The summer of 2018 looks good for blueberry picking!
The bushes are loaded with green berries that will quickly turn into summer fun. They still need to go through their pink and purple stages though. Blueberries are ripe when they are a very dark bluish purple that looks almost black. Mother Nature determines how quickly or how slowly they develop, so we can only guess when they will be ready. The consensus is that the berries will be ripe after Memorial Day. Rest assured that we will keep you posted as berry season gets closer, and we can better predict when they will be ready for you. A good rule of thumb is to consider the entire month of June as “blueberry month.” But it can extend a week into July or a week into May.
The blackberries are just setting their fruit, but they should be ready about the same time as the blueberries.
Spring is passing by quickly with so much to do. We have multiple projects going along with the usual pieces of machinery that seem to continually need fixed. The neighbor, Ron, who did the garden out front last year is not able to work it this year. One of the basic permaculture principles is to plant your garden within a few steps of your kitchen door. So, at 78 he is reducing his steps and is gardening at his own home.
We’ve also redone our sign… again. I know it looks the same as before, but that’s good. When we took it down a few months ago, the sun had bleached it and made it unreadable. I’ve coated it with several coats of UV resistant varnish this time, so we’ll see how long it lasts. We took this photo just after we put it back up, which was the day before yesterday. That was a long project, so I’m glad to finally check it off my list.
We haven’t posted much since summertime, but we’ve been busy – planning a wedding! Back in mid summer, our son and his bride-to-be asked to get married at our farm below the blueberry terraces. Of course, we said yes, and it has been tremendous fun working to get ready ever since. We hosted the actual ceremony, the reception was at a nearby hall facility, so there was much less stress than you are probably imagining.
We watched the weather and rain was in the forecast. Notifications went out that it may rain and to dress accordingly because this was an outdoor ceremony. The chairs were to be kept on a small trailer in the barn to stay dry until the very last moment. We knew that the violinist absolutely could not be in the rain. When she came by on the rehearsal night to discuss the music, she suggested that she could play from a nearby porch which is on our barn and be protected from the rain. How wonderful is that? She even had a high quality amp she was willing to bring since she would be a little further away from the ceremony.
Yes, it rained, but this was a really great wedding, relaxed and fun, and it is likely to be remembered as being totally perfect.
Have you ever been called “Honey”? It is a term of endearment that is similar to “darling”, “sugar” or “sweetie” and is quite common. Often, in the South, its coupled with another word like “honey-child”, or “honey-honey!” which is used more as an exclamation rather than a name. I’ve heard it combined with other nouns to enhance their meaning like with fishing. If you have a fishing hole, it is just a place to fish, but if you have a fishing “honey-hole” that is where you catch a lot of fish. It is in song titles and lyrics such as “sugar pie, honey bunch” – an extended term of endearment, presumably loved more than if you just called them “shug”.
How many? Two.
