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Thursday, October 1, 2009

Vegetables Galore


There was a hard frost overnight in our part of the world, and we awoke to a cold morning. Still, it was beautiful, the sun making all kinds of magic.

After spending most of yesterday shelving “new” used books and most of today ordering new new books--the usual bookseller's business, in other words--I took a different direction at five o’clock. Friends with a CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) membership who are on vacation in the Northwest gave our name as their pickup substitute this week, so in addition to all the beautiful tomatoes and chard from our own garden, we had the fun of driving south to the Cedar neighborhood for garden-fresh potatoes, onions, acorn squash, leeks, radishes, peppers, garlic, spinach, broccoli, lettuce and carrots. It’s always a pleasure visiting Jim and Judy Schwantes’ Sweeter Song farm. The tidy, verdant gardens and the tables loaded with earth’s bounty are a feast for the eyes, even though we always arrive so near the end of the pickup time that the tables are no longer overflowing.





Visiting the chickens is something I never miss. Like Amy March envying girls with nice noses, I sigh at the good fortune of women whose husbands are not bird-phobic--and then remind myself that those husbands are not artists, either. Count my blessings!


Today at Sweeter Song, an apple press was changing hands, adding interest to the general scene.


Sunflower harvest is nigh, the heavy, modest heads of seeds gracefully bent down.


All in all, it was a beautiful errand for the first day of October. Back to book-talk next time around.

And happy birthday, Ian! You knew I hadn't forgotten, didn't you?

1 comment:

Gerry said...

Oh this is all so lovely. How lucky you are to have CSA friends off on a trip just as the harvest reaches the peak of splendor! And an apple press . . . I want to find one, and a place to put it to use. I know where to obtain the apples . . .