Summer In Full Bloom

Sun Gold on the patio

I should begin by saying that we haven't tried the beer yet. We've actually had some calls from friends who want to know about the final product. Anyway, we've heard from very good authority that our beer experience will be much happier if we wait at least two, maybe three, weeks. So, when we do finally open it up, we'll let you-all know how it goes. All you Durham folks, come over next weekend and have a drink with us!

Summer has been in full bloom over the last week. Sarah and I are finding that our tomatoes on the patio have finally started to produce really well. We're also having a great time growing peppers. Next year, I think I'll be planting more peppers and fewer beans. The beans are good, but there just seems to be a lot more you can do with peppers.

Granny Cantrell on the patio

The honey patch garden is coming along in similar fashion. Although there's a lot more variety at the honey patch. Eventually there will be okra and watermelons there. Actually, the best recent development at the honey patch wasn't the result of anything we planted. We have discovered some wild blackberries growing not too far from the garden. On Sunday, we picked all that we could without getting stuck with thorns. We intended to make blackberry cobbler. I even found a recipe for "blackberry cobbler." However, the final product turned out to be something more like blackberry bun things. Nevertheless, the blackberry bun things were taaaaasty.

Sun gold on the patio

Wild blackberry bun things

Nasturtium at the honey patch

Watermelon at the honey patch

Sweet peppers on the patio

Wannabe Brewers?

Old bottles from Germany

On Sunday, Sarah and I finally tried our hand at beer brewing. Last year, Sarah's dad gave us his old supplies and these bottles he brought back from Germany over 25 years ago. It will be a few days before the beer is finished, but we'll let you know how it turns out. Or, you could just come over and have some with us!

If there are any other brewers out there, we'd love to start collecting tips from you. This being our first time, we have lots to learn about the process. Our focus was actually just on getting the sanitation process right. We want to make sure that we don't have any unwanted guests growing in our beer.

Cleaning out the bottles with a bleach solution

Cleaning our tools

The brewing

The fermenting

Just Photos

We've been taking lots of pictures for the last two weeks. I had individual posts in mind for some of them but due to lack of time and the fact that pictures are likely more fun than anything I could right, this post is just a photo dump from the last two weeks. Enjoy!

Lunch on East Campus

Lunch on East Campus.

Mortgage Lifter

Sun Gold

Afternoon at Eno

This is the Honey Patch. Sarah manages it for Duke Gardens.

Kora has started to think she's a water dog. She likes chasing sticks in the water at Eno.

Not Really Beating the Heat

Both of us and the plants are trying to make it through the heat. As I'm sure you're experiencing, it takes all of your energy and leaves you searching for a place to sit down for a while. I blame our lack of posting on the heat.

The heat also seems to have caused our plants production to happen with lightning speed. The beans and tomatoes are really looking like they've seen better days. I guess this is why we're wannabe farmers and not the real thing at this point.

Creative Pondering

Dear Friends,

Yet again it has been too long since I last wrote to you.  My apologies.  More and more I realize that grad school is a black hole.  There was a couple of months there where I didn't have any contact with the outside world beyond Durham.  At the end of these two months (i.e. finals time) I came out of the computer lab and discovered again the sky.  It is an amazing thing when you reacquaint yourself with the sky after a long absence... like old friends meeting in a coffee shop.  James and I decided to do something fun tonight.  He was going to post these pictures, and challenged me to write a post with them that tied everything together.  So here it goes...

As Memorial Day approaches, so approaches everything that is summer.  And for those of ya'll who live in the Southeast, you know the sweetest times of summer are in the early morning and late afternoon... after the threat of heat stroke and sunburn have passed with the rising and setting of the sun.  James has done an amazing job with the garden on our patio.  I keep telling him he has a "green thumb," although he denies it.  But look at these nastursium and these tomatoes in the brilliant light of a summer sunrise.  See you're convinced now too!  He does have a green thumb!

Nastursium in the Sun

 You know all that stuff I said about rediscovering the sky after months in a black hole... well this is an example of the type of sky views I am rediscovering.

Poplar and Sky

Now this one seems a little bizzare.  If only we could have a bee hive at our apartment, that would be amazing!  And chickens too... that would be fabulous.  But no, these are not our bees, these are the bees that were installed at the Honey Patch Garden that I oversee with my graduate student club, Farmhand.

Bees in Transport

Me and my Dear Sally

Tomatoes at Sunrise

And now for a sadder tale.  Yesterday I departed from my dear Sally.  As many of you know Sally is my car; she has been my independence and freedom on wheels for the past 9 years, and yesterday I had to let her go.  I'm not going to lie, I cried.  I am happy, however, to know she will be with another owner and continue to live out her life on the road.  I sold her for cheap, and I wanted to sell her for so much more.  In the process of selling her, I felt like I wanted to play one of those reels from the Mastercard commercials, and really prove to the sketchy car dealer that she was worth so much more.  Alas, to him she was just a car, but to me she will always be my Sally.

And with that, I think I have told you everything there is to tell with these pictures.  Hopefully, the updates will be more frequent this summer, now that I'm not in my black hole anymore.  I will try my best!

As for now, adieu and good night.  May the morning bring you the fulfillment of life in the simple things like dewdrops on tomato leaves refrecting sunlight at dawn.  And may you have peace and love surround you wherever you go.

-Sarah and James

Garden Update: Second Edition

The garden is doing pretty well, but the battle against aphids has started. Right now we're using soapy water and working on attracting more ladybugs. But, overall, things are looking good. We've harvested lettuce each of the last three weeks. Hopefully in less than a month we'll have tomatoes, beans and peppers.

Tomatoes

Bush Beans

Lots of stuff here... basil, summer savory, marigolds, nasturtium, and sweet peppers

Sun Gold Tomatoe

Sweet genovese basil

Life After Classes

It feels like Sarah and I have both had more time since she finished classes for the semester. We've walked at Eno more often, went to a Bulls game, started harvesting from the garden, and found a little garden hunter to help with the bugs.

Spring walk at Eno

Durham Bulls game

Can you find the Praying Mantis?