Fall on the Farm, Nov. harvest box

Fall over the garden. Looking southward from Drona's camera. Some beds are empty this time of year. The yellow tall feathery plants to the right of the empty raised bed are the asparagus dying down for the year.

The raised beds by the pick up place.

The entrance to our CSA area of Shady Maple Farm.

The exit driveway of our CSA area.

Our purple kale has been working hard since May. We pick from the bottom up throughout the season.

An Anna's hummingbird working the blooming basil inside the greenhouse.

Another view. You might be able to see a bit of bright fuchsia pink under his chin. The hummingbird and light have to be in just the right position for the bright pink to show up.

Cleaning onions inside the greenhouse. Trimming off dried up outer skins. Getting them ready for our extra November harvest box.

Cleaned cippolini onions. These store well.

Lisa cleaning large red onions. These are storage onions as well.

Clean winter squash store well in the greenhouse. These striped ones are the variety delicata.

Supergirl Louise riding her bike on this rainy day. Right now we are between showers.

Lisa and I have three cousins in the world.  Dede is our middle cousin and came to help us with our onion cleaning processes today. We showed her her first purple cauliflower. Can you tell she likes the color purple? And that she is a character???

Lisa dressed for the weather and sipping her favorite coffee blend. 

Late October: yellow grape foliage and red blueberry foliage.

Two rows of grapes. So pretty on this dreary, gray, rainy day.

These blueberries have many different colors of "fall" leaves. Bright red, lemon yellow, and even light green in the middle of the bushes.

Persimmons with raindrops. Not quite ripe. Notice the little bit of green on the shoulders?

This one is out in the light, a bit more orange than the previous photo.

Fuchsias peeking out the slats of the lathe house. They like the shade this house provides for them, especially in summer heat.

One of our "young" persimmon trees is so loaded with fruit it is propped up with a 2 x 4. 

Rose hips turning from green to pretty orange. They are high in Vitamin C.

Cafe Au Lait dahlias are large and beautiful. The one on the left is pinkish and the one on the left, more yellowish. They are on the same plant.

These are the same persimmons 3-4 weeks later. They have lost their leaves, but are still hanging on and ripening.

Grape leaves in November. A few still on their vines.

I'm out in our grapes making wreaths and the moon is coming up. Nice. This is a very peaceful activity.

Grapevine wreaths resting on the growing grapes while I twist more for the November harvest boxes. Each box received one of these wreaths.

The sun setting over the flower house.

We had a few purple cauliflower in early November. They don't mind cool weather.

Angie and Ethan are hanging their new chicken house sign that Anna's cousin Angie made for them.

A beautiful orange dahlia stretching for the thin sun today.

Mt. Hood peeking out over the pampas grass. Zinnias in the foreground are holding on in our November weather.

November 9th, persimmons still firmly attached to their branches. They are actually harvested by snipping the branch on both sides of the fruit using pruning shears. 

Hardy fuchsias blooming late this year. They survive the winters right where they are and don't have to be brought in for safe keeping.

Winter squash and pumpkins are all clean and drying out in the greenhouse.

November 13 the persimmons are picked, before a hard frost and ready for the extra harvest boxes in a couple days.

Angie and I dug, trimmed, and washed the leeks for the November harvest boxes. Mud was heavy on our boots.

A wheel barrow full of multi-colored carrots soaking off the mud.

Our November harvest box list.

Full boxes. 

Another view of the boxes.

Items that wouldn't fit in the boxes. Some are too big and heavy. Box holders pick the ones they want and carry them out.

It is very dark out by the end of pick up time. Today's contents which include aloe vera on the left and dried flowers on the right. Every item all season long, including today, has been grown right here on Shady Maple Farm.

See you next time on the blog.
Lorrie

Week 18 with tomato taste testing

The contents of today's harvest box. Each box receives one bouquet each week. We like to show case two to balance out the photos.

Some people bring their own cool containers to take their items home in. Isn't this a neat basket?

One of Lisa's gorgeous bouquets today.

Early in the day Leslie and Terry pick and wash the winter squash. Here are pie pumpkins, delicata squash, Red Kuri winter squash and butternut squash. Thanks ladies.

Carol and Dennis pick the short cherry tomatoes. Thanks guys!

Angie is out in the field picking peppers. Our trusty golf cart comes in very handy. 

A beautiful combination of cherry tomatoes. Carol and Dennis did a great job.

 

These are large carrots. Crunchy and sweet, too.

Every now and then there is a yellow or red carrot in this mix.

Quite the cart full of carrots.

The red ones are golden on the inside.

A collection of clear yellow sunflowers. Aren't the green centers stunning?

Our six types of small tomatoes are ready for the taste testing. Under the number that is under the plate is the name of the tomato. We like our people to fill out a very short questionnaire and then peek at the name after they rank them for taste. 

Here are 19 of our larger tomatoes cut up and whole in the green boxes for viewing pleasures. Again, under each plate is a number with the tomato name on the flip side. There are small slices of cheese on the platter at the far end to help tasters differentiate between different tomato nuances.

 

Table full of squash to select from and take home. Winter squash will store well under the right temperature and humidity.

Taste treats of cowboy candy and fig jam to go with cream cheese and crackers. Also pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting and jalapeno and sweet pepper poppers in the back. Yum.

An email was sent out so people would know about the tomato taste testing. These box holders are taking it seriously and snacking! They even filled out the short questionnaire. :) Thanks! There were a couple tomatoes that were tops on most lists. It is always good information for us.

Anna and her son have a giggle moment on this sunny late afternoon. He is standing up on a "log" stool to make him taller.

Today's list of items in the boxes. The quilted wall hanging above was made by Lisa, who is our resident flower wizard. Dad's Shady Maple Farm business cards and letter head from many years ago had 4 maple leaves on them. One for each of mom and dad's 4 kids.  Two boys and two girls. Lisa and I work here on our family farm for part of our "fun" times. We grew up on the farm after moving here in 1961.

See you next time on the blog.
Lorrie