Posts Tagged ‘within easy reach’
Blackberry picking
On Monday we drove from our cabin down to the lake (on our newly-mowed road) and picked a bowl of wild blackberries. The brambles were brutal and we came away with several scratches between us. But we picked berries to the tremolo of the loon on the lake and will enjoy a ‘blackberry buckle’ later this week. Blackberry buckle is made by adding sugar and water to the berries and covering with spoonfuls of dumpling mix. The dumplings cook in the steam of the simmering berries.
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All my best,
Jane
How high can I climb?
Not that high. But I will have to figure out how to get those beans. I planted what I thought were yellow-wax beans on my deck. And they turned out to be yellow pole beans. I threw a couple of weighted strings into the maple and of course the beans climbed.
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All my best, Jane
New Maryland Fall Show – Jane’s books and paintings for sale!!!
Last year I tried selling my books and paintings at a local craft fair. I had so many ‘fears’. I wondered if I would sell anything. I wondered how it would feel, sitting there waiting for someone to be interested in my wares. I wondered if I would have any money when I went home (I saw so many things at the fair I wanted to buy)!
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I was pleasantly surprised. I sold both books and paintings. Sitting, watching the vendors and browsers, was very relaxing. And I loved meeting the other vendors and bought some items I still love!
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This Saturday November 4, 9AM – 2PM, I will be at the New Maryland Fall Show (held at the Faith Baptist Church, 525 New Maryland Highway, New Maryland, New Brunswick). I will be selling copies of my books and some of my paintings.
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my books:
‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2017) – my new book of poems about plants and animals living in and around some of the covered bridges in New Brunswick (if the book doesn’t arrive from the printers in time, I will be taking pre-orders)
‘within easy reach’ (Chapel Street Editions, 2016) – poems about wild edibles and other local foods
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three books in my science-fiction series (CreateSpace, 2017):
Meniscus: Crossing The Churn
Meniscus: South from Sintha
Meniscus: Winter by the Water-climb
some of my paintings:
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I am getting close to my 500th follower! If you leave a comment on this post (WordPress or Facebook), you will be entered into a draw for a free, postage-paid paperback copy of my new book ‘in the shelter of the covered bridge’! One entry per commenter per post.
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If you live in the New Maryland area of New Brunswick, I hope I will see you on Saturday November 3, 2017 at the New Maryland Fall Show!
at the Faith Baptist Church on the new Maryland Highway, 9 AM to 2 PM.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
green pepper soup from my deck garden
Since arthritis found me, I no longer keep a big garden. But for the last couple of years, I have experimented with deck gardening. This year I planted pepper and tomato plants in my Veg Trugs (mine are pop-up, foldable raised garden planters bought at Lee Valley Tools for about $70 each). They dry out quickly but otherwise are great and easy to manage. This year I have grown a nice crop of green peppers and tomatoes on my deck.
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This past weekend, I harvested my first little peppers.
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I sliced my peppers and made a nutritious soup for lunch. Ingredients: 2 peppers sliced, 1 yellow onion chopped, 1 clove garlic chopped, water, vegetable broth, gluten-free spaghetti, black pepper, basil, turmeric. Spicy but not salty. Delicious.
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Green bottles and blue berries
We have been spending time at our cabin.
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In the window, on our bench, the light flows through green bottles.
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Our paths are green tunnels.
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And in the fields and along the trails are blueberries.
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Lots to pick and eat.
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bitter blue
for Mom
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of all the silvery summer days we spent none so warm sun on granite boulders round blue berry field miles across hazy miles away from hearing anything but bees
and berries
plopping in the pail
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beside you I draped my lazy bones on bushes crushed berries and thick red leaves over moss dark animal trails nudged between rocks berries baking brown musk rising to meet blue heat
or the still fleet scent
of a waxy berry bell
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melting in my mouth crammed with fruit sometimes pulled from laden stems more often scooped from your pail full ripe blue pulp and the bitter shock of a hard green berry never ripe
or a shield bug
with frantic legs
and an edge to her shell
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From ‘within easy reach’, Chapel Street Editions, 2016
Previously published in The Amethyst Review 1 (2), Summer 1993
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
getting the better of … a squirrel?
