Yesterday was the first distribution day for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Above is what was in our box: a beautiful big head of romaine lettuce, a large bunch of spinach, a few garlic scapes, and the first of the peas.

CSAs are a great way to enjoy fresh, local, seasonal food directly from the farmer. “Shares” are purchased like a yearly subscription and each week throughout the growing season you receive a box of fresh produce. Each week the produce can change depending on what is being grown and ready for harvest that week. Think of it like a surprise package! Typically the boxes are small at the beginning of the season, but as summer gets into full swing your box may be overflowing.

This is the first year for our CSA; Bear Swamp Farm. Pedro is the farmer and he grows everything organically. This is turning out to be a challenging year for him with all the wet, rainy weather we’ve had. When I picked out my box yesterday and hefted that huge and beautiful head of romaine lettuce in my hand I looked at him and said “You grew this???” He grinned and proudly said “Yes, I did.” He told me how to use the garlic scapes (just use them as you would normal garlic) and we chatted a bit about how the peas were now going to take off with the warmer weather to come next week. He said to expect some different lettuces next week. How fun!

Our town of West Milford finally got its very own farmer’s market and last Wednesday was the first day. They had a really good turn-out and sold out of things very quickly. It’s a small market with not many vendors and some things were a bit pricey as farmer’s markets can tend to be. It’s not on the caliber of the Warwick market but at least it’s a start.

My favorite vendor, Pie-Eyed, had a big crowd in front of his booth. Mostly because he was cooking pizzas and giving away lots of free samples of their fresh mozzarella rolls, pizza, stuffed chicken dishes, etc. I bought a pizza which I think we’ll have tonight and a roll of fresh mozzarella stuffed with proscuitto and roasted red pepper. Okay, not exactly fresh farmer’s market produce, but fun.

Rick and I thought it would be fun to share what we get in our box each week and what we do with it. I made a caesar salad with the romaine last night and I’ll be passing that recipe on in another post. I think it will be fun to come up with different ways to use our weekly share of a farm! We haven’t decided yet whether Rick will write those posts over on his site, or if I will here on my blog, but if he ends up writing them I will add a link to his post.

Gray. Dark. Damp. Soggy. Dreary. Wet. Rainy.

All these words describe our current weather situation. It’s been this way for weeks. Maybe one day out of the week the sun will come out for a while just to prove it’s still there ... somewhere. I actually love rainy days, I really do, but this is bordering on ridiculous. It’s not warm. Temperatures are mostly in the 60’s with very high humidity, which on the east coast means downright damp. uck! The dogs lay around the house in a funk and so do I. Why bother cleaning when I can’t see the dirt? That’s my excuse anyway.

So far this month we’ve only had two days that our weather station didn’t register any rain. We’ve had over five inches of rain since the start of June. One inch of that came within 30 minutes during a thunderstorm on Monday. Just since midnight we’ve had over 1/2 inch. Enough already! Let summer begin! Sadly, when the calendar registers the start of summer on Sunday I don’t think the weather gods will take much note. We’re stuck in a rut.

And the pool? Please! Don’t let’s talk about it. All it’s good for right now is collecting water.

This much rain makes things grow. Or rot. Let’s look on the brighter side for now and take a look at some of the things that are managing to grow in this weather. Yesterday’s weather offered a clear window with a little bit of sun so I took my camera out to see what I could find before I mowed the grass.

These tiny, tiny purple flowers growing in the grass.

Clover against the white fence.

A silvery white moth hanging on a blade of grass.

An assortment of flowers.

And inevitably with this much moisture: mushrooms!

One left behind on top of a rock like a discarded, half-nibbled apple core.

An ugly one with a face. (Can you see the face? Kind of a like moaning ghost wearing a sombrero.)

A gelatinous cup with the sun shining through it.

More gelatinous style fungi. They have the texture of rubber.

A puffball. My book says these are edible, but any mushroom that goes poof! in a big ball of brown powder when you step on it after it dries I just can’t make myself eat.

I liked how the dew was still clinging to the stem of this one.

I do have a few tomatoes that have set but we need the sun!

Some of my flowers in pots around the pool that don’t have drainage are rotting away. Literally. I kid you not! I know I shouldn’t be complaining. At least I don’t need to water them by hand every day. Our well is certainly replenished. Everything is green. Oh wait ...  maybe it’s just mold.

I’ve been doing some of this:

more on the tea towels coming in another post ...

and this ...

an out of print book that I bought at a local church book sale.

I made this: (Blueberries and Cream Pie)

And Rick started some homemade limoncello to fortify us.

We’ll get through this damp patch, I know we will. Remind me later in the summer, will you, when I’m complaining about the hot & humid weather and having to run the air conditioning night and day? Today that seems like a pipe dream as I look out into the murky depths of the yard and watch the rain falling down.

5:56 a.m.
The dogs woke me first by jumping up on the bed. It was while laying there desperately trying to go back to sleep for just a tiny bit longer that I heard a noise from outside. A loud thump. Like a trash can being toppled over. Oh no; crap. That can only mean one thing. Should I get up to see? I get up, tweak open the curtains and peek out. Yup, just as I thought. Bear. I watch as it expertly pops off the lid and drags a bag into the yard. It lays down very much at home and begins eating its tasty breakfast of garbage. (I have to apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos. It was still pretty dark out.)

Rick and I both went out the front door clapping our hands and making shooing noises. The bear just looked at us as if to say “get lost!” Not moving. No way.

What to do? Rick got in the car and drove to the top of the driveway hoping that would scare it away but it only drug yet another bag to the edge of our neighbor’s woods and continued munching away. Rick opened and closed the car door a few times and the bear decided he’d had enough and moved on. He picked up the trash and put the lids back on. The bear was headed for our neighbor’s trash at the end of our cul-de-sac so Rick drove up to move it along so it didn’t get into more trouble. Kind of like herding a recalcitrant cow. Get along little doggy!

When I asked what it was that the bear had found so tasty, Rick said he had pulled out mostly vegetables, like the leavings of our coleslaw (cabbage, carrots) and not the trimmings from our pulled pork. We think it was the youngster (I am going to call him “Junior”) that camped out in the neighbor’s utility trailer over the winter. He’s a brazen one.

And that’s how our day today started out. How is your day going so far?

This photo looks almost like a watercolor painting (I’d like to think of it that way instead of calling it a blurry photo!) so I’m giving this piece of “artwork” a name.

Bear with Trash

P.S. They do sell bear-proof trash cans here but we’ve never had trouble. Maybe we need to think about purchasing one with Junior around ...

Yesterday evening I was on the phone with Rick when the neighbor’s dogs started barking. Then our dogs started barking their “mom, something is in the yard” bark and they were all gathered in the office, noses pointing to the front yard. Sure enough, there was a large black bear hanging out in the front yard next to a tree. It was a bigger bear than the other visitor we had. So, someone new. This could be the bear who visited in the dark the other night.

As I watched, look what popped out from behind the tree!

Awww ... such a tiny baby! I had about given up the idea that we were going to have any new bear babies this year as they usually make their appearance before now. It was rather dim outside, the day never really brightening back up since our morning thunderstorms, so it was not the best light for taking photos and the bears are always on the move.

There is nothing cuter than a new bear cub! Look how adorable!

Bears make such great mothers. They take great care with their offspring. Here is a sweet nose touch.

As they started across the road, another cub came scrambling down the tree and joined them. Twins! Don’t leave me behind!

Just as they crossed the road there was quick blur as a third cub dropped out of the tree and raced to catch up with the rest of the family. Triplets! I was thrilled. They entered the neighbor’s woods and visited them for a while. Pretty soon I looked out and saw momma just laying smack in the middle of the road. She looks pretty at home, don’t you think?

I am trying to identify this bear, and because of the placement of the ear tags and the patch of brown on her chest, I am making the assumption it’s Patches from last year.

She heard noises coming from the other neighbor’s yard and sat up to try and decide if it was a threat. She already knew I had my head and camera poking out of the upstairs window and had decided I was fine where I was.

Okay, kids. Quit your playing in the woods and let’s go! she says as she heads straight for my yard again.

And then they were gone, crossing over my front yard, then my driveway, and down into the woods headed for the brook. I hope she brings them back soon for another visit! Now you can see why I worry about leaving our basement door open all night!

Two thunderstorms with heavy rain rolled over us while we tried to sleep this morning. Why oh why does it wait until 3:00 a.m. to turn on the noisy water works? Just as I drifted back to sleep (or at least it seemed like it), the second one went over. It poured. It rumbled. It lit up the sky. It was still raining lightly when I got up. Then I went to look at the radar on the computer and saw a line of storms coming rapidly our way that were red and orange. Not good. I made sure Rick was up and taking his shower so he wouldn’t get stuck in the shower with lightning all around. I shut off the computer and waited. It was as dark as night. It did all of the above things again only with more thunder and lightning than the other two.

The first two storms put down 3/4 of an inch of rain. The third storm by itself put down 1/2 inch of rain in about 20 minutes. That’s a lot of rain folks! We’re going to have to let water out of the pool so the skimmers will work! I am getting used to thunderstorms in the morning hours, something you would never see in Colorado. It’s still raining out there with the occasional clap of thunder and flash of lightning, but it’s still really really dark. I can’t even see out the front windows because the screens are so wet. A very strange start to the day. Thank goodness I mowed the grass yesterday!

Here’s the map after it went over us.