dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
night, the twenty-ninth 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
warm and loud with insects. sleep with the windows open or don't sleep.
- waxing gibbous, 100% lit
- sunrise 6:20 am · sunset 8:21 pm
- 14h 1m of daylight (-1.6 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 8:50 pm · sailor's dark 9:24 pm · true dark 10:01 pm
the moon is nearly full. transplant, fertilize, graft. the light is strongest and the sap is rising. a good time to move plants and feed the soil.
the milky way was called the "backbone of night" by some old cultures. in midsummer it arches overhead like a bridge from horizon to horizon. go somewhere dark and look up.
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
- let some herbs bolt and flower for the bees
- second planting of beans if you have the space
- the garden is giving now, keep up with it or it spoils
- harvest in the morning before the heat sets in
this week
- stake and tie anything that is leaning. the weight of fruit will snap a stem.
- water in the morning, before the sun is high. evening watering invites fungus.
good neighbors
- a row of buckwheat where a bed has emptied, it brings the bees and feeds the soil for fall
- marigolds sown thick where the brassicas will follow, they leave the ground cleaner than they found it
- a few sunflowers at the north end of the bed, where the shade falls on no one important
bad neighbors
- 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
- do not return tomatoes to last year's tomato ground, the soil is asking for three years of rest
kitchen
in season
- eat outside if there is a breeze
- it is too hot to cook, so don't
- cold soups, gazpacho, things from the fridge
- watermelon with salt, the oldest summer trick
tonight
- can or freeze what you cannot eat, winter will want it
putting up
- green beans the same way. low-acid foods need a pressure canner. otherwise pickle them as dilly beans.
- cucumbers in the crock now. salt, water, dill, garlic, a grape leaf for crispness. ferment three to ten days.
foraging
- passionflower vine, blooming wild. the flower makes a calming tea.
- blackberries, everywhere, ripening in waves through july and august.
- chanterelle mushrooms after summer rains, golden in the hardwood leaf litter.
- wild plums, small and tart, good for jam and nothing else.
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.
passionflower tea from wild vines. deeply calming. good for the restless nights the heat brings. midsummer medicine is first aid. the garden and the woods are handing out scratches, bites, heat, and rashes. have your remedies ready.
japanese beetles at their worst. the roses suffer most.