Finished installing the trim on the new raised beds and Patty pulled out the rest of the tomatoes and peppers from the original 3, preparing them for the overwintering garlic and onions we will plant next week.  Afterwards we went for a ride in the UTV and you can see how much the ‘farm’ dog loved it.

Mom & Dad were down today, Dad started cutting the tall grass in the hay fields that never were harvested due to weather and timing.  Its actually quite a bit of grass, most of it surrounding the big pond.  Here he is on the tractor, you can see how much grass there is.

Today was also the day BZ Excavating started the repairs on the driveway and ditches.  Here is a shot of the main problem ditch after they reshaped it and put down a mat to hold the seed.

At the end of the day we all went to the Generals Quarters for dinner, which was excellent.  When we got home we started the first fire of the season in the fireplace.

On our walk right at sunset we caught this blue heron taking off from a log in the pond, wife took the photo at just the right time.

Patty arrived mid-afternoon and proceeded to harvest the remaining vegetables under the threat of a hard frost tonight.  I really didn’t think there was much left, boy was I wrong.  I was up at the house when Patty rolled in with the ATV chock full of peppers, tomatoes, lemon balm, and fennel.  Later on Patty sautéed the fennel which I thought tasted wonderful, although she had some misgivings that it was well past it’s prime.

I can confirm that the hot peppers are REALLY hot!

We originally planned and designed our raised bed garden to accommodate nine 4’x12′ raised planters.  We decided to only purchase three to start out just in case we came to the conclusion that gardening wasn’t our thing.  By July after our first harvests were coming in and we excitedly shared some of the bounty with family we both decided to go ahead and order the other six beds.  Life overtook us for the next two months; vacations, start of college, etc.  Well we’re finally getting around to it.  My Dad helped me with the forklift attachment and tractor to get the pallet from the barn down to the garden and I spent the day assembling the sides of four beds.  Next steps are to put on the trim, fill with garden soil and setup the irrigation system.  Excited to finish this and to see what the garden will be like next year.

Yes, you read that right, our ‘farm’ cats typically follow us when we go for walks.  

We love going on walks around the property, definitely one of our favorite activities whenever we can do it.  This particular morning we were able to go about 3.5 miles on the various paths, and hit less than half of the available trails.

Turnips are really coming up, not so sure about rye and clover.  Still a long time til rifle season, we’ll see…