A Day Off!

photo by  Mike Fallenstein

On Sunday, Squash Blossom Farm  hosted  "Escape From Alcina's Island,"  a Picnic Operetta on the farm, performed by Mixed Precipitation Theater.  I was quite proud of  all the weeding and  mulching I had done to beautify the veggie gardens in preparation for staging the operetta, but as luck would have it, the day turned out to be rainy, gray and stormy, so we held the performance into the  greenhouse instead. A great crowd turned out despite the rain and the performance was a delight. KTTC-TV  featured it in the news- view here.

After the Picnic Operetta, we made wood-fired pizza t while Driven by Rhythm, one of our favorite local  bands, played music. Because of the weather and the holiday, things were a bit discombobulated, and we are indebted to friends (Zoe, Connie, Tushar) who assisted with pizza and to Richard for documenting the event (those photos coming soon.)

Monday was a holiday,  Labor Day.  I believe it was the first time in about 5 months Rog and I took a day off.  Well, we did chores, of course, and finished cleaning the barn kitchen from the previous night's pizza-making,  but we also took a little nap and then took a leisurely walk around the farm. First we admired the unusually well-weeded veggie garden.

The water in the pond has dropped to its lowest level since we dug it last November.

The arrowroot and other natives I planted along the water's edge last spring are currently high and dry, but seem to be surviving  just fine.

Lots of deer tracks around this watering hole!

The creamy bottle gentian, blue bottle gentian, and this cross of  creamy and blue that comes out pink, are at peak bloom in the prairie.

Still plenty of gnomes and fairies to be found in the forgotten fairy garden.

Sumac are looking like fall already.

Lots of both blue and white lobelia (cardinal flower) blooming in the prairie right now.

Not to mention, a sea of goldenrod. There is a small opening in the  woods where the red barn shows through.

Rog inspected the hops growing on the farm store pergola.

Just about ready to harvest.

Rog discovered three nice puffballs growing right in the  backyard - they must have  popped up after Sunday's rain.

We sliced the puffballs and sauteed them in a bit of butter with garlic, onions, tomatoes, sweet red pepper, basil and squash blossoms from the garden, and a bit of parmesan, tossed them with linguine and devoured our concoction under the patio gazebo. A delicious dinner to end to a lovely work holiday.