A Last Glimpse of Summer

(Please forgive the blurry photos.  I wasn't expecting Micah to move the way he did.)

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For the past two years, my son has tried to grow watermelon in our garden.  Last year, we grew one melon, but it was not ripe at all.  It's a little tough, because our season is just long enough to get a mature melon.  If you factor in any extreme heat, or early cool nights, or too much rain, or a blue moon on a Wednesday, there's a good chance that your melons just aren't going to happen. 

However, we had all of the above this summer, and it happened anyway!  We had a ripe (if small) watermelon.

Micah wanted the pleasure of using the watermelon baller to get the melon ready for dinner.

And decided that he should really taste it before putting it on the table.

He flung his head back, declaring, "This is the best watermelon EVER!"

And proceeded to offer his momma the next bite.  Love that kid!

So, what are you doing with your last little bit of summer?

Yesterday, we indulged on one of our family traditions, our fall visit to Penn's Colony.

Today is about church and being with family.

Some of us are playing Batman, and some are canning tomato soup and making applesauce..

I'll let you guess as to who is doing what.

Enjoy your day.  :)

Beauty and Mystery

We've been working with Monarch caterpillars in school.  The second and third graders have been observing their growth for a few weeks.  At the beginning of September, all the caterpillars headed in the right direction, making their "J", getting ready to pupate.


My friend Karin takes amazing pictures.
Just a little over a week ago, she captured this Monarch in his "J".
(For more of her amazing work, take a peek at The World Through Blue Eyes.)

Working with children and Monarchs is a wonderful experience.  There's so much that can be taught---the different stages of insect metamorphosis, habitat and food supply, geography---and my favorite piece, environmental stewardship.  Learning that our actions as humans affect these creatures, their habitat, and their ability to migrate hundreds of miles.  Amazing stuff!

After what seems like eternity, the first Monarchs are beginning to emerge from their chrysalides.  I happened to be lucky enough to have my camera at school the other day, and we found this guy in Juli's classroom:

This morning I went to check their progress, and found that three more emerged since yesterday.  Our tally so far is three boy butterflies, one girl butterfly.  I'm wondering what our final count will be.  I believe there are nine more to emerge, which will happen early this week.  It's an amazing process, and such a privilege to be able to study it up close.

"Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth, are never alone or weary of life." 

-Rachel Carson

Ahhh...Labor Day...

So glad that Todd is in charge of the fireplace!


My labor this afternoon was a spice cake with cream cheese frosting.  : )

Hope you get to do something you want to do today---whether that's a project you've been wanting to tackle for some time, or getting to read and take a nap.


:)

Hungry?

I have a hot date tonight...with the pressure canner.

Truth be told, Todd visited the Redbox on the way home from work this afternoon.  So the cutting board and I will move to the dining room table and take in a movie while I remove the ends from these beans and get them ready for the canner.

It's been an interesting season for canning.  I haven't had weeks yet where all I do is run the canner.  Rather, the garden is giving up its goods in fits and spurts.  So I make five pints of pickles here, six pints of beans there.  Small batches of goodness, tucked away against the promise of a cold winter that will be here all too soon.

I find it ironic that I visit the grocery store in the middle of summer, when we're harvesting beans, carrots and kale for dinner.  But it's the things that I can't or won't make for myself---milk, orange juice, cheese---that find me making a weekly trek to the store.  That was the way I spent this morning.

And when I got home from Giant Eagle, I did not want to put those groceries away.

Mostly, that was because my cupboards and refrigerator were in desperate need of decluttering and organization.  After ten minutes of moving things around and combining packages of things, I had all sorts of room, and the groceries were put away.

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This afternoon I thought about food.

With my garden, I'm often surprised and happy with whatever I can coax out of the ground.  The thing is, even when the weather stinks or when bugs devour something, I always have the option of going to the store and buying food.  There's always been enough food on the table.  More than enough.  Enough of an abundance that I can afford to be picky about what I like and what I leave.

Todd and I recently read a book called The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer.  Growing up in Malawi, Kamkwamba was no stranger to drought-induced crop failure and consequent hunger.  He chronicles a season of starvation in his village, of living on just two or three mouthfuls of food each day.

He knows something about food that I will (hopefully) never know.

Each night as my boy and I pray, we thank God for our sturdy home, for our family, and for the food we have to eat.  And I believe we are earnest in our thanks.  But I can't help but think that my gratitude pales in comparison to the fervent thanks that rises from someone who is truly hungry who receives food to sustain them for one more day.

Knowing that others don't have food is different from experiencing hunger yourself.

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At this moment, people in East Africa are facing a severe drought.  This is an image of a refugee camp near Kenya's border with Somalia. 



(Borrowed from Lutheran World Relief's website---Reuters/Thomas Mukoya.)


This is their worst drought in 60 years.
I think about what it would be like to live in conditions like these. 
To try to raise my children in poverty, daily struggling to find enough food, to find clean water.
And I fail.
I try not to go to "that place"---you know, the "I'm going to feel guilty because I have so much more than they do."  Self-induced guilt is not helpful.  But action is.

We can't all travel to Africa to help with the drought---any more than we were able to fly to Japan to help with the aftermath of the tsunami.  Nor would that be helpful.  Frankly, the most effective help we can give is our money.  Even those of us who think we don't have money to spare are so very wealthy compared to the rest of the world.

There are many fantastic organizations out there who help in developing countries.  One of our favorites is Lutheran World Relief, both for the integrity of the organization and the wide variety of aid they provide to those in need around the world.

Lord God of all justice, from the countries which have had the scales of the world’s wealth tilted for so

long in their favor, we cry out to you. 

Forgive us for the complacency we have about our comfort. 

Stir us into action and prayer for those who do without. 

Change the world until the hungry and poor have all

they need and, gracious God, use us to bring about the change. Amen.

(LWR/Christian Aid)

KinderGardens, Week 18

There are no kinder left in this garden.

This was our family shot before the bus came on Monday.
Micah was so terrifically excited about that bus!

So Momma was left to begin packing up the garden on her own.

And really, this was mostly Momma's garden to begin with.

So this time 'round, we will not update on the giant sunflowers or the apple tree.

These pictures are all mine.

So, so pleased with the spaghetti squash.  Even though I lost two vines to wilt, I still harvested 14 squash, which I'm in the middle of roasting and freezing.

(And the sunflowers did pop in there, despite my intent to leave them out.)

And the raspberries have really taken hold.  Even though we did not pick many in June and July, the canes are filled with ripening fruit.

Warning---if you don't like insects, skip the next photo.

Don't say I didn't warn you...

This is what I found today:

These gross little buggers have haunted my squash vines all summer.  I pulled all the squash last week, leaving this one to ripen just a little more.  And though I believe all life is precious, I will admit to rolling this squash over and stomping every single one of those guys.

Many tomatoes.  This may be the focus of date night tonight.

Small, red pablanos, waiting to be incorporated into salsa.

Purple peppers, courtesy of The Seed Savers Exchange at the Mother Earth News Fair last fall.

Very happy with the swiss chard!  We have chard plants sprinkled throughout the front (shade) garden.  Love that they are food and easy on the eyes.

Nasturtiums---another favorite.  Easy to grow, prolific by summer's end, full of color.

Giant asparagus.
Next year, I'm sure it will look much smaller, because we will finally be able to cut and eat it!

And I know I shared similar zinnia blooms earlier in the season, but really---they have got to be my favorite. 

The world is simply better because they're here.

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It's been a good summer for a garden.  You can find the other KinderGardens over at The Inadvertent Farmer.