It's fiddlehead time in the UP

May 20, 2013 – Monday

First Day of Summer Semester

59 degrees/clear/calm

Pentoga Road

It appears most of my students have found the course page and website and many have already turned in their first assignment of the semester. How good is that? I graded the first six yesterday afternoon and with only fourteen in class, that means I’m almost half done with reading for the week.

Sunday was a busy one. I began the day early by spraying Round UP around all those places I don’t want to trim or mow this summer. It was very calm and the dew on the grass was heavy, a perfect time.

I hate using chemicals to control weeds and grass and find it especially distasteful when it’s sprayed on genetically modified corn and soybeans, all of which enters the food chain, but still, I use it around the trunks of trees, the edges of the garden, the foundation of the house… anywhere that it’s difficult to mow or trim. Hopefully one spraying will do it for the summer months. For certain, it saves me from having to mow in tight areas by hand. Last year I mowed a few vegetables as well as the grass.

And speaking of grass and cutting, I lay more mulch and chips yesterday in the garden area. I think another three days will see that chore completely finished. Lord, I hope so. I knew when I tucked the garden in last fall that this spring was going to be a laborfest. Thankfully, I didn’t realize exactly how hard the work would be. I know someday, when I’m older and not able to do heavy lifting that I’ll look back and be thankful I did it while I could.

Some time was taken to transplant the cucumbers in the greenhouse. I’m relying heavily on a bush variety this year in hopes of saving space in the garden and not have to use a trellis. Over the next few years, I’d like to find varieties that are simple to maintain, yet produce the maximum amount possible. It’s all a process.

The raised beds were all top dressed with several inches of new compost which was later mixed with the old.

The rest of the peppers and tomatoes were planted on Sunday. I'll use styrofoam cups to cover them when the temperatures drop to below freezing later this week.

The rest of the day was spent tilling new planting areas. The garden will increase by almost half this year as more green space is utilized. Hopefully, the green beans will be planted in much of that area as well as turnips and other crops that are good at choking out weeds. This first year will be a chore keeping it clean, but once the weed/grass cycle is broken, with the addition of compost and other natural goodies, those areas should be good to go in years to come.

I picked the first of the fiddlehead ferns yesterday. Since Sargie was unsure if she’d like them, I made just enough for supper. I blanched them for four minutes in boiling water, dumped all in ice water to cool, then fried them in butter and vegetable oil. Along with stuffed zucchini squash that Sargie had made and froze late last summer, we enjoyed an old-fashioned Sunday meal. I’ll be picking a large bag of fiddleheads in the immediate days to come, blanching and freezing them for next winter.

Pastor Tracy, the head of Fortune Lake Camp, where I worked last fall, asked if we could meet for lunch today. She’d like to discuss strategic planning for the camp and asked if I would give a session on age group characteristics to her counselors when they arrive for the summer. I told her I’d love to help where I can. After almost forty years of working with munchkins, I occasionally miss them.

Though the forecast is calling for rain, the skies remain clear. I’ll continue to work in the garden until time to meet for lunch and if the promised precipitation arrives, I’ll move into the barn. I want to start carving again, something I’ve not done for quite sometime. I’m not good at it, but then I don’t have to be. It’s something I enjoy, even if most of my work becomes kindling for the wood stove.

Time to upload a picture or two and get this on. A man’s work is never done.

So are the tales from Pentoga Road…