Somewhere Between…

We’re in a between place -  it’s not quite summer and it’s not quite fall.

The days are warm and sunny, but the nights are cool and crisp.

School has started, but we’re still wearing shorts and t-shirts.

Melon

My garden is still producing summer crops – like these cantaloupes – all eight of them harvested on one day!

But my fall crop of  apples in the orchard are already starting to ripen.

We picked 5 tubs of apples from a neighbor’s tree this week and canned almost 50 quarts of applesauce – and still have 3 tubs to work up.

Apples

The pears aren’t far behind them.

The cicadas are singing and the world is starting – very slowly – to turn brown.

One season is closing and another is just beginning.

A part of me is ready for the schedule and structure of the fall – yet another part of me already misses the freedom of the summer.

While my mouth still waters for another taste of meat on the grill, I find myself lingering over recipes for warm comforting casseroles and rich thick stews.

We’re hanging in the “between” right now, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful breezes.

For just a little while we can forget the heat and humidity of the past months and the cold and snow that are surely in our future.

Yes, we are most definitely somewhere between and I think it’s a pretty sweet place to be!

Sound of the Seasons- Autumn

home canned food

Have you ever “heard” fall? There’s an urgency in it’s voice.

As I sat on the dock listening the other day I could hear birds calling each other, reminding them to hurry on their journey south.

I heard combines running on 4 sides as once again the farmers race against winter to bring in this season’s crop.

There was the whirring of chain saws as neighbors added to their wood piles in anticipation of the cold weather ahead.

The grasshoppers were buzzing and crickets were chirping as they enjoyed the last warm days.

I sat and heard it all and I understood it.

This is a busy season for the gardener. The last of the garden produce is competing with the apples for my attention. Daily there is something in the canner as I race against the first frost.

But I knew that this season will not last forever. That killing frost will come and the world around me will be silent with the cold of winter.

There is peace in knowing that these urgent days will have an end. These seemingly endless boxes of produce will all be tucked away neatly into jars and sitting on my pantry shelves ready for my family.

And then the first garden catalog will arrive…

Eccle. 3:1 To everything there is a season…a time to plant and a time to pluck up what was planted…”


Changing Seasons, Changing Bird Feeders

I woke up this morning to the sounds of geese calling as they make their journey southward. The constant humming of the combine replaces the insistent chatter of insects and birds during my afternoon walk. It’s beginning to sound like fall. The temperature dipped down to below 40 degrees last night and we’ve dug out the sweatshirts and jeans. There’s a nip in the air as I hang the laundry. It feels like fall. The view from my farmhouse windows is more yellow and oranges than green. The sunsets are breathtaking, but earlier every evening. It even looks like fall. I love the change in seasons, the rush of the harvest, followed by the lull before winter. The falling leaves and the smell of the woodsmoke. It’s time to think about changing the bird feeders. Replacing the oriole and hummingbird feeders with the finch and peanut tube feeders. My favorites are from Woodlink, because they are strong, durable and beautiful. I’ll use both the mini-magnums and the copper series for fall and winter feeding, along with a few cedar feeders. You can find these find feeders at http://stores.ebay.com/mtmyhouse. Just search under the garden and patio categories.