the ground until July 1st.  Pathetic I know.  We fully understood at the time that there was really no point.  Our short Montana summers would not give any seed time to develop the harvest a homesteader longs for.  But we planted anyway.  How can you not?

This is what we got.  Well, we did get a little more than that, but you get the idea!!!  (The tomato plants were purchased from a nursery and later damaged in a hale storm.)

PS.  You will notice the two eggs.  In the fall, we also finally started to get eggs from the chickens.  The first batch we got – in about March – was slowly killed off due to the neighbors dog – but that is a different topic for a different day.   As a result, our egg yield was pretty low and every egg was a celebration!

Technorati Tags: Gardening