Slipping Into Fall

Cool, damp morning today; a hint of winter moisture in the air, after two or three days of 90F heat. Because it gets cool at night our 102-year-old house never got hotter than 74 for most of the day, and I was able to leave the air conditioner off. (Until this summer, we didn't have an air conditioner; between the hotter falls we've been having and the new baby, we thought it was time.)

Lettuce has sprouted! Two very tiny little plants -- and only two -- have sprouted in the horse trough salad garden. That's a 200% increase over the last crop, where none of the seeds sprouted before the heat of the composting topsoil and ants got 'em. There may be hope yet for the winter salad garden after all.

Broccoli is up two, much better growth, lots of plants, due to be thinned soon. Or rather moved. Some sections of the broccoli patch are bare, others have crammed in seedlings. (Shrugs) The seed was pretty evenly sown, and there is little difference that I can detect in the Broccoli patch sections that sprouted and those that didn't, but there you have it. So the crowed guys will get thinned, and if they survive it, transplanted to the bare spots.

We made a trip to Oak Glen yesterday, about which I will do a separate post; came back with four large bushels of apples for cider, though. Now I am scurrying to clean out the patio and clean up the cider press. We will probably press early next week, when Spencer is home.

Spencer is off at an Outdoor Ed camp, part of his 5th Grade science unit. Hope he enjoys it; I didn't have the heart to tell him that a lot of what they are going to talk about is eco-systems, composting, watersheds, recycling, map reading, tracking -- all those things we do around here or I am forever telling him about. I expect that the activities will be fun, however, and I know that at least some of it will seem new to 'em 'cause it won't be preached by Dad. (grin).