Tomorrow, the boys and I will fly to New York to visit my mom. We’ll be away for two weeks, and Ali will be holding down the fort. Yesterday evening as we watered, I thought about how different the garden would be when I returned. The cicadas will be chanting, and the garden will be a summer garden. I will miss out on some of those transitional pleasures- the early tomatoes look a week away from ripening, and the peaches will get properly sweet and juicy while I’m gone. A gardener has no business leaving at the height of the growing season, I’ve been reminded, sternly.
This morning saw me pulling up bolted lettuce for the chickens and cutting down the peas (it feels like just yesterday that I put that trellis up for them) since Ali won’t pick them while I’m gone. I’d planted tomatoes and cucumbers under the trellis, and they’ve gotten a bit leggy waiting for their moment in the sun. We’ll see how they recover.
This evening I canned some peaches with a swig of brandy for a reminder of warmer days come winter. They weren’t very ripe, but I can’t face winter without my brandied peaches. And a neighbor brought over a great big sack of apricots because Ali had transported his goat in the back of the truck, so I cooked them and puréed them; I’ll make fruit leather with the purée when I get back, but for now it waits in the freezer.
Then I packed. This will be Kaya’s first long plane journey (it’s a 10 hour flight), and I fully expect the absolute worst, as is my custom. Baki is a marvelous traveler, so I’m not so worried about him. But Kaya? Well, let’s wait and see.