The last week of summer is often bittersweet, because I’ve always looked forward to the first day of school and the start of fall weather. This time it’s more bitter than sweet. I need to go back to work – I haven’t received a paycheck in months, and I am starting to suffer for the lack of a concrete routine – but I’d much rather stay here and keep my focus entirely on my projects. This was the most enjoyable summer of my life.
This week was a sprint to tie up loose ends and prepare to go back to work. I organize my weekly accomplishments according to my goals, which center around achieving as much self reliance as possible.
Food Production
In past years, my garden always eventually surpassed my capacity for maintenance. Ever since mid-July, I’ve been waiting for it to happen: the ugly fungus-affected leaves, the randomly dying plants, the unruly weeds… sure signs that the project has gotten away from me. This is the largest garden I’ve ever had, so I knew it was inevitable. But it didn’t happen in July. In fact, it hasn’t happened at all! There are a few sad beetle-killed cucumber plants, and a couple of bare patches where grasshoppers demolished the carrots, but overall this is the healthiest garden I think I’ve ever seen.
I’ve harvested plenty of cucumbers, radishes, and herbs. This has been my best green bean year ever, so much so that I am letting some varieties mature for shelling. Even the zucchini is producing more than enough to eat and preserve, despite the borers that took up residence in the vines weeks ago.
The first of the autumn leafy greens were ready for planting, so I tucked the lettuce, arugula, and kale throughout the garden. The second tray will be ready for planting next week.
I acquired and installed the last of the four cattle panel trellises and immediately planted the rest of my fall peas, which have already germinated.
Resource Acquisition & Preparedness
The green beans that I preserved last year were a huge hit; a simple blanch and freeze, and then I added them to my meal prepped lunches all spring. They microwave perfectly with zero additional prep. I’m starting to get sick of eating such large quantities of fresh green beans, so I’ve started the process of preserving them in the same way. I cut off the ends, drop them in boiling water for two minutes, and then move them to an ice bath to cool. I then spread them out on a baking sheet and put them in the freezer overnight, moving them to a plastic bag the next day. (I even reused the plastic bags from last year!)
I have a pasta pot that works really well for this; the metal strainer makes it really easy to insert and remove the green beans, which reduces the possibility of over-boiling them. So far, I made one big batch which produced approximately one gallon of frozen beans.
I baked two loaves of sourdough bread. I ate one fresh and froze the extra. Sourdough is time-intensive, so it’s hard to make it during the school year – having a loaf ready to go in the freezer can be a real time saver. (I also baked a gigantic tray of zucchini bread with the intention of freezing half of it, but I ate in instead. Oh well.)
Moving Forward
I’ll be sad to have shorter days – the sun will set earlier, and my ‘farming day’ will start later – but there are fun autumn tasks on the horizon. I’m looking forward to adding some variety to my daily harvests (tomatoes, peppers, corn). Wild grapes will soon be ready for foraging. Firewood, an ever-satisfying task and excellent workout, will take more of my focus. Cooler temperatures will be nice, too.
KC