I keep a journal of what goes on each day and intend to write something about it each month, at the beginning of the month. A quick review of the last few blogs will show that I have been completely blowing that schedule. A quick review of my notes for June could be summarized “Work, Work, Work.” Actually that is not fair. There were lots of animals involved. Our cat had major (=expensive) veterinary crises, but survived in fine shape. We had visits from a bear, skunks, eagles, turkeys, deer and a 5 foot long gopher snake that was following a black racer snake. We had a couple of family reunion events, a smaller one in Curlew and a major one with people from around the country at a resort on the Skagit River just after my father’s 97th birthday. Cheryl and I have been selling wine and map books at the Northeast Washington Farmer’s Market every Wednesday and Saturday 9 to 1.
But the major event that lets me feel like I have time to write again is that we have completed construction of a high tunnel greenhouse. It was one of those absolutely, positively have-to-get-done projects namely because it cost several thousand dollars and we need to get that back on a contract with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. They pay for the materials and we provide the labor. After waiting 3 years for the project to be approved, we had to complete the work in one year, 2019. Neighbors Jeff Herman and Tom Saxon came over and helped me through some tough spots. Of course no sane person is going to plant a crop in a greenhouse in July, but with crops already starting to come in now, completing it during the Fall before Winter would have been a huge strain. So it will sit there. I will admire it from time to time, improve the soil and then protect it in the winter.
This is looking like a bountiful year for lots of crops. The grapes are looking very good. We just got through an intense run of cherries. Our neighbor gave us as much as we could pick of some very nice Van cherries. We had the biggest crops ever on our Royal Ann and pie cherry trees. So for a few days we were drying, freezing, making pies… if there was a hangup, it is the pitter. You just can’t trust it. Even after slicing the “pitted” cherries in half a few pits get away. But I digress.
Of course a push to finish any big project will put lots of smaller projects behind and as soon as you catch up with the big one, the smaller ones are piled up waiting for you. I started stacking 3 cords of wood this morning. washed bottles, tended to grape plants etc. before sitting down to write.
I’ve been reading some great books lately, which I don’t have time to write about and gathering material for some articles. Those will remain unwritten for now because I need to work, work, work.