dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
morning, the twentieth of july
midsummer
the full weight of summer.
everything is ripe or ripening or done.
the garden gives morethan i can carry insidethe table overflows
sky
blazing. the garden wilts by ten. water it or lose it.
- waxing crescent, 41% lit
- sunrise 6:14 am · sunset 8:28 pm
- 14h 14m of daylight (-1.3 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 8:57 pm · sailor's dark 9:32 pm · true dark 10:11 pm
the moon is waxing. plant leafy things: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, herbs that grow above ground. the light is growing and pulls the energy upward.
the perseid meteors begin in late july, peaking in august, bits of comet swift-tuttle
the tropical remnant. what is left of a hurricane after it has come inland and lost its name. days of grey warm rain. everything floods slowly. the old farmers knew it by the way the wind circled.
garden
in the ground now
- save seeds from what did well, close the circle
- the garden is giving now, keep up with it or it spoils
- second planting of beans if you have the space
- let some herbs bolt and flower for the bees
this week
- harvest everything on time. overripe vegetables tell the plant to stop producing.
- pull spent crops and plant fall seeds in their place. bush beans, beets, carrots.
good neighbors
- a few sunflowers at the north end of the bed, where the shade falls on no one important
- a second planting of bush beans beside the cucumbers, both will run together to the frost
- marigolds sown thick where the brassicas will follow, they leave the ground cleaner than they found it
bad neighbors
- fennel anywhere near the new bean rows, the seedlings will sulk all the way to fall
- never put fall brassicas where the spring brassicas stood, the cabbage worms remember the place
- another round of squash where the first one suffered, the bug eggs are already waiting
kitchen
in season
- eat outside if there is a breeze
- watermelon with salt, the oldest summer trick
- can or freeze what you cannot eat, winter will want it
- cold soups, gazpacho, things from the fridge
tonight
- it is too hot to cook, so don't
putting up
- peaches in july. can in light syrup, peel and freeze, brandy a few jars for winter.
- green beans the same way. low-acid foods need a pressure canner. otherwise pickle them as dilly beans.
foraging
- passionflower vine, blooming wild. the flower makes a calming tea.
- jewelweed, the orange-flowered plant near creeks. crush the stem for poison ivy relief.
- sumac berries, the red fuzzy clusters. steep in cold water for a drink like pink lemonade.
- chanterelle mushrooms after summer rains, golden in the hardwood leaf litter.
midsummer foraging is abundance and sweat. bring a bucket and water. the blackberries alone will keep you busy for weeks.
folklore
the buck moon, the thunder moon. the dog days begin when sirius rises with the sun. the old farmers blamed the star for the heat. it is not the star. but the name stuck.
calendula flowers, steeped in oil for weeks. makes a healing salve for cracked hands and dry skin. midsummer medicine is first aid. the garden and the woods are handing out scratches, bites, heat, and rashes. have your remedies ready.
mosquitoes relentless. long sleeves at dusk or pay for it.