Fall is here

 Okay, I know I have been neglecting my blog for some time.  Well, fall is here at last.  Hectic, frantic, too hot summer is over.  It rained last night for the first time in almost 2 months.  I love this time of year for its fruitfullness, the rich colors of fall leaves and pumpkins, the way the light has changed as the sun gets lower in the sky.  So I thought I'd do a quick collage of what the farm looks like right now.  Above, purple peppers in the hoophouse.

 Joel's "field" of wheat ready to harvest.  He cut it yesterday before it could get rained on and it's in the hoophouse to stay dry until he can thresh it.  That's a year's supple of bread for us.

 The last of the flowers, here sunflowers, asters and an ornamental amaranth.  

 The colors of Mira and Coral Fountains amaranths are just what I mean by the fall colors that I love.

 Pumpkins sneak out of their patch and into the tomato patch.  The beds of pumpkins get so dense with foliage that you can't see if there is actually anything growing there.  You have to have faith. Then the plants start dying back as they get to the end of their lives and the pumpkins and squashes start to appear.  I love to poke around and see what the plants have grown.  Soon the plants will be all dead and we'll get out the wheelbarrow and haul the bounty into the house to store for winter.

 Every year we dedicate one of our 3 hoophouses as a drying shed.  Here it's full of onions, dried beans, wheat and a crop of kale seed.

Everything is calmer now.  I'm through with my Roche Harbor booth, the crowds of tourists in Friday Harbor are smaller, all the winter crops are either ready to harvest or in the ground.  We don't need to weed any more.  I can get back to the loom to start making things for Christmas sales.  I love this time of year.