Winter Squash and the Colors of Autumn

Who says you have to wait for the leaves to turn for amazing fall color? The chard is loving this weather, still warm but lots of water. You can make a wonderful pesto with chard. I usually remove the stems because the color is lost in the blending. But then cut them up and put them over whatever pasta dish you mixed the chard into. The pesto is the same as the recipe for basil but substitute chard to taste. Delicious and great for you.

You may want to save the chard for brazing since you also received yet another round of basil this week. So much for the heavy frost we were supposed to get. The basil and the tomatoes are still going...and going...and going! It's getting to the point I really look forward to frost so I can switch whole hog to the winter crops!

But carrots straddle the line. Summer, fall? Both! Another round of good looking carrots. These are just the 'seconds', which means they weren't passable for the shares this week. And these are the best looking 'seconds' I've ever had. We eat them here!

And now, announcing, winter squash! The first round of the last three weeks! You'll find buttercup and butternut (pictured below in that order). Buttercup is a steaming squash and Butternut is a baking squash. Enjoy!

You also received another round of potatoes. We went light this week because it's hard to bag everything in such a short amount of time. We just run out! More to come next week...and the week after!

And here I am washing potatoes in front of the kids and Emily. This is what happens when you ask Lizzie to smile for the camera...

Look at that hair. Good job Mommy!!!

You also will find another round of tomatoes. As you can see from the amount the plants have slowed down. Even though it's warm during the day it's down to 50's at night. That's a big sign for the tomato plants to call it a good year and be done. Brittany is ripping out several plants for the compost right now and soon we'll move the hoop houses over the winter crops. Another season, another round. Have a great weekend and see you at the Common Ground Fair. Be sure to visit the exhibition hall and check out our entries!

Quick post

Friday is our busiest day of the week, but since I have the camera hooked up anyway to upload photos for Ryan, I thought I would post a quick blog. Here is Martin grinning as he finishes up his supper. I took this a few minutes ago - Lizzie wanted to wear her fancy outfits as we went to Mom and Dad's church to help out at the Welcome Table.

We braided the bottom half of her head this morning.

Look at that pig!!

September so far

Happy September! What a busy month for us! This afternoon, we were able to spend some time with Grammy Phyllis. The kids were exhausted from an afternoon at the fair, but did a great job!

We spent much of this afternoon with Mimi and Timber at the fair. Both kids had a great time and are now fast asleep from the busy day.

We went through the petting zoo.

Lizzie went on ride after ride.

Martin spent most of the afternoon being passed between his grandparents, chewing whatever he can find (he seems to enjoy Timbers shirt!).

Mimi gives Martin his bottle while Lizzie is entertained by a magician.

We got to see many blue ribbons for Mimi and Timber's fair entries.

There were a lot of entries by area folks!

But only one Best in Show - congratulations Mimi for winning the purple ribbon in your category.

This ride was perfectly named.

Lizzie's only ride before today was on a merry go round, so she was excited to go again!

Last weekend we were able to get together with some other family for a lobster feed followed by apple cider making. This is a newer press than we have used before, but still muscle operated. The cider was tart, but all the kids loved it!

The apples came from a tree in a back field - mostly collected from the back of the truck (just like we used to do it when I was Lizzie's age).

One of the great things about having these cousins be so close in age is that when Maeve is just about done with something, Martin is just about ready for it. This Jumparoo is a perfect example! We never used one of these with Lizzie, but based on how much Martin likes it, I wish we had! Maeve is great at sharing.

I probably have 15 versions of this shot - it isn't as easy as it seems to get 3 young kids all looking in one direction at once without anyone crying! Martin was not in the mood to have his picture taken and has this expression in most of the shots I took.

Have I mentioned how much Lizzie loves swinging? Especially when she and Grampy play "over the Potomac" (a game they invented). You can see the pure joy in her face!

Martin has a great dimply smile. He is quick to flash his smile, but I can never seem to really capture it on camera. This is the moment right before he breaks into a big grin, though still pretty cute!

Martin loves his Lizzie, though I think her kiss caught him by surprise here.

Right before hurricane Irene a piece of the dam broke. As a result, the lake water has gone down significantly from the summer. They let the water out some every fall, but this caught us a bit by surprise as it was a few weeks ahead of schedule. We have been enjoying the water just the same and had a lot of fun with the rocks newly exposed by the lowering water levels.

Martin has really caught on to solid food these days. We are about to start him on potatoes soon! Also, this past weekend we went to watch the duck race and Lizzie's duck came in first! How fun!

Folk Festival

This past weekend was the folk festival. I didn't get very many pictures this year - we had our hands full with two kids and beignets this year. We met up with Bob, Laura and Rosa again this year for zydeco in the dance tent - what fun! Here is Martin enjoying the crowd.
Lizzie and Ryan waiting in line for food/

We also took a few "before" photos around the farm prior to Hurricane Irene.

I can't seem to post enough pictures of Lizzie holding Martin - any time she wants to hold him, I seem to want to take a picture. So sweet!

Martin had his first solid food tonight (rice cereal) and Lizzie learned how to whistle! A big day at our house!

August 16

Here is a mostly photo update for you (it took awhile to upload and the kids are calling, so not much text today). On Sunday and Monday Dad, Ryan and John moved the "little camp" (what was actually just "camp" for most of my life) from its original spot to one behind the parking area. It looks great in its new spot! It should make the view from the regular camp pretty spectacular at sunset. I like this first photo because it looks like John is doing most of the work by pushing.

It took most of the afternoon to get the camp over the rocks and facing the right direction. The rest of us spent the time in the camp cooking and came out periodically when it looked like there was something not to miss. Here are Kate and Martin watching from the porch.

Maeve enjoying the excitement from the exersaucer.

Griffy enjoyed the view from the living room (he makes himself right at home, doesn't he? Also, sporting a nice new haircut).

On Saturday we met up with Mimi, Timber and Aunt Angi to rake blueberries. We do this every year and it is amazing how grown up Lizzie is this year! You can see how she is a big help. We read Blueberries for Sal a few times to prepare her for the fun.

Mimi and Lizzie say hello.

Martin enjoys Timbers finger and Lizzie gets more hugs.

Lizzie asked to hold Martin the other day so I took the opportunity to take a few (or 50) photos of the two of them.

I love Martin's expression in these.

Another shot of Griffy to show off his Poodle "do".

We have been enjoying the playground in the garden these days.

The tomato and basil are growing strong in the greenhouse.

We have one chicken that lives in our turkey pen. She was the only one of about 25 to survive an animal attack and instead of keeping by herself, we put her with the turkeys as they were all about the same size at the time. Now the are growing at different rates, but get along great. Ryan is pretty sure she thinks she is a turkey and it might be hard for her to get along with the other chickens when the turkeys leave this fall. We will enjoy them for now!

Our grapes are really coming in this year - just starting to turn purple.

Last weekend we helped our friend Emily celebrate her birthday. They had a nice kids area setup and we all had a great time. Here Lizzie and Jonas are sliding down a soapy slip and slide while Nora is in the kiddie pool.

We received a fun package in the mail for the kids the other day - I love my little brother and I love my big sister outfits for the kids! So fun!