My little cat w/ the biggest heart in the world! Thanks for being my friend and companion for almost 18 years.
You’re now reunited w/ your buddy, Barnaby.
Bye Clover, I love you and miss you immensely…
Monthly Archive for October, 2009
Well, it’s time to say goodbye to my garden for another year. 2009 was a fantastic year in my garden. I figured out how to keep the squirrels and rabbits out w/ a strong fence and marigolds so this year’s bounty was incredible!! An opossum managed to lethargically climb into the garden on 2 random nights and snatch a couple of ripe pineapple tomatoes, but he or she never returned after that (I heard some rustling in my yard, thought it was a prowler, but it turned out to be a big old ‘possum!).
I’ve picked the last of the ripe veggies and got quite a haul as you will see in the photos. Last weekend I decided to pick the green tomatoes and immature red bell peppers before the first frost. I ended up w/ 25 tomatoes and 8 little green bell peppers. I placed the tomatoes in my kitchen window in hopes for them to eventually ripen.
Here’s a photographic chronology of the last couple of months in the garden:
August 23rd
Bounty from August 23rd
Bounty from September 3rd
Bounty from September 9th
Bounty from September 18th
October 5th
Bounty from October 16th
That’s all folks…
I had the opportunity to help friends harvest their grapes this year at their vineyard near St. Genevieve, Missouri. They have 3 acres of chambourcin vines planted. The grapes are taken to a winery next door for crushing, aging and bottling. Chambourcin thrives in the hot humid Missouri climate and is resistant to the hard freezes of our winters. This year produced an abundant harvest for their small vineyard even after thinning the grape clusters throughout the summer. The vines produced approximately 7 tons of grapes (almost twice the yield of 2008!). This was my first time harvesting grapes and I had a great time!!
Here are a few pictures from the day:
The entry sign
Beautiful clusters
Harvesting
Harvest lunch
Random beauty
To the crush room
Crush room
The winery
Tasting patio
The B & B
The B & B
Winery cat
A votre sante’!