Here they are upon us, the dog days of summer. The good news is that I haven't had to cut the lawn for weeks now and probably won't have to until Halloween. The long range forecast looks to be warm and dry, which is fine by me.
The forecast on the education front looks to be long and dry as well. With little time spent at the bargaining table between the two parties and the government insisting it is not going to legislate a settlement, it would appear that the Labour Day weekend could be extended indefinitely. Probably good news if you are a kid but likely a daunting situation if you are a parent.
It may be that the kids will have the full season of summer off.
From summer solstice to the fall equinox is quite the stretch.
I really enjoy the last month of summer. In September the flower
beds aren't quite as appealing as they were in June but if you have been growing food, September usually brings in the big yields.
I like the fact that I can walk around in my backyard and snack on things without going into the kitchen. Cherry tomatoes, peas and plums can keep me going for most of the day. Foraging in the day gives me a good excuse to go big time on the Weber later on.
The fantastic weather has been good for the crops growing in the Delta School District as well. On Wednesday "Project Pickle" harvested another 90 pounds of cucumbers and several pounds of bell peppers along with other goodies, including some softball-sized Russian red garlic.
As manager of Project Pickle, I will admit right now that I have felt obligated to test all the produce for quality assurance purposes and the answer is yum!
If you have been to Mario's Kitchen lately, you may have had a bowl of their Gazpacho soup. The restaurant has been supplied with some of the fantastic ingredients grow on the Delta School District farms.
Each farm is different. One common vegetable is the pickling cucumber, which has been harvested
over the past few weeks.
The vines are being replaced as we speak with seed for various greens, beets and other items.
Some farms still have spuds, others are growing corn and tomatoes. One farm has a bed dedicated to sage, Italian parsley and fantastic Thai basil. Another farm has supplied dill and coriander for the pickling process.
When the kids do eventually come back to school in the fall we will begin our "Green for Greens" program that sees the kids harvest greens, beets, various herbs and spices, and all kinds of other goodies.
They then prepare and package the produce and sell it to their parents and neighbours at parent teacher conferences. The money goes back in to the classroom to help pay for supplies and the food goes to the dinner table.
On the home front, September is a good time to peek over the fence or walk around a different neighbourhood to see what others are growing. There could be some trades in the offing. Speaking of which, anyone interested in a canoe-sized zucchini?
Second thought, I think I'll go trendy and cut in half to use as an organic paddle board.
