The last few weeks of summer are always hectic, but this August felt even more busy than usual. We had plans every weekend, and then there were the 5 days we spent in the hospital… it’s been good to be back, calmer, able to finally start catching up on chores, and just being home.

The kale we started in the new hugel (for a second time, after the greedy squirrels ate the tops off of the first round) are finally coming up again, this time protected by some netting. This spring’s kale, which we chopped off at the roots, is coming BACK, with a vengeance. This is a turn of events we did not foresee, but we certainly can’t complain about an unexpected crop of kale! The squash and tomatoes that we rescued from the half-off bin at a local nursery are also finally kicking in.. not sure we’ll get anything from them before October cools everything off, but it’s nice to see them recovered.

The pears in the orchard are pear-sized! Watching the pears and apples develop this year has been amazing. We had prepared ourselves for a small harvest, because we had to cut so many branches off to repair weather damage and general lack of pruning… but they seem to have responded well! The deer are enjoying the windfall pears, but we’ve picked a few nice ones up to ripen in the house, so far.

The corn is massive! Okay, maybe not really as tall as the barn, but, certainly an easy 8 or 9 feet tall. I couldn’t resist, and picked and ate an ear yesterday.. it wasn’t really ready, but it was pretty good anyway! I comfort myself with the knowledge that there are several more ears out there, and several more nice hot days forecast in our future.

It’s been a while since I shared a garden view like the one we used to take when we were building the garden in spring. It feels so good to see so much life out there, where the old pasture ring used to be! The garden has entered the traditional fall phase: “oh my god the plants have taken over”. This is the season of gardening where I generally throw my hands in the air and let the weeds and the plants do as they wish. Especially since we plan to fold everything under, in situ, this year, for another green layer of compost under sheet mulch, I’m letting things go as they wish.

Final shot: I don’t think we’ve documented on the blog yet our collared deer and her foal – these two are regular visitors (the doe more than her foal); the doe is part of a study by the Department of Fish & Wildlife, which is why she’s tagged and collared. Her foal was born late, and he’s still quite small for this late in the season, we worry about him every time we don’t see him, and rejoice when they show up together. He IS in this photo… right in the middle, standing very still just like his momma (or instinct) taught him.