August 10th, 2008
the blues
This year, summer seems to be flowing by in the most disconcerting way. While out on my insect walk yesterday, I kept feeling twinges of impending autumn. Perhaps it was seeing so many late summer insects perched on the sea of goldenrod in the meadows. Maybe it was the dozens of juvenile leopard frogs frantically flinging themselves out of my path as I walked along the grassy trails. Or, it might well have been the slightly cooler, drier air that signals the beginning of the end. Whatever, it won’t be long before we turn the corner into autumn. The next few weeks are usually a good time for insect photography, so I’m hoping to spend quite a bit of time in the fields and woods capturing images.
In the meantime, the vegetable garden has been quietly doing its thing, turning out a steady stream of zucchinis, eggplants and other goodies. The fresh market stores are stocked with blueberries, so I’ve been baking pies and freezing pint-sized bags of berries for winter use. Peaches are next on the agenda. It’s a simple thing, but freezing fruit always seems like such an effective way of preserving a little essence of summer.
August 10th, 2008 at 5:44 am
The summer has raced past for me, too, Bev. It’s hard to believe that we’re past peak temperatures now, at least theoretically. My pretty pony time may have ended, or maybe it is that by and large the summer here has been relatively comfortable.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an eggplant flower. The color really predicts the fruit to come! We seem to be in a bad place for eggplant – the ones I’ve tried always succomb pre-flowering to flea beetles.
You’re now ahead of us in late summering. Our goldenrods haven’t started flowering yet. They do seem to be thinking about it though.
August 10th, 2008 at 7:35 am
The blueberry pie caught my attention just as quickly as the eggplant flower! The pie looks wonderful; I can just imagine a mid-winter taste of summer through that blueberry pie and some peach cobbler.
Summer here seems to be never-ending. Our string of 100+ degree days was broken briefly, but they’re back on track again, with forecasts for this week calling for 100+ every day. The insects are finding these temperatures to be absolutely unacceptable and are doing their very best to find any route they can to get inside where it’s air conditioned!
August 10th, 2008 at 10:32 am
I’ve just gotten my first eggplant of the year. I’m growing a long Asian varietey called Pingtung. What kind is yours. This summer has sped by way too quickly. I’ve been too busy, and much has gone undone. I love August because it always is such a bountiful time of year.
August 10th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
(hmm…I just wrote a couple of posts for next week on blues…)
Fall is in the air for sure. I think it is the shortening days are the first thing I notice as well as cooler nights. Your pie looks very yummy!
August 10th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I’ve got 30 lbs of blueberries to get in the freezer tonight! So nice to have that taste of summer in the middle of winter.
August 11th, 2008 at 8:05 am
I think these are blues I can live with! ;)
August 11th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Wayne – This summer seems a little odd. We’ve had abundant plant growth in the fields and some things seem to be delayed in flowering – almost as though they are enjoying the wetter weather and are procrastinating to mature, while other plants, such as the goldenrod, have grown tall and are developing huge flowertops. Meanwhile, the weather seems to be cooling off rather quickly this week. It will be interesting to see what happens from here.
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John – During hot, dry summers, I’ve found insect activity to be generally poor. I can’t really imagine what it must be like to live in a place with daytime temperatures that are steadily up above 100.
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Doug – My summer has gone by too quickly too. Usually, the first part seems long and like it will last forever. This year, no such luck. I’m hoping that August and September will be nice and will make up for the loss in the first part of summer. This is kind of terrible, but I can’t remember which variety of eggplants are in the garden this year – things are kind of mixed up this year. I do have some of the long Asian type, but the flower in the photo was on either a Dusky or Black Beauty plant.
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Ruth – Interesting about writing about blues right now. Around here, it seems to be that there are a lot of blue flowers – both wild and garden flowers, in bloom. I’ve been finding that the light and the dryness of the old field plants is what makes me feel like autumn is in the air. *sigh*
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Cicero – Ha! I hope you got those blueberries into the freezer. They sure do freeze nicely and make the nicest addition to muffins, waffles, and other creations throughout winter.
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Dave – I can live with these blues too! (-:
August 13th, 2008 at 9:53 pm
summer is flying by on fast wings here too Bev..signs of fall everywhere.. flocking birds, migrating monarchs and flora already going to seed..
and boy do i miss vegie gardens,, fried eggplant, yum! such lovely blooms..
i haven’t froze blueberries in ages..
ok, heading to kitchen now ;)