dark furrow
a quiet almanac of soil and sky
night, the twenty-first of july
late fall
the trees are bare or nearly.
the first frost has come or is coming tonight.
the last harvest donei clean the blade and hang iton its proper nail
sky
the kind of cold that makes the house feel smaller and warmer.
- first quarter, 56% lit
- sunrise 6:14 am · sunset 8:27 pm
- 14h 13m of daylight (-1.3 minutes from yesterday)
- civil dusk 8:56 pm · sailor's dark 9:32 pm · true dark 10:10 pm
the moon is in its first quarter. plant things that fruit: tomatoes, peppers, beans, squash. the increasing light favors strong stems and heavy fruit.
the summer triangle sets earlier each night, the warm sky leaving
the spitting snow. not a real snowfall but a reminder. it comes sideways and does not stick. the old farmers took it as a signal to finish the last outdoor work.
garden
in the ground now
- pull the spent plants, compost what is clean
- mulch the perennials deep, tuck them in
- clean and oil the tools, they earned it
- the ground will rest now and so should you
this week
- sharpen and oil every blade you own. hang them where they belong.
- stack firewood under cover if you have not already. dry wood burns clean.
good neighbors
- a cover crop of rye sown thin into the bare beds, it will hold the soil through every wind that comes
- horseradish at the corner of the potato bed for next year, it asks for nothing and keeps the beetles off
- a low hedge of garlic chives at the edge of the strawberry rows, they wake earlier than the slugs do
bad neighbors
- never compost the diseased leaves, burn them or send them out, the pile will not get hot enough now
- bean stalks left in the bed look like rest, but they hide the eggs that will hatch first thing
- do not leave nightshade vines on the ground over winter, they carry the blight forward to spring
kitchen
in season
- root vegetables, the ones that kept in the cellar
- bone broth simmering all day, the house smells like home
- dried herbs from summer, still good, crush them between your fingers
- baking bread because the oven warms the room twice
tonight
- baking bread because the oven warms the room twice
putting up
- hog killing weather comes with the first hard cold snap before christmas. country ham takes seven days of salt for every inch of thickness, then six to eight weeks in the salt box, then six months hung in the meat house.
- pecans drying on screens. when the kernels snap clean, shell what you'll use this year and freeze the rest.
foraging
- rose hips, bright red on bare canes. more vitamin c than oranges. dry for tea.
- turkey tail mushrooms on fallen logs. not for eating but for a medicinal broth.
- pine needles, fresh growth if you can find it. steep for a sharp vitamin c tea.
- black walnuts still on the ground if you missed them. hull and cure them.
the land is closing down but not empty. late fall foraging is about knowing what lasts and what the cold has made sweeter.
folklore
the beaver moon, when the traps were set before freeze. the frost moon. the mourning moon. the celts called this samhain, the thinning of the veil. the year is turning toward the dark half now.
pine needle tea, sharp and bright. the easiest vitamin c source when nothing else is green. late fall remedies are about warmth and immunity. the cold is here. keep the kettle on and the broth pot simmering.
spiders moving indoors. most are harmless. the brown recluse is not. learn the difference.