Autumn is coming. . .

We decided to quit early on Friday. It was Friday after all! We had a hard week of digging, moving and breaking rocks as we began erecting the first of our two hoop houses.

Our getting done early was partly inspired by our starting early, partly by the heat and humidity, and partly because the river was calling to (at least) me. And the river felt great!!!

My oldest son and I went down for a dip, explored an island and then swam back to shore after noting the disposition of the clouds. Only a short time after our return to shore (as the news reported) there was a funnel cloud in town! Yup, a tornado. And the skies opened up, and the rains fell by the truck load, and the winds blew. The corn here on Weeman Road was prostrated a number of times before the storm finally passed.

But that isn't the exciting news. . . as we look to the autumn, and the winter, we think about how we might grow, and what we might grow. The barn is alive with started plants. Some of them perhaps started foolhardily as we should be thinking more toward the end of the season. With this in mind we have put most of our attention to getting the hoop houses up.

The activity itself is not so terribly difficult, minus the rocks, and the rocks, and the rocks. . .

The boulders and stones left on the surface by glaciers all those growing seasons ago are only the heralds of what lies below.

Chris and Nat broke up this one hundred pound rock that was lying 2 feet beneath the surface with nothing more than a sledge hammer, and their "kung-fu panda" skills!

Elsewhere on the farm, we are very thankful for all of the help that was offered by A.J., Cindy, and (our future intern) Ashley!
They kept the plants loved while we were dilly-dallying with our silly project!