Hi there, Rural Sprout readers,  How was your week? It’s a rainy, stormy Sunday here in Pennsylvania, and we’re moving a little slow this morning. The
adult kiddos came down from Buffalo for a visit. We decided to do a small cookout, just the four of us, over at my sweeties. Then we capped off the evening by scaring the chickens.  We set
off fireworks in the backyard.  Nothing too big or obnoxious, just enough to keep us “Whooing!” and “Ahhhing!” for a couple of hours. I even did the neighborly thing and warned the neighbors of our plans. They smiled and sent me on my way with a “Knock yourselves
out.”  I think we did a pretty good job of it, too, as everyone was dead on their feet by 10:30.  We’re loading up on breakfast and then sending the kiddos back to New York, and I have a feeling it will be a leisurely Sunday.  That’s what I love about rainy weekends in the summer.  Any other weekend during the gardening season, I have a hard time justifying a quiet day indoors.
But when it’s raining cats and dogs out, clearly, it’s meant to be a day off from working in the garden.  As it always does, everything I worried would be too far behind has caught up, and the garden is in full swing. It’s been such a strange summer. I have to keep reminding myself how far into it we are. My daughter and I stopped at a farm stand Saturday morning, and there were peaches. My immediate thought was, isn’t it a bit early for
peaches?   But no, my daughter reminded me that it’s July.  And what a lovely July it’s turning out to be. We’ve been enjoying all the wild black raspberries that grow out at my sweetie’s place. They’re abundant this year and nice and sweet. I’m hoping to make a couple of jars of jam to tuck away in the pantry.  There’s something truly marvelous about summer jams in the winter.  I’ve been popping black raspberries in
my mouth as I wander around the yard this week and adding small handfuls to my morning yogurt. I am reminded of how much we have available to us all year long in grocery stores these days. There is no longer such a thing as seasonal produce.  And I think we’ve forgotten important lessons with this year-round selection.  Like what it is to wait. Or the feeling of longing for something seasonal. We’ve forgotten the delight of
savoring food we can only have for a few days out of the year. And this makes those few jars of jam preserved from the small bounty even more precious.  As gardeners, though, I think we’re fortunate. We’re still connected to our food. We still have a grasp on where it comes from, the work involved in growing it, and what we will yield with each part of the season.  We haven’t forgotten.  Â
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Did you miss a
newsletter or want to go back and read a few for inspiration - Click this link. Don't forget
to check out our Facebook page for daily updates.  That's all for this week, Rural Sprout Readers.
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Sincerely, Tracey Besemer Editor |
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