The intense Northern summer is passing so quickly, it’s shocking to realize it is getting close to the end of July already.
The East Arm Freighting barge hauling supplies came and went and the aerodrome fuel cache is now refilled for the winter. Trophy Lodge fishers and other tourists are daily out in their boats, hoping to catch the elusive grandfather fish.
Soon all the people heading to the Desnethche Spiritual Gathering will be passing through, a sure sign summer has almost passed. The days are shorter now, and the middle of the night is dusky, rather than bright. It won’t be long until we can see the Aurora again.
More than a few times over the past weeks the sound of loud rain and wind blowing through the open window has disturbed my night slumbers. There was a time there awhile back where I was completely sick of rain after living on the wet west coast for 30 years and the sounds of rain would trigger bad memories.
Nowadays the sound of rain is comforting to me, the clear memories of the forest fires of 2014 strong enough to drown out the others. Rain all night long brings happiness akin to the joy of when the Asian monsoon rains come to dry India and the thirsty earth is quenched. A cool wind during the day makes it all the better; the millions of mosquitoes don’t come out much when it is a cold windy summer day, a very welcome relief.
Giant blue-green Canadian Darner dragonflies hunt voraciously this time of year, a dozen at a time zooming around our heads. It was a bit heart breaking today as I watched the dragonflies hunting and killing the very bees we have been trying to save. I learned a few years ago to not wear my sparkly dragonfly earrings this time of year as the giants think they are real bugs and zoom in way too close checking them out
The greenhouse is a busy place this time of year and entry is at one’s own peril. Generally both doors are propped open so bugs and birds can pass through, but often there can be 7 or 8 dragonflies in there hunting. A sudden entry stirs them up to zoom around, eliciting screams from me, but thankfully they are warned off by my frantic hand-waving. But if I can remember to enter quietly, they respond in kind and stay calm, continuing their crunchy munching of my poor bees.
Getting the garden going this year was easy compared to other years, with all the garden beds already in place and filled with beautiful rich living soil ready to support all the plants I was about to plant. Kim at the Northern Farm Training Institute was very kind and sent me a big envelope of seeds. I started the yellow squash and zucchini indoors a month early, but I’m not sure that was good thing because they flowered before all the bees came out and I was too busy to pollinate them with a Q-tip, so now I am not sure if I will get any squash at all.
I water every week using my secret witch's potion fertilizer and by the time harvesting came, the radishes were almost golf ball sized. The nasturtium has side-plate sized leaves, but few flowers, so the witch’s potion evidently needs a bit more tweaking to produce better blooms.
Remarkably, some lettuce self-seeded from last summer and we have been enjoying salads of butter lettuce, rocket, radishes, dill, cilantro and basil for a couple weeks now. I came up with this fantastic easy salad dressing last year and it is all we use now. It is so delicious, there should be a warning sign on the bottle to not drink it! Salad fiends or those addicted to Orange Crush, beware!
Libby’s Zesty Orange salad dressing
- 1 orange, washed well
- 1 1/2 cups real mayonnaise
- 1-2 tablespoons Dijon mustard, smooth or coarse
- ½ cup liquid honey, more or less to taste
- 4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper
Zest the orange peel (no white pith) with a fine grater or chop very fine with a knife
Cut orange in half and squeeze all the juice and pulp into a bowl
In a large bowl whisk everything except orange juice until well blended
Whisk orange juice into mixture a few tablespoons at a time. I use all the juice but some like their dressing thicker, in which case add less juice. I used to slowly whisk in ½ cup of grapeseed oil, but I now think the orange juice is enough liquid.
Pour into a clean jar with lid. Lasts for a couple of weeks in the fridge. Shake well before using.
Also tastes great for coleslaw.