Welcome to Rural October

  This field of pumpkins is so beautiful that many people are stopping to take pictures of it.

There are a few late blossoms that won't have time to turn into fruits, but they still add their own beauty.

I'm not sure of the variety of these, but many had this interesting star pattern on the blossom end.

Just a little reminder that the plant is a vine.

In other news: I edited, I worked on the trailer, I took the recycling to Manistee, and did some shopping- trash bags seem to be the local supply chain crisis here. 63 items on the Big List with 17 crossed off leaving 46 to go, and I'm down to 57 days.

See Farm Country in Fall

Winding Down

 
Fall seems to be winding down early this year. Both of the past two years I've thought we weren't going to get really nice colors here, but then at the last minute, the leaves brightened up and we had a week of glory. This year, I don't think we're going to get that. The rain and wind have already started bringing leaves down. I could be wrong- there are supposed to be several nice days in a row coming up. It's not even November yet. What happened to the wonderful clear October days we've come to expect?

Today, as I did my same-old 3-mile road loop, it seemed as if the best things were the substantial fruits that last through the winter. Pumpkins and squash.



The wild roses have set their hips. I never got around to figuring out exactly which rose this is. Not multi-flora, at least! I've tried rose hip tea a couple of times, but was unimpressed.



In other news: I did a bunch of bookkeeping and some miscellaneous tasks I need to do for people. Didn't finish that list. There's always tomorrow!

	See Smilin' in the Rain
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Smilin' In the Rain

 
Well, I'm not sure I was quite as happy as this wet spook, but the day turned out to be good in many ways.



The weather app said the rain would start in the evening, so I thought I'd get a little bit done on the trailer. A little bit is right! It started to rain right around noon, and I just barely got a tarp over the trailer before it began to pour.

Meanwhile, Nancy at the Shagway Arts Barn was looking for some extra help for the afternoon, so I decided I could get in a few of my volunteer hours (inside!).

Pumpkins in the rain.



Pins in the rain.



More smilin' in the rain.



Since it's supposed to pretty much rain all week, I'm thinking this will be one of the last fall color pictures, taken just before the rain.



And perhaps the most surprising color for October... blue. Morning glories in full glory, in the afternoon, in the rain.



And there you have my day, except for the accountability.

Accountability report:
Worked on the trailer a tiny bit.
Got volunteer hours in at Shagway.
Thanks to a quiet afternoon with hardly anything to distract me, Dead Mule Swamp Druggist is now done through Chapter 50. Word count: 66,500 to date.
I'm smilin' too.

	See Views While Biking
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Orange, Almost Round

 
It's a good month for things that are orange and almost round. And I'm a firm believer in the idea that three of anything makes a collection. These are all from the last week.







And the boxes in my house reflect a life dedicated to the idea that three of anything is a collection. I'm just trying to stay off Hoarders. I keep saying I'm three boxes away.

Work tonight. I'm feeling a low energy day tomorrow, but who knows?

	See Farm Country in Fall
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Ag Report 1- The Cucurbitas

 
I have been inspired by Stew at Seasons in the Valley to bring you a bit of a local agriculture report. I'm a farm kid at heart, you know.

There are lots of different crops here, and I'm getting ready to be gone to Duluth for a few days, but I'll bring you a few pictures today. And it will be the Curcubitas (squash and relatives).

The two I expected to find are setting fruit and beginning to ripen. Most commonly found around here are fields of pumpkins. Can you find the big green one hiding in the leaves? No orange yet- too early. There are still blossoms!



The other expected one looks like this.



Care to hazard a guess? These are closer to being ripe, but probably two months before they harvest them. It's butternut squash.



However, this one was a mystery to me. I called in the experts (namely Chuck of Secondary Roads) to find out what it was. I sure never saw anything that grows like that! Turns out, I have eaten it, though, compliments of Chuck and Sylvia, so he easily enlightened me.



This is orange zucchini. I would have thought this was a novelty vegetable (technically, squash is a fruit), but here is a HUGE field of it. The tractors and crates were circled at the edges, so they are getting ready to harvest. It sort of looks like it will be harvested by hand. Not sure, but there were carts like people ride to pick asparagus.

Anyway, it sure grows funny! And the leaves are awesome. I stole two. Shhh. They were right on the edge of the field, broken off a plant. One was very small and one was half rotten, so I don't think they'll be missed. They are being transformed into bread as I type. (And it made good bread- I just had a piece)



They don't really taste as good as regular zucchini, so I have to wonder where all this orange bounty is headed.

Me, I have to hit the road in the morning. As early as I can. Well, this is me. It won't be THAT early!

	See Creepy Crawlies? for butternut squash See Farm Country in Fall for the pumpkin harvest
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