At readings of my book within easy reach, I often include the poem ‘beaked hazelnuts’ and tell my audience:
If I don’t pick my hazelnuts by August 6, the squirrels will get there ahead of me. They watch the calendar!
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hazelnuts viewed from the underside of the shrub canopy
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The Beaked Hazelnut is a wiry shrub found in mixed woods. The edible nut is contained in a bristly, beaked husk. We have three clumps of the shrubs in our yard, probably sprung from the stashes of squirrels over the years!
For my battles with the squirrels over the hazelnuts, just have a look at
https://janetims.com/2011/08/07/competing-with-the-squirrels/
and
https://janetims.com/2011/08/18/competing-with-the-squirrels-2/
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This year, I also watched the calendar. And on August 5, I picked most of the hazelnuts on our hazelnut ‘trees’. Picking is tricky because those pods are covered with sticky sharp hairs that irritate thumb and fingers.
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Never-the-less, I have a small bowl of hazelnuts to call my own (I left a few for the squirrels, more than they ever did for me). Now I will wait for them to dry and then have a little feast!
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beaked hazelnuts
(Corylus cornuta Marsh.)
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hazelnuts hang
husks curve
translucent, lime
they ripen
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this year, they are mine
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uptight red squirrels agitate, on guard, we watch
the hazelnuts ripen, slow as cobwebs falling, nut pies
browning through the glass of the oven door
green berries losing yellow, making blue
dust motes in a crook of light
float, small hooked hairs
shine
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two more days
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hesitate
and red squirrels
bury their hazelnuts
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From within easy reach (Chapel Street Editions, 2016)
https://www.amazon.ca/Within-Easy-Reach-Jane-Spavold/dp/1988299004
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
Tendrils
My cucumber vines are still thriving …
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And the tendrils are still so charming!
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This one wants to pull up a chair!
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On Friday, I had my first cucumber salad from my vines!
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
review of ‘within easy reach’
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My book of poetry within easy reach (Chapel Street Editions, 2016) has been reviewed by James Deahl (Canadian Stories 20 (116): 66-67, August/September 2017).
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
wild strawberries to pick
In the field around our cabin, the wild strawberries are ready for picking. Red, sweet, delicious.
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‘wild strawberries’ Jane Tims 2016
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If you love picking berries, or eating those first dew-covered berries of summer, you will like my book of poems about gathering and eating wild local foods.
‘within easy reach’ is published by Chapel Street Editions in Woodstock, New Brunswick. The book is illustrated with my drawings and includes lots of information about each wild plant mentioned. The book is available here at Chapel Street Editions or here at Amazon.ca
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For another of my posts about wild strawberries, and a poem about picking wild strawberries, look here.
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Copyright 2017 Jane Tims
beekeeping
As we go for our drives around the country-side, we see beehives everywhere. Occasionally we see the beekeepers, covered in their protective clothing, tending to the hives.
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The hives make honey available to lovers of locally-produced sugar. They also ensure the pollination of our apple orchards and fields of blueberries.
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beekeeper
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bees smoke-drowsy rag smoulders swung slowly protected thick
in net and cotton wicking folds into beeswax candle flame
pours golden through panes in the honeycomb
streamers sweet circles sink into bread
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hollows of air
yeast-filled
and honey
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the bee stings
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but the beekeeper never flinches
flicks it from his fingers
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spit and mud
for a poultice
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Published as ‘beekeeper’, Canadian Stories 17 (95), February/March 2014
This poem is also part of the collection within easy reach, Chapel Street Editions, 2017
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to order within easy reach, contact Chapel Street Editions
or order at Amazon
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Copyright Jane Tims 2017
nichepoetryandprose 