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Summer’s verdant flush
Share Summer at the Bench Ranch is like one of those time lapse movies showing a flower opening out of its bud and in short order, after a profuse display of color and scent, the bloom begins to fade and its overblown petals fall to the ground. All of a sudden it is over. The store room cupboard is proof though that summer really happened. The shelves are stacked with armies of shining mason jars full of colorful canned produce, pickles, jellies and preserves, all of which keep us fed and satisfied through the long Montana winter. This year the apple crop was outstanding and since the ranch has its own…
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Planting and Foraging In the Rain
ShareLast night we went to blissful sleep listening to the sound of soft rain pattering on the roof of our cabin. We had just finished planting out the seedlings, seeds and young plants into the ranch’s huge vegetable garden, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, zucchini, lettuce, cilantro, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, lettuce, kale, chard, bok choi, cabbage, peas, nasturtiums, sweet peas and sunflowers. Everything is mulched to protect the ground from the strong sun. The raspberry canes and rhubarb are leafing out, the strawberries are flowering and the apple, plum and lilac trees are all in full bloom, giving the air an exotic perfume. We are lucky that one…
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Snow Falling on Cinders
Share In Montana, April is a very good month to get to the burn pile. Last years accumulation of trimmed branches, dug up roots and broken fencing have dried in their stack through the summer heat, blustery dry fall and has just emerged from a glacial winter. We have had the gamut thrown at us this week of April. Three inches of snow followed by brilliant sunshine and mid sixties, during which Richard sustained his first sunburn of the year, thunderstorms, hail, wind, rain with sun, frost, and now it is snowing again. Large fluffy flakes fizzle into the red hot charcoal; all that is left of today’s bonfire. Bluebells,…
Bench Ranch
