The changing light of these early mornings reminds me that my favorite season is on the wane although there is a full month before school starts (thanks to my daughter, school still marks time for me) and many more days of sweltering heat and humidity yet ahead of us. But I mourn the passing of long daylight hours although I recognize that melancholy lends a sense of sweetness to every moment. I savor the light, the heat – time. I take deeper breaths and almost taste the summer-scents of earth and grass and when the wind is right, the rich sea smell of the nearby Long Island Sound. I reassure myself that there are a good two months or more of paddling to be had and still a promise of harvest from the garden.
My tomatoes are disappointing – some creature – (I suspect the squirrels) has found every fruit before me, gnawing some, devouring others. The guilty rodent prefers the heirloom variety and we have yet to taste one. On the other hand, although I know it his favorite, the groundhog has ignored the patch of edamame and I see teeny little pods clustered in amongst the purple flowers. I have no complaint about the lettuce: just when I think we have had our final salad, I find more leaves hiding beneath the cucumber vines. I must remember to always, just keep looking.
It is the Squirrels, they also like hot peppers and eat them the same way here… hit n run…one bite. Besides the painful use of chicken wire that doesn’t seem to work, your plan to let them feast and hope for higher hanging fruit seems to be what worked for us until we planted the garden where the dogs run. Still, once the dogs are in for the evening, creatures have access and we have to deal with barking… But on the plus side, we have never had any better tasting veggies.