Harvest: FALL on the FARM

The walls are down and the fields are naked.

Seasonal change in a rural area is more than summer, winter spring and fall. It’s planting, growth and harvest. In April, littered stalks are swept clean and plowed earth provides a fresh black floor. It’s a blank canvas waiting for the coming crop. In May, a green fuzz hovers over the fields and soon the rows are easy to distinguish. “Knee high by the Fourth of July” is outdated. Now, it’s waist high or better. As summer progresses, green walls rise, I have to stop at intersections where for 9 months a year, I can see cars a ½ mile away. Green turns to brown in late August. In late September, the walls come down and the fields undress for their winter nap.


This year, we had a wet, cool spring. Planters got stuck in the mud and the crop was planted late. Consequently, harvest is several weeks behind. This morning when I left the house, my neighbors were in the field. When I’ll come home, it will be empty. I’ll be able to see headlights on a road 2 miles away.

FARM Life: the First Mouse of Fall

First thing in the morning, the pets go out. Fiona, Beth’s kitten, usually leads the pack. But earlier this week, I couldn’t find her. Sometimes, curious kittens get shut in closets, so I searched the house. Then I heard her stampeding through the living room. (For something so dainty, she can make a lot of noise.) She leaped the coffee table, then sat twitching and focused on the bottom of the sofa. A mouse.

My house was built in the late 1800s. Over 100 years of weather and wear will give anyone some imperfections. Yeah, it’s not as tight as modern construction. When the neighboring farmers harvest, we normally get a few mice. But it’s late August. Since they got into the fields late this year, harvest is 2, maybe 3 months away. This way is ahead of schedule. I suspect we’re in for an early fall and I have a list of projects to finish:

1. Edging to set.
2. Shrubs to plant.
3. Perennials to move.
4. A couple of small things to build.
5. A little painting.

It’s been a good gardening year, so I started more projects. I suspect I only have a few weeks to wrap them up.

Looking for a diet tip in here somewhere? Get interested in something besides food and what you’re not eating. Plant a garden. Start a blog. Redecorate your house. Join a book club. Volunteer. Learn a foreign language. Play an instrument. The point is, get a life. There's more to being happy than a full stomach.

Road Work at the FARM

Some days are complicated.

I live in the sticks. Tuesday, the township guy told my daughter they’d be working on the road starting at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday and we wouldn’t be able to drive on it for a few hours. She didn’t know what they were doing to the road, but a few hours means oil and chip to me – very messy on a light colored car. She thought they were starting at our end, so we took the time seriously.

She had an early morning interview, so we decided to get out before the work started. She persuaded me to take her out for breakfast.

I hate getting up early and I didn’t sleep well Tuesday night. Knowing I have to get up at an unusual time always seems to do that. 5:30 a.m. came before I was ready. When we left at 6:40 (I know -- 10 minutes late.), there was no sign of the road crew. It turns out that they started at the other end of the road.

Wednesday afternoon, all I wanted to do was nap.

This morning (Thursday) at 6:30 a.m., guess what? Now, the road guys are in front of our house making a racket. Toby, a furry coward, hid under the computer desk. By the time I left for work at 8, the road was perfectly drivable.

I got up at 5:30 a.m. yesterday for nothing. Like I said, some days are complicated. But I did have a nice (entirely too large) apple fritter at Spudo's.