The rewards......

 July 26, 2026

There is a big up-tick in the amount of produce coming in from the garden now that we are near the end of July. The beans are from the first sowing in June, zucchini, greens, cherry tomatoes, broccoli side shoots, young root vegetables, and soon cucumbers big enough to pick. Let the pickling begin! 

Cabbages are harvested, and a couple have gone from this,

to sauerkraut.

In their place, the soil has been loosened and a couple of pails of sieved compost added. This is hopefully where the winter supply of carrots will grow, and hopefully they will be the perfect size for root cellar storage much later in the fall when things cool down.

The white strips are a gel of corn starch and water, into which I mix the seeds, then put it into a piping bag. After sitting overnight, the mixture gets piped into rows, then more sieved compost nestles them in. The gel holds moisture and gives the seeds a boost. 

There are more Monarch butterflies around now, although I haven't succeeded in finding any eggs or larvae. They are loving the swamp milkweed I've established around the edge of the pond. Six or more Hummingbirds are visiting the feeders, and the flowers. They absolutely love the red Bee Balm. So does the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

The bird chorus in the bush is much diminished now. The Song Sparrows from the nest in the cedar tree have fledged, as have the Cat birds in the lilac bush. The young Catbirds hung around in the lilacs for quite a while, but have since dispersed. Here is one trying out the branch in front of Bird Cam. The young ones are much less sleek than the adult birds, looking kind of scruffy and unfinished. They also do a lot more "mewing".

The Frog Orchid blooms are opening up quite a bit. They are tiny, but so obviously an orchid. 

There is another orchid coming into bloom now. It occurs quite commonly along our trails wherever more sunlight penetrates, and even comes up in the gravel along the sides of the road. Research has shown that it is a Broadleaf Helleborine, an introduced plant from Europe.

I managed to get a not too bad close-up of a bloom.

The weather gods have blessed us with sufficient moisture so far this season, but if the rain in the forecast does not materialize, I'll be getting out the hoses to give everything a good soak, as it has been about a week since the last good rainfall. Temperatures have moderated to quite pleasant summer days, after the suffocating heat and humidity earlier in July. One can very comfortably leave all the doors and windows open, perfect timing for beginning to process produce for storage. 

A mystery no longer....

July 19, 2026

 The mystery plant from two posts ago.... 

has been identified as Dactylorhiza viridis, Long Bracted Green Orchid, or The Frog Orchid!!!

How appropriate, that a frog lover now has Frog Orchids growing in the front yard! 

Being a bit of a plant nerd, and being familiar with the seasonal stages of most of the plants around here, I knew this was one I'd not seen before.

Apparently it is not uncommon at all, and is found in Europe, and across North America. Here is the best close-up I was able to get of one of the blooms. 

When one hears the word 'orchid', one thinks of something absolutely beautiful and exotic, but there are many that are much less showy than the ones that get all the attention. Ontario is home to about 60 species of orchids, this being one of them.

The wildfire smoke plumes that have been making life horrible for lots of people, have waxed and waned over us, some days were really bad, and others have been clear, like today. Yesterday was a somewhat smokey one, and the afternoon brought thunderstorms and rain amounting to 22mm. Overnight the wind changed direction, so the smokey air has vanished. All the growing things are thriving and beautiful.  

This weekend is the annual Summer Madawaska Valley Studio Tour, so yesterday I picked up a friend and we went visiting local artisans in their home studios. The most interesting and enjoyable visit we made, was to Northern Viking Farm, where we spent some time watching demonstrations of carding and spinning, and visiting with the family and the Icelandic sheep.

In Wilno, we had our picnic lunch at the Polish Kashub Heritage Museum, https://www.wilno.org/museum.html timing it just right before the skies opened with the second deluge of the day.  

There is an absolutely astounding amount of information to digest here, and it would take hours and possibly days to absorb all of it. 

 

 

 

Enduring the heat, and preparing for winter...

July 14,  2026

This morning...  

The weird ball in the sky, a smoke obscured sun in a smoke hazed sky. The camera didn't capture how red the sun was.

We are under a heat and smoke warning. 

Every one of these hot mornings, we are up just as the grey dawn breaks, and off to check out the garden, me; and Hubby is off to the bush with chainsaw and trailer in tow. After splitting and piling all the wood we harvested in the winter, there was still a gap in the woodshed. After nine heating seasons of having sufficient stores of wood; last winter, with it's long cool spring, used up more wood than any other year since we've been here. There are some dying beech trees Hubby has scouted out, and this is the latest instalment to the wood yard, the gap they are to fill, once split, is on the right end of the woodshed. 

Giving all my garden plants a good deep soak once a week and a good layer of leaf, grass or straw mulch, has been the recipe for keeping things hydrated and growing in my gardens, even through these hot and humid days. 

Here is the last full head of broccoli from my eleven plants, and the first harvested Caraflex cabbage. The broccoli will continue to supply us with lots of side shoots.

The first cluster of cherry tomatoes are showing some colour!

Zucchinis are producing lovely little fruit. One of my favourite ways to cook them is sauteed just to 'tender-crisp', with garlic butter and a little salt.

The celery bed is doing well, sandwiched between carrots, beets and the pepper patch at the far end. Determinate tomatoes are in the next bed over. 

In the field garden, everyone is happy, squash and pumpkin are starting to crawl and climb, Glads are growing, indeterminate tomatoes are blooming, and so far....no potato bugs!

An early morning look over the 7 raised beds closest to the house. The dill in the foreground are volunteers in the onion bed, I thinned them drastically when they were small, but apparently not enough! They are co-existing with a full 4' X 8' bed of onions, my winter supply of cooking onions, plus some big sweet guys and some green onions.

I am hoping the dill will help to confuse the leek moths, which seem to be a new pest up here on the hill. Some of my garlic got hit, so plans are in the works for how to deal with that new threat next season. 

Presently the Grey catbird is serenading us with his eclectic repertoire from the lilac bush. The heat is increasing, although it has been quite delightful to spend some time out here on the verandah, with a nice morning breeze from the west keeping things bearable. 

 

Gardening, fishing and observing....

July 7, 2026

The last day of June gave us a good 5cm of rain, then the heat and humidity moved in for the first few days of July. Everything in the gardens grew like crazy. Just when the heat and humidity got almost unbearable, there was a bit of a cool down to comfortable temperatures and no humidity. We had a few days when the windows and doors could stay open, but today, things are heating up again. 

Everything garden-wise is doing well. Yesterday I harvested and processed over 4 pounds of broccoli, and in a couple of days, a few more heads will be ready to be cut. 

Peas are starting to fill out. We had a first taste last night, and soon we'll be inundated. 

Wild strawberries are fat and juicy this year. These were picked in just a few minutes. Absolutely delicious.

There is not much happening on the trail cameras. The usual deer, this doe and fawn at a salt block...

and Turkey vultures squabbling over the fish entrails put out after our fishing expedition. The Raven in the background is patiently waiting.

The Phoebes in the nest on the verandah have just fledged, so we no longer get scolded for using the verandah. The Catbirds are still ferrying food to their nest in the lilac bushes, and there is a Song Sparrow nesting in the east side cedar tree out front.

We are only now, beginning to see the odd Monarch butterfly around. Over the last few years, they have been arriving later and later.  

There are five mystery plants growing in the front yard, over along the bush edge. Their alternate leaves are longitudinally veined, and sure look 'orchid-like' to me. The bud spike on the most advanced one, has gone from drooped over, to vertical, and there are little buds all along it. 

Meanwhile, another outing on the beautiful Bonnechere, the clouds drifting along with us, and a couple of nice Pike, a Bass and a big Crappie in the cooler....