Early Summer

A distant cousin is visiting from Denmark. What a joy it has been to share with him the beauty of the island and the surrounding areas. It's like seeing everything again for the first time. Yesterday we hiked to the top of St. Sauveur Mountain in Acadia National Park. It's an easy hike. It begins in the woods and it doesn't take long for the trees to begin to thin and to get the feeling that you're walking above their canopies. The summit itself is disappointing. It isn't wide open and rocky the way you would imagine a mountain top to be. Instead it's a rounded area surrounded by short trees and shrubs. But, you don't climb this small mountain for the joy of the summit: you climb it for the views just a few meters away. Stepping out from the trees and shrubs you find yourself above looking down upon Somes Sound and Southwest Harbor. Boats zigzag across the water below and in the distance you can see the Cranberry Isles, Isle Au Haut, Swan's Island, Frenchboro and the Duck Islands. Yesterday was a perfect day for this hike with the sun bright and shiny and the sky crystal blue.

This summer has been a dream. Last year at this time we were about two weeks into a six week run of fog and drizzle. This year it's completely opposite. Nearly every day we wake to clear blue skies, bright sunshine and soft warm breezes. On the days it's not sunny and warm, it rains just the right amount to water the gardens. I'm waiting for the moment when I wake up and find myself confronted with a real Maine island summer (read fog, lots of fog), but for now I'm enjoying every little bit of this fantasy summer!

With this delightful mix of sun, warmth and rain, the garden is growing and growing. With the exception of a major slug and snail infestation that I'm battling right now, the garden is in good shape.


The peas are up and growing. It took three plantings before they grew faster than the slugs could eat them, but now they'll make it. One lone survivor from the first planting is producing sweet, snappy peas right now. I'm enjoying them one by one. The flowers are just just beginning to bloom and just today I picked the garlic scapes from over 80 garlic plants. I made some of them into a spicey pesto for lunch and more are waiting to be cooked over the next week. My first crop of beets and scallions are growing beautifully, and the second crop of both are just poking their first leaves up today.


I'm going away for a course next week. I hope that the garden is still in decent shape when I get back! Keep your fingers crossed for just the right amount of rain and sun.

Just in case you're wondering, we're just finishing up the 105th piece of the frame. Jason is up to his elbows in boat work, but that should be slowing down just as I'm getting back from my course. Then we're cutting, cutting, cutting until we're ready to raise. The end is in sight!