Ollalieberries and apple pie

Every once in awhile we catch a huge break here at the Hot Flash Homestead, and in summer that means that for just a few days it's not so hot after all. I hate heat.  This is because, in general I do walk through life creating my own "personal summer," just by virtue of being a middle aged female. That notwithstanding, this morning we experienced the marine layer coming back in and cooling our outside weather, creeping in like summer fog does and cooling everything off nicely. And so the work began on the ollalieberries.  

The berry crop itself was a bust this year due to a number of factors -- heat being the biggest -- but thanks to some perfectly timed fertilization, next year's canes are growing like gangbusters.  Yet extremely long, wraparound canes is not what you want, because while some of the fruit develops on them, most grows on the side branches that emerge from the canes, with proper pruning.  And the side branches only sprout if you prune the canes before they become too stringy.  So that's what this foggy, cool morning was about. We've got a long ways to go, we'll continue fertilizing through the summer and get everything to where it's on the first wire -- the top trellis wire -- so that next spring there won't be much bending over to gather in the berries.

And speaking of fruits of the season, this last weekend I made an apple pie from my picked apples, which I preserved last November.  There were a few city types at the July 4th party I went to, and they were amazed that I preserved my own apples and made my own pie crust. It reminded me that although the homesteading lifestyle has become more popular in recent years, its by no means common.

Here's to being uncommon.  Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend.

In The Cloud

Last night the weather guy was warning of a strong on-shore flow and marine layer making its way in from the beach, and he wasn't kidding.  This morning we were wrapped in fog that smelled like the sea.  It was heavenly.  

Our homestead sits at about 1500 feet, which means that our "fog" is really just low clouds to those who live down in town, which is about 15 miles away and sitting at a much lower elevation.  But in our neck of the woods, the clouds hug the hills and fill up the canyons, making everything damp and very quiet.

The marine layer also helps winemakers in the region grow some of the more temperamental grapes, like Pinot Noir.  Some grapes, like Mouvedre for example, don't mind the heat, but for others (like Pinot), without the coastal cooling, their flavor would never fully develop.  Indeed, the marine layer seems to help everything grow by giving it several hours of damp, cool weather, which often juxtaposes days which can be quite warm, even at this time of year (the daytime high yesterday was 78 degrees).  I'm sure my new ollalieberry, raspberry, blueberry and and boysenberry bushes are happy with the cooling dampness as well this morning.  I know I am.