Ten Little Pumpkins

Today was the first day of the pumpkin harvest 

for 2011.  I plucked and hauled home 10 little

engraved pumpkins.

As in past years, the gray/ green varieties are

the first to mature.

The engraved design- up close 

Harvest Blessings Pumpkin

                                            I am really liking how this pumpkin is looking---Gophers Stay Away!!!

Farming- It's always Something......

They say 'farming is not for wimps' and now I know why.

After many years of growing pumpkins I am starting 

to sing that country song,  It's Always Something.

  This year was no exception.  We started the

 season with seed that was not viable.  The worst 

varieties had 0% germination.  I ran around to all the 

hardware stores grabbing what seed I could find and

replanted the worst areas.  The germination problem

was followed by a massive invasion of beetles

 (not the British kind) that loved dining on the

young sprouts.  Some survived while others

 were reduced to little green stumps.  With

 cooler than normal temps, the remaining plants

sputtered along trying to gain some momentum and 

finally decided to try and bloom and set fruit even 

though it didn't feel like summer.  The end 

result: way fewer large sized pumpkins.  But 

the happy ending to this sad little pumpkin tale is

the small pumpkins and squash seem to be  doing

really well!  God always provides exactly what

I need and I look forward to the Harvest in just

a few weeks.

I Am Blessed

Last week was the fall Remnants of the Past antique
show and all I can say is
 "Wow!" and "Thank You!". We had a booth
where we sold our engraved pumpkins and
 we are overwhelmed by the number of
 people who fell in love with our pumpkins
and took one or two home. We are grateful
for every one of you!

I am so grateful for my husband Craig who spent two
weeks schlepping pumpkins from the field to the house
and then from the house to the barn. 

.

Thanks also to the sales team of Charlotte, Gray,
Emily and Craig who didn't turn and run
 when they were flooded with customers
 at 9 a.m.  And to all the friends who
helped along the way: Jerry, Betsy and
 Chris, Laurie, Judith Claire and Judy W.-
Thank You, Thank YOU , THANK YOU!

First Day of Harvest

Yesterday I was out in the pumpkin patch and noticed
some of the pumpkins were actually ready to harvest.
This is the fun part-seeing what happened after my
job is finished!

If you are not into chickens you will probably think this
odd ( if you are you'll totally get it), but I
think it is so cool that some of the green pumpkins
match the color of the eggs from my Americauna chickens.

Lovely in their greeniness!

It's Almost Pumpkin Season!

I have been spending a lot of time down on my knees in

the pumpkin patch. It is probably not a coincidence that

it is the same position as praying.

It has been a very strange growing season this
summer. All the crops have been later than usual and
the pumpkins are later as well. We are hoping they will
be ready by the beginning of October.

I have been known to try etching anything growing at
the farm, and this year is no exception. I think the
experiment on this tear-drop shaped squash
is going to be a grand success.
It is scarring beautifully!

Almost Missing Spring's Beauty

 

All the rainy weather combined with getting ready
for the Remnants of the Past Show put me into a
place where I almost missed the beauty of Spring
all around me. This week I have slowed down and
taken trips up the hill to check on the bluebird
box and down to the orchard to see what's
blooming. In my fuzzy blue robe of course.
The lupine that seeded itself by a scrawny
oak tree is so purpley pretty.

 

My snowball bush is finally starting to get
some size to it- love those bright green globes!

 

the ever-dependable climbing Iceberg

I think the author L.M. Montgomery (of Anne of
Green Gables fame) would call this cherry tree
"The Snow Queen"

The sprawling olallieberries already have green
fruit- maybe pies for Memorial Day?

The Golden Delicious apple is blooming down in
the orchard, lots of happy bees!

And in the corner, near the climbing Eden
rose, a wonderful surprise!

A nest full of sleepyheads...Shhh
i leave you with words of wisdom from
today's entry in 'Our Daily Bread'
"The many tasks we face each day
can burden and oppress,
But spending time with God each day
can bring relief from stress."
Sper