New Little Old House

I like Minnesota’s seasons best when I embrace them and try to live in seasonal rhythms. Our fall has been long and beautiful; I’ve tried to take full advantage of it. I did many miles of hiking (much more than I did all summer), enjoyed one last bonfire with friends, cooked hearty comfort foods, and tried to appreciate the natural beginnings and ends of autumn. Fall also means putting away a lot of things for the season. I cleaned and packed all of my camping gear (though I do plan to try winter camping this year)…

… put away the garden …

… and cleaned up the yard.

But one thing hasn’t gotten done yet: the porch, of course. Our first snowfall came today, oddly late but still too early for me to finish my painting.

I am dead set on finishing this danged porch that I’ve been working on since July or so. If I wait until spring I have to look at my half-done project all winter and by spring acceptance will set in. I’ve got more determination now than I ever will again about this.

So as the first snow blew in this evening (literally inside the porch around our janky crooked old windows), I threw some long underwear under my paintin’ clothes and set out to finish the last coat of trim paint.

With space heaters going and the door to the living room open, the porch eventually got quite warm, definitely enough to let the paint dry properly. We have decided that we’ll leave the heaters out there all winter (they would just be in the garage otherwise). If we turn them on and curl up in a sleeping bag the porch will be a nice place to watch a pretty snowfall.

The painting is finally alllll done! It only took me, oh, two months. My paint job won’t win any awards for perfection by any means, but the porch is such a huge improvement over what it used to be. Tomorrow will be the final day of work. Sam is going to razor all of the paint off the windows (we purposely painted right onto the glass on the upper panes to add just a bit of sealing to the ancient frames) and then we’ll lay the carpet together. After that I definitely need to clean the windows and the metal frames the best I can and then just arrange the furniture. So excited.

Well, my hopes of a good long fall growing season (to make up for the late spring) may have been dashed by last night’s 36-degree low. Only in Minnesota would the temperature drop over 50 degrees in roughly the same number of hours.

I guess we’ll see how my tomatoes come out, but I’m optimistic. They were just starting to really grow a lot of fruit so it would be a pity to lose them now.

Also, can we take a moment to look at my crazy cucumber plant? The plant withered and started to grow yellow cucumbers so I figured it was done for the season. I let it be for a few days and lo and behold, it grew a perfectly green cuke! What’s the deal? My other cucumber plant is a different variety and it still churning ‘em out.

It may have taken until September, but I have finally harvested my first tomatoes, broccoli, and green pepper (probably the only bell pepper I’ll get this year).

I celebrated by tossing the fruits of my labor into one of my favorite dinners: stir-fry. I love sauteing vegetables because it’s fast, easy, healthful, flexible, and preserves the fresh flavors. Sometimes I make it Asian-style over rice, but in the summer I prefer a lighter Italian-seasoned version over pasta.

I photographed a rendition of this meal on vacation about a month ago when we were enjoying Sam’s bosses’ cabin. Accented with local WineHaven wine, fresh homemade bread (more about my bread-baking soon), and a beautiful lake view… dinner has never looked so good.

I can’t believe it’s August 22 and I haven’t harvested a single tomato! I have plenty of green ones, but not a hint of ripening. That’s too bad; tomatoes are my favorite.

In better news, my cucumbers (second attempt) have gone gangbusters. I might have to send them home with people at our party on Friday.

Everything else is coming in very slowly… it all looks green and lush, but isn’t yielding much. I’ve got two banana peppers (that’s it from six pepper plants) and a hint of broccoli developing. The peas have sprouted their last and the lettuce bolted long ago in the heat. Ah well, maybe next year will be more typical.

Just like the house, our yard was really neglected when Sam bought the place. The only good thing it had going for it was our enormous lilac bush on the front corner of the yard.

The other houses in our little matching row have extremely small yards, but we lucked out by having a double lot. We have alleys along both the back and side, so it’s not a super-private oasis. But we have a garage and huge driveway while still enjoying a lot of green space.

One of Sam’s first improvements was to pave the driveway. We’ve also put in a retaining wall, garden, and three trees. (Shout-out to the City Trees program for making that affordable). The bonfire pit has been moved and rebuilt, though our amateur concrete job hasn’t held up that well.

The little solar lights along the retaining wall were a great buy this spring: $15 and 5 minutes of installation added a really nice nighttime touch.

As time goes on and we discover how we use our yard, we’ve developed a better vision for the space. We want to build a patio so the grill and dining set have a home. We need to get around to mulching and planting the strip alongside the house. We’d also like to put up a small section of fencing along the front to make the yard feel a lot more private. The garden and new serviceberry bush/tree help with that along the alley side.

And we have a big makeover to do on the other side of the house: a gravel parking pad in back, drain tile along the side, and a rain garden in front. Right now it’s just an ugly weedy area, but we hope to complete the project this fall.

The garden is still far behind where it should be by this time, but it’s looking better. Blossoms are popping up here and there, especially on the peas:

The peppers look the deadest, but they are sporting some blossoms nonetheless. The broccoli is the only veggie variety still flowerless (but even it is looking healthier than it used to).

The garden has produced its first harvest! Sam and I split it Lady and the Tramp style.

Like most in Minnesota, my garden has been late this year. The only edible to come out of it so far this year is this one tiny strawberry and some lettuce. I might not get any more berries from my two container plants; the other berry that was coming along has disappeared. Must be a critter afoot. Once the berries are done for the season I plan to build a berry bed and transplant them so they can spread to their heart’s delight.

The rest of this summer’s garden consists of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, peas, and broccoli. The peas are the only thing even kind of thriving. It’s been a tough season so far.

We also have this nifty lettuce basket that grows a few different varieties. It frees up garden bed space, with the added bonus of being movable when the heat is too intense. I kept my herbs indoors this spring so I can enjoy them year-round; so far they’re not looking too great but I’ll keep trying.

I do not claim to be a gardening expert and my devotion is mild. Last year was my first garden in this yard; this year has brought some small improvements. I really like nurturing (edible) life, and I enjoy coming home from work and walking straight over to the garden to tinker around for a few minutes. It’s a soothing way to start the evening.