dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
night, the fifteenth of august
midsummer
the full weight of summer.
everything is ripe or ripening or done.
thunder in the westthe corn stands perfectly stillwaiting for the rain
sky
warm and loud with insects. sleep with the windows open or don't sleep.
- waxing crescent, 8% lit
- sunrise 6:34 am · sunset 8:04 pm
- 13h 30m of daylight (-2.0 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 8:31 pm · sailor's dark 9:03 pm · true dark 9:37 pm
the moon is dark. this is a time for rest and planning. prepare beds, amend soil, but do not plant. the old farmers said nothing wants to start in the dark.
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
- the garden is giving now, keep up with it or it spoils
- save seeds from what did well, close the circle
- harvest in the morning before the heat sets in
- let some herbs bolt and flower for the bees
this week
- pull spent crops and plant fall seeds in their place. bush beans, beets, carrots.
- stake and tie anything that is leaning. the weight of fruit will snap a stem.
good neighbors
- marigolds sown thick where the brassicas will follow, they leave the ground cleaner than they found it
- a second planting of bush beans beside the cucumbers, both will run together to the frost
- nasturtium tumbling between the squash hills, the bugs go to it and not the fruit
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
- fennel anywhere near the new bean rows, the seedlings will sulk all the way to fall
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
- tomatoes are the work of july and august. add bottled lemon juice or citric acid to every jar. some tomatoes sit above the safe acid line and the lemon makes them water-bath safe.
- basil into pesto, frozen in oil cubes. herbs in oil at room temperature are not safe; the freezer is what makes them safe.
foraging
- wild plums, small and tart, good for jam and nothing else.
- jewelweed, the orange-flowered plant near creeks. crush the stem for poison ivy relief.
- blackberries, everywhere, ripening in waves through july and august.
- sumac berries, the red fuzzy clusters. steep in cold water for a drink like pink lemonade.
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.
stink bugs arriving. they want your tomatoes. they will get some.