Harvest Season

Johnny managed to escape for a week during harvest season here. He took the train up to Traumhof to chauffeur grandson Ian to school and to gymnastics while Kevin and Jessica were in Idaho at the Regional Championship Dressage Show (horse show). They were vendors this time, demonstrating and selling Theraplates. Lots of horses at the show tried out a Theraplate... so did lots of people. It proved a great muscle relaxer at the show for hard-working equines and their equally hard-working humans.

When not chauffering, Johnny worked on projects at Traumhof like sweeping the moss off their roof and replacing a board in one of the barn wash racks. He also read, played games, and generally had a good time. He took few photos, but here is one he managed to get: Ian learning the back flip wearing a safety harness. The harness is "just in case". It doesn't come into play unless the instructor thinks Ian is about to flip himself off the trampoline. So far, that hasn't happened, thank goodness.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...  I was picking and canning tomatoes,

 freezing corn,

harvesting grapes,

 carrots,

Delicata squash...

and prune plums...

My garden produced many melons this year. At first they were sweet and delicious. But I left them in the garden too long apparently as they lost their flavor... and then turned rotten. I froze pieces of the best ones anyway for winter fruit salads.

One watermelon ripened on a single plant... that I did not plant. It was a volunteer that came up in the middle of the corn.

The flesh turned out to be yellow and I did plant yellow watermelons last year. Although I find the color a little off-putting  (watermelon should be red!), the flavor was very sweet and good.

Also during Johnny's week away, I participated in the North American Migration Count. Migration Count stories, four of them, are on my Birds blog. http://lindafink-birdnotes.blogspot.com/

Two days after Johnny came home, I left for the Oregon Birding Association annual meeting with field trips. That story appears on my Birds blog, too. While I was gone, Johnny worked on harvesting apples. The trees are loaded this year. The pig has been happily eating all the windfalls that I've gathered each day. Now the apples are turning sweeter and juicier and Johnny is saving them for apple cider.

 Also he picked, prepared and froze more of the prune plums while I was gone. 

He is still harvesting and so am I. Here is my harvest from my first day back home. (Corn for supper picked later.)

We will eat well this winter.