Hello, fall!

Ever since the days of John Barley Corn-- and probably well before-- there has been a certain excitement and magic to the idea of the Harvest. I would venture to guess that most of us don't have strong ties to the actual harvesting of crops (in terms of our livelihood, anyway). But, with CSA's, U-pick fields, and Farmer's Markets, there are absolutely ways to join in and share in the Harvest.

Let's forget, for a moment, that the corn maze down the hill is perhaps the saddest looking one I've ever seen; I don't think it was a great summer for corn. I ams still very excited to take the kids to nearby farms for pumpkins, squashes, cider, and mud. Well, I'm not thrilled about the mud part, but it wouldn't be a good hayride without the muddy boots of a toddler dangling against my jeans! Each year I load up on oddly-shaped gourds and alabaster pumpkins. I tie dried corn stalks to our front porch, all the while muttering about how absurd it is to pay for dried cornstalks when it is easy to obtain these for free in many other communities. Oh yes, and the mums! The flowers I planted last year have mostly returned. Strangely, just the white mums. So I bought a big bushel of dark red ones for the little brick patio in the front of the house. I'll update with fall photos when we start seeing the beautiful foliage. Last year, our neighborhood had some gorgeous fall leaves and I hope we'll see them again!