Toward Equinox

It is that special time of the evening when I watch the shadows move across the field and feel the southwest breeze pick up. On that breeze is carried the bleats of Allen Whiting’s sheep. Somewhere south of here Ophelia is spinning her clouds and swelling our surf, but now all is bright blue and nearly summer like. The equinox arrives soon and here it will be 6:32 AM and PM.

I harvested some potatoes for dinner last night, and this morning pulled a full 3 cups of basil leaves from the garden for fresh pesto. I was cheered in the garden this morning by the sound of a bee working diligently on what few blooms she could find. I have to hand it to this one zucchini plant of mine that is still producing. Somehow it dodged the squash vine borer attack that laid the others low. I’m happy just to see it blooming still each morning.

Then there are the yard long asparagus beans. They are so named because they have the faint flavor of asparagus. And despite their potential for yard long growth, 12 inches is when they are most tender.

By the time I departed the garden this morning, I had a nice little harvest of squash, a fresh cucumber, eggplants and a few ripening tomatoes.



I have been drying my beans and will soon put them up in glass jars. The red ones are Vermont Cranberry Beans (many of which I ate as shell beans earlier) and the speckled ones are Rattlesnake pole beans. I’m not sure the beans are a good use of garden space. After all, what is cheaper in the store than a bag of dried beans?