dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
morning, the eighteenth of june
early summer
the days are longest. the heat is building.
the garden is a job now, not a hope.
the tomato vineclimbs past the stake i gave itreaching for the sun
sky
hazy. the heat is already building. do what you need to do early.
- waxing crescent, 17% lit
- sunrise 5:58 am · sunset 8:33 pm
- 14h 35m of daylight (+0.1 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 9:04 pm · sailor's dark 9:41 pm · true dark 10:23 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.
corona borealis, the northern crown, a small perfect arc of stars near arcturus
the heat burst. a sudden blast of hot dry air that falls from a collapsing thunderstorm. temperatures can jump twenty degrees in minutes, late at night, with no warning. the old farmers had no name for it because it made no sense.
garden
in the ground now
- thin what is too close, a hard kindness
- the weeds are fast now, stay ahead or make peace
- mulch everything, the heat is coming
- water deep and less often, teach the roots to reach
this week
- clean and sharpen the mower blade. dull cuts stress the grass and invite disease.
- succession plant beans and lettuce every two weeks for continuous harvest.
good neighbors
- marigold everywhere, the deeper the summer the more they earn their square of soil
- chives and parsley left to bloom, every flower is a contract with a pollinator
- a row of buckwheat in any bed already finished, it feeds the bees and softens tired soil
bad neighbors
- keep the squash out of the potato bed, the vines tangle and the soil is tired from both
- mint loose in any bed, root it in a pot or it will own the ground by autumn
- sunflowers pull water and shade hard, do not crowd the beans against the stems
kitchen
in season
- cucumber water in a jar on the counter
- peaches if they came in, sliced over vanilla ice cream
- zucchini in everything, there is always too much
- grilled corn, butter, a little cayenne
tonight
- tomatoes still warm from the vine, sliced with salt
putting up
- mulberries and black raspberries: jam, syrup, or freeze on sheet pans before they sour.
- garlic comes out of the ground at the end of june. cure it two weeks in airy shade, then braid or trim.
foraging
- black raspberries, ripening in thickets and fencerows. they do not wait.
- sassafras leaves, young and bright green. dry and grind for file powder.
- bee balm flowers, red and wild. steep for a tea that tastes like oregano and thyme.
- lamb's quarters, a weed that tastes better than spinach. grows everywhere.
summer foraging shifts from greens to fruits. the heat pushes everything toward ripeness at once. go out in the morning before it gets unbearable.
folklore
the strawberry moon, the rose moon. midsummer approaches, the longest days. the anglo-saxons called june sere-month, the dry month, when the fields bake and harden. the light stays so long you forget it leaves.
peppermint and spearmint iced tea. brew strong, cool, pour over ice. the heat demands it. summer remedies are about staying cool, staying hydrated, and treating the small injuries the garden gives you. sunburn, bug bites, sore muscles.
braconid wasps, tiny, laying eggs on hornworms. if you see white cocoons on a caterpillar, leave it. the wasps are winning.