In a word: wet. It has been the wettest summer anyone can remember. The subsequent posts seem to show that we had a lot of sunshine, but that is because we watched the forecast and went on expeditions on the few fine days. Now, nearly in mid September, we are still waiting for summer at Ginty Creek.
I have published the next four posts in reverse so that they can be read in the correct order. Firstly thanks to all of you who wrote wondering if I was OK. I didn’t have time to post as I was simply too busy. Here follows an account of life at Ginty Creek in August.
Even at the end of July, the leaves were showing a yellowish tinge. This cannot have been because of drought so who knows why they are turning early.The roadsides went brown early, too, but this is mainly because of the copiously flowering grasses.One benefit of this extremely wet summer, is that I have hardly needed to water the garden. All the leafy greens grew huge. I wanted to dry kale, but I had to wait for a long time before we got enough sun to do it.Volunteer Sanjey is spreading out the kale after it has been blanched. He also helped me pick the huge crop of soopolallie berries we had this year. They are now in my freezer.
The driveway flowers peaked.And Gentianella amarella bloomed among the grasses.I picked the first carrots and salad turnips.
The purple kohl rabi looked gorgeous.A few days before Sanjey was due to leave, I made a quick (rainy) trip to Williams Lake to pick up Tom, a volunteer from England. On his first day, he and Sanjey shovelled gravel into the truck,and, in the pouring rain, filled some of the potholes in the road.We had another deluge. Huge washouts appeared in the road.And my house appeared at the end of the rainbow.We had a number of rainbow days. Here is my neighbour Jade’s picture of one.Sanjey got a ride to town with Jade. He was going to bus to Vancouver then fly to Whitehorse. Tom and I snatched a fine afternoon to get my chimney swept.Tom decided the best way to keep his shirt clean was to take it off.
I made another “quick” trip to Williams Lake, and picked up Alexa from Australia. We processed another batch of kale. I now have enough dried for the winter.All the peas ripened at once, so now most of them are in the freezer.The rain dogged everything we did. The farmer’s market was wet.A musical evening at Tatlayoko was wet. One event, at Tatla, was briefly graced by a stunning light display.And now, on the rare occasions that the clouds clear off the mountains, fresh snow dusts the peaks.The following posts show what we managed to fit in between the rain storms. It was amazing that we were able to find enough good weather.
You seem to get such wonderful helpers. I’m lucky here on the south coast to let my kale stay on the plants and pick it fresh all winter long. It also gets me started in the spring when the other plants are just starting to grow. The chard is the same way. I dig my potatoes, but can leave the beets and carrots in the ground mounded with extra soil. – Margy
Margy recently posted…Concord Grape and Plum Jam