prepping for birch deliveries

my neighborly dairy farmer friends were kind enough to rent me their plow rig. it's a fine machine and really does a nice job.
because of the rainy spring and summer, we were force to manage much of the sweet corn ground under wet conditions, which made for some soil compaction. this chisel plow does a nice job of breaking up that compacted soil.

the wind and rain sure can take the fun out of the pumpkin business. washing pumpkins in full rain gear layered over winter cloths is not too fun. still the loads are quite lovely and there are plenty of orders to fill this week

we've harvested a mountain of pumpkins, squash and gourds.
this gourd is the most amazing of all and it may take me a while to figure out how to capture photographically its incredibleness.
maybe you'll have to see it in person

12 plus hours to prep for the weekend markets.
I sure hope the sun shines upon us
Its all so ordinary, almost sad, when its gray
but when the sun comes out
even for a moment
spectacular

Rain can take some of the fun out of the pumpkin business. Its not just the sluggin around in the fields harvesting; its all the washing. If its dry, one can just brush off the pumpkins and its all good; now, because of the mud, everything needs a bath and scrubbing; everything, gourds, squash, pie pumpkins, jacks.
If the sun favors us this weekend, they will look spectacular.
There is still corn. Bicolor saturday; white on sunday.

pumpkin, gourd, corn bundle emergencies have popped up in a serious way this week.
this is the first load of the season.
there will still be sweet corn for a couple weeks; mostly at the weekend markets.