Today we picked the first batch of Green Beans and Yellow Wax Beans. Also we picked another bowl of strawberries. Having fresh strawberries in late August is a really good reason not to replace the bed of ever-bearing strawberries with the June bearing variety. I will just freeze this batch of berries for winter.
We also picked a couple of tomatoes, some swiss chard, an onion, and a pepper, for a scramble breakfast tomorrow.
On the stove I have a pot of gooseberries which are thawing out. I’m going to start making jam and see if I can’t clear out some space in the freezer.
We need to move the jars of tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes, and jams I’ve already made, into the pantry. This weekend we need to do some re-organizing in the pantry because soon we’ll have a whole pile of potatoes, carrots and beets that are going to need a home.
This time of year, the main problem is keeping up with things getting ripe. It’s so much trying!
This morning we had a visitor of the black bear variety. Dan first saw him (this was a big bear, so most likely a male), walking down the path to the garden. He put his paw on our compost bin, and then walked all the way around the garden. Following his nose, obviously. He didn’t attempt to tear into the fencing, which makes us very happy. I walked around the garden, following his path, just to see what he’d done, if anything. All I could see was his very large footprints in the bark mulch.
After his garden tour, he came back up the path to the house, so we went into the sun room to see what he would be doing. Mishkin hadn’t been fed yet, so he was following us around, complaining about that fact, but not paying attention to what was outside. Then, Mish saw the bear as it climbed on the porch next to the sun room door. He growled loudly, and raced over to the chair closest to the bear, telling that bear off in no uncertain terms. And he was very fluffed, getting as large as possible. The bear was oblivious to his imminent demise. So we banged on the glass window in the door, and waved our arms around, and yelled at the bear to leave. That made an impression, and off he went down the hill at high speed.
Mishkin was all full of himself, as he had chased the bear away. He’s been keeping an eye on the outside today, between naps, making sure that the bear he chased off hasn’t returned. Good tough cat.