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Windy Hill Orchards – Apple Picking
Living in Central New York has its perks, one of them is being surrounded by Apple Orchards. Beak and Skiff is popular as it provides something for everyone in the family : Playground for the kids, Beverage Samples for the Adults and great food to boot. However when in the mood to really just enjoy a bit of nature and simply pick some apples I find that Windy Hill Orchards has a great price and small orchard feel. Don’t forget to take a moment to enjoy the quiet beauty of the orchard. We ended our morning outing with 64 lbs. of Apples and dozen cider donuts to enjoy at our…
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Morning mist at Green Lakes
Green Lakes is a great place for a walk, run or bike ride. The trails around the 2 lakes are very popular but with the twists, dips and small bays you feel like it’s all yours to enjoy.
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Compost Harvest!!
The first frost of the year has struck, but luckily my little one was keeping an eye on it so we did a little harvesting the night before. Nothing but compost. There was some yams and other plants that sprang up but the tomatoes and spaghetti squash took over and gave us a nice little bounty. Time to get it all chopped down and turned for planting in the spring.
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Apple Picking – At Home
One of my favorite activities every year is taking the family to go apple picking. It is the main reason we have a yard full of various fruits and berries. This year’s apple crop contains the singular Red Rome Beauty and what a sparkling red apple it is. I can’t think of a better way to spend the first day of Autumn.
