July to September around the Homestead

I kind of blanked on my monthly homestead updates, the summer months always seem to get away from me.

My days throughout July and August are a quick paced mashup of early morning and late nights, endless laundry piles, baking bread daily, a million snacks and meals for the kids. Swimming, gardening, fishing, bike rides, herbalism - catching the herb at the right time and forward thinking on what it will be utilized for and explaining to the kids why we work with certain plants and why we don't. Lots of visits with family and bonfires with friends. You blink and summer is over, and ultimately, that's how it should be.

Imagine how burnt out we would be if we went summer hard like that all year round. I know there are some of you out there that do or try to, whether you mean to or not, and I'm sure it takes a toll. Our energy come harvest season is to naturally start to slow down once that fast paced summer is behind us in the dust. I welcome and weep at the thought of the end of summer.

I love 5am coffees on the deck, the sun already peeking through the clouds at me, a good book in my hands. I am a morning person and a hot summer morning just hits differently. Watching the ducks and chickens forage in the early morning refuels my slow living mentality while I brace for the non stop day ahead.

Here are some of the things I get up to during the summer months. When it comes to the garden, it really is a set it and forget it time for me, so it just comes down to picking what I can when I can and trying not to let anything go to waste while we are busy living our best summer life.

July, August & September Homestead Tasks

• Enjoy your fresh produce!! Its taken weeks for the garden to reach this point. Fresh peppers anyone??
• Continue weeding, watering and keeping the garden tidy as needed.
• Be sure to pick beans consistently so they don't go to seed early and preserve them. This year I froze beans and canned pickled beans.
• Pick & braid your garlic if ready, the scapes if you planted hardneck would have been ready earlier
• Forage for Goldenrod or any other late summer herbs in your growing area. I dried some and made a tincture. Goldenrod has traditionally been utilized for pain relief, skin conditions, respiratory issues UTIs and more.
• Remove any spent early season plants like peas, fertilize the spot and then replant with beans or any other quick growing plants.
• Coop clean out if necessary. My girls are outside from dawn to dust so the coop is only used for sleeping and therefor never gets cleaned out through the summer months. However, since we have ducks living in there with them this year, I did do a mid summer bedding swap.
• Clean and refill hummingbird feeders frequently, I notice the homemade nectar goes cloudy and rancid quickly with the hot temperatures. Did you know hummingbirds remember where feeders are? They will return to the same spot year after year.
• If your tomatoes are ready, it's time to start picking & preserving them. My tomato plants did absolutely horrendously this year. I can count on 1 hand how many tomatoes my 7 plants gave me. I'm not sure what went wrong but this is the first year in many that they've been a complete flop! Bummer, I really wanted to make sauce this year.
• Plant cool season crops again, try lettuce, swiss chard, spinach, radishes etc.
• Ethically source or wild harvest Elderberries. Here in zone5b they are usually ready mid August. You want to make sure you get some and start to make herbal remedies quickly as things like fire cider, tinctures and infusions can take 4-6weeks and you want ample time before the hustle of summer catches up with our bodies in early fall. Dehydrate some for tea as well.
• Harvest the rest of the garden, squashes, potatoes, carrots and any other root veggies you have growing. Cure & store in a cold cellar or basement for the winter months.
• Continue picking any flower blooms for a continuous harvest eg, calendula. Infuse your calendula blooms in sweet almond oil or grapeseed oil for 4-6wks for a wonderful skin soothing remedy. Use as is, or make into a salve/balm.
• If the summer is getting away on you and you're struggling to keep up with your harvest/preserving - Freeze it. There is no shame in freezing it. Better it be in your freezer than the composter.

As the summer fades into fall I am reminded how quickly the growing season passes. I am exhausted yet longing for more time in the garden. I have spent this year deep in study around seasonal living and I can't help but wonder how others feel in different climates. In Canada we have very defined seasons, although lately they have been meshing into each other. None the less I feel the change deep within my soul even if the weather decides to hold on to to summer well into the fall. If you live somewhere with very hot temps, do you grow year round? Do you take a break during your rainy season? Do you still feel a shift when one season ends and another begins? I spoke on this in my previous blog about season living

Next up, October!!

~ K