Week 9 Back at Shady Maple Farm

We are all back from vacation and ready to harvest away!

A bumble bee working on a purple dahlia.

Cafe au Lait dahlia. They have so many different colors in their petals.

A cluster of Cafe au Lait.

A small pin cushion dahlia. So precise.

This dahlia's color matches its inner pollen area.

An orange cactus dahlia.

From yellow in the center of this dahlia to dark pink at the outside. This is one of my favorites.

A pale pink dahlia. Clear, refreshing colors.

"Bed Head." Appropriately named, don't you think?

Variegated petals make this one unique.

One of our raised beds with herbs in the middle. These flowers are all edible.

Another raised bed near the greenhouses.

Lisa's cart is full of white and yellow statice that dry well.

One of the multitude of zinnias we are growing this year.
A bright pink one.

A pale pink zinnia is starting to open.

A field that was covered in blackberries two years ago grows eggplant, melons, peppers, cauliflower, cabbage, beans and corn this year.

Watermelon loves it hot. We grown them on top of black plastic with drip irrigation underneath.

Beans are almost ready to pick.

Our first attempt at growing soy beans.

Carrots glowing in the morning sun.

Cauliflower peaking out of its protective leaves.

Cantaloupe doing well. Also grown on top of black plastic.

Savoy cabbage is starting to make heads.

Lisa filling her buckets with water. She harvests many, many flowers and gets them quickly into water and then into the shade. Later in the day she builds her bouquets.

Alex harvesting parsley.

Alison helping with today's harvest. She is cutting sage.

Figs, oh figs. They are so tender and delicious.

Rosa and Alison are working on the kale sorting puzzle.

The contents of today's harvest box.

This week's contents.

As usual, there are extras.

Emma in control of the lemonade stand. A few eggs also made their appearance! The chickens live on the other side of the building to the left.

These lilies are about 8 feet tall. Gorgeous.

A few of today's bouquets.

A nearly black sunflower with a light green bug crawling around on it.