It's the first year we've had mullein in flower, so I had to research what to do. I dehydrated the flowers & leaves for tea (medicinal, supposed to be useful for chest congestion). And I am drying a couple of longer stalks to make into candles by covering them in melted beeswax. It's such a cool plant! The area where I cut part of the stalk in that photo is now sprouting 2 new stalks.
Oh that's so great! We usually get a few growing around here and knew they were medicinal, but haven't tried it out for anything yet. I love the candle idea, though! 😃
Your title for this post intrigued me and I loved learning about the poem it referenced. I found your meanderings delightful as well, both explaining the Anglo Saxon calendar and Victorian era art. Also, hurray for your hive's new queen bee!! Her majesty is the royal reward for your patience and trust in the resourcefulness of your wonderfully gentle bees. I am so amazed at the mysteries of what those buzzing little creatures are able to do. I mean, they somehow knew how to make a new queen!?!?! And she instinctively made and survived a mating flight?!?!?! Truly God is in His heaven, and despite arid June draught, Canadian travelling smoke, and worldly troubles, "All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
I look forward to your posts and making time to savor reading them.
You know, my chard hasn't gotten big enough for cutting, or at least, I've been waiting for it to get bigger. It's maybe seven inches tall. I plan on stir frying it. I've grown kale and chopped it fine in salads.
I had no idea you had such horribly dry weather on top of the smoke. I’m so glad you and your family, and—oh! your garden and bees too—made it through, without any lasting health effects.
Loved the garden pics and update! It looks like you have a productive season ahead. And surely happiness is…a healthy hive too!
Thank you, Susan! Yes, so relieved the smoke is gone. And seeing that new queen in the hive was a highlight of summer for us; we've been wringing our hands over ordering a new queen or trusting the hive to right itself.
I do love hearing about your bees! Hopefully having a new queen this time of year, when there’s lots of bee food around, will be a boost to your hive.
I too get worried when our wild bees show up late, as they did this spring when April was abnormally chilly. Happily, they’re now feasting on our lavender, wild fireweed, and bee balm!
I'm curious which wild bees you typically see in your region? I saw a leafcutter bee for the 1st time this year. We've always had bumbles, of course, and sweat bees. But last year we started getting green sweat bees.
You really know your bees! We have bumbles and mason bees, but I had to look up leafcutters and sweat bees. I’m pretty sure I recognized the leafcutter bees, and it makes sense we would have them: lots of wood and rotting wood on our place, as it’s a former clear cut. Not sure about sweat bees, so I’ll start keeping a closer eye out!
Thank you!! How do you use your chard? Curious, especially from a southern gardener, since we tend to think love of cooked greens is universal in the South. I have to make baked & salted "chips" out of our kale, since the only cooked/ sauteed green the kids will eat is spinach.
I hope you get lots of peppers. Our pepper plants are very sad-looking, so I don't have much hope for them.
The Anglo saxon book is a treasure, it's sitting behind me as I type and I dip into it regularly. Their way of looking at things still influenced us today.
Let's see... we are coming to the end of the Kale. The zucchini is starting to come on. This year I'm hoping to build a small shack out of zucchini using them like logs in a log cabin. Spring carrots are a daily harvest. Here's where we were about one month ago.
Nice! Our zucchini is so far behind that I'm starting to doubt we'll get any. Thankfully, there are always people wanting to give away their extra zucchini, so not gonna worry.
So much goodness here!! When I ask myself why I'm so drawn to earlier understandings of the calendar, especially the Anglo-Saxon perspective, I think it's because they had a less rigid way of looking at time...allowing space for nuance and complexity, seeing it as a cycle rather than a march of days. And, most notable for me, their time reckoning actually made sense in conjunction with the weather! (My gosh, I can really go on a tangent about the astronomical vs. meteorological reckonings of the seasons! Having the beginning of winter fixed at the winter solstice just makes no sense to me).
I'm a big fan of Eleanor's and LOVED "Winters in the World." I also learned recently from her, via her marvelous Patreon, that another term for July was Mædmonað - meadow-month" - since that's when the height of the hay harvest was occurring. Which really tickles me, since we're raking and baling like crazy now!
Thank you, Kristin! Oh my, yes-- our calendar is not intuitive is it? I get the solstice/ equinox dates thing but they don't match our weather patterns and having the first day of a season after that season has either already started meteorologically or won't start weather-wise for a while yet is confusing. The Anglo-Saxon winter starting on the 1st full moon of (essentially) October makes more sense- that's when that 1st real chill in the air arrives. And how spring & fall always feel too short-- of course they do, but we expect 4 even or equal seasonal experiences. I love that the Anglo-Saxons just referred to them as Lent and Harvest, then got on with summer & winter.
I love Eleanor's work so much-- so glad to fangirl with you! August is "month of weeds," I think, which is also perfect.
Ooo! I just noticed the mullein flowers in your basket! What do you do with those?
It's the first year we've had mullein in flower, so I had to research what to do. I dehydrated the flowers & leaves for tea (medicinal, supposed to be useful for chest congestion). And I am drying a couple of longer stalks to make into candles by covering them in melted beeswax. It's such a cool plant! The area where I cut part of the stalk in that photo is now sprouting 2 new stalks.
Oh that's so great! We usually get a few growing around here and knew they were medicinal, but haven't tried it out for anything yet. I love the candle idea, though! 😃
I'll try to remember to post a photo when we use the candles.
That'd be great!
Your title for this post intrigued me and I loved learning about the poem it referenced. I found your meanderings delightful as well, both explaining the Anglo Saxon calendar and Victorian era art. Also, hurray for your hive's new queen bee!! Her majesty is the royal reward for your patience and trust in the resourcefulness of your wonderfully gentle bees. I am so amazed at the mysteries of what those buzzing little creatures are able to do. I mean, they somehow knew how to make a new queen!?!?! And she instinctively made and survived a mating flight?!?!?! Truly God is in His heaven, and despite arid June draught, Canadian travelling smoke, and worldly troubles, "All shall be well and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well."
I look forward to your posts and making time to savor reading them.
Thanks for all the compliments, Mom. :) Extra points for quoting Julian of Norwich. We saw the queen again on today's hive check, and she is laying.
You know, my chard hasn't gotten big enough for cutting, or at least, I've been waiting for it to get bigger. It's maybe seven inches tall. I plan on stir frying it. I've grown kale and chopped it fine in salads.
I had no idea you had such horribly dry weather on top of the smoke. I’m so glad you and your family, and—oh! your garden and bees too—made it through, without any lasting health effects.
Loved the garden pics and update! It looks like you have a productive season ahead. And surely happiness is…a healthy hive too!
Thank you, Susan! Yes, so relieved the smoke is gone. And seeing that new queen in the hive was a highlight of summer for us; we've been wringing our hands over ordering a new queen or trusting the hive to right itself.
I do love hearing about your bees! Hopefully having a new queen this time of year, when there’s lots of bee food around, will be a boost to your hive.
I too get worried when our wild bees show up late, as they did this spring when April was abnormally chilly. Happily, they’re now feasting on our lavender, wild fireweed, and bee balm!
I'm curious which wild bees you typically see in your region? I saw a leafcutter bee for the 1st time this year. We've always had bumbles, of course, and sweat bees. But last year we started getting green sweat bees.
You really know your bees! We have bumbles and mason bees, but I had to look up leafcutters and sweat bees. I’m pretty sure I recognized the leafcutter bees, and it makes sense we would have them: lots of wood and rotting wood on our place, as it’s a former clear cut. Not sure about sweat bees, so I’ll start keeping a closer eye out!
Sweat bees here are small and they land on us. So cool you have mason bees.
Your garden is just amazing!
I have Swiss chard coming up, and lots of pepper plants that haven't produced anything yet.
Thank you!! How do you use your chard? Curious, especially from a southern gardener, since we tend to think love of cooked greens is universal in the South. I have to make baked & salted "chips" out of our kale, since the only cooked/ sauteed green the kids will eat is spinach.
I hope you get lots of peppers. Our pepper plants are very sad-looking, so I don't have much hope for them.
The Anglo saxon book is a treasure, it's sitting behind me as I type and I dip into it regularly. Their way of looking at things still influenced us today.
That is awesome, so happy to find other people who love that book! It is really fascinating to see links between the past and our present.
Always love your posts Erin!
Thank you, Britt! I'm glad you enjoy them.
Let's see... we are coming to the end of the Kale. The zucchini is starting to come on. This year I'm hoping to build a small shack out of zucchini using them like logs in a log cabin. Spring carrots are a daily harvest. Here's where we were about one month ago.
https://www.brunettegardens.com/p/standing-tall-in-the-summer-garden
Nice! Our zucchini is so far behind that I'm starting to doubt we'll get any. Thankfully, there are always people wanting to give away their extra zucchini, so not gonna worry.
I’ve found some years are good zucchini years, others just are *not*. Hopefully the garden peeps in your life will keep the zuchs comin’!
Love the idea of a zucchini cabin! A truly brand-new way to use up those huge zucchinis!
So much goodness here!! When I ask myself why I'm so drawn to earlier understandings of the calendar, especially the Anglo-Saxon perspective, I think it's because they had a less rigid way of looking at time...allowing space for nuance and complexity, seeing it as a cycle rather than a march of days. And, most notable for me, their time reckoning actually made sense in conjunction with the weather! (My gosh, I can really go on a tangent about the astronomical vs. meteorological reckonings of the seasons! Having the beginning of winter fixed at the winter solstice just makes no sense to me).
I'm a big fan of Eleanor's and LOVED "Winters in the World." I also learned recently from her, via her marvelous Patreon, that another term for July was Mædmonað - meadow-month" - since that's when the height of the hay harvest was occurring. Which really tickles me, since we're raking and baling like crazy now!
Thank you, Kristin! Oh my, yes-- our calendar is not intuitive is it? I get the solstice/ equinox dates thing but they don't match our weather patterns and having the first day of a season after that season has either already started meteorologically or won't start weather-wise for a while yet is confusing. The Anglo-Saxon winter starting on the 1st full moon of (essentially) October makes more sense- that's when that 1st real chill in the air arrives. And how spring & fall always feel too short-- of course they do, but we expect 4 even or equal seasonal experiences. I love that the Anglo-Saxons just referred to them as Lent and Harvest, then got on with summer & winter.
I love Eleanor's work so much-- so glad to fangirl with you! August is "month of weeds," I think, which is also perfect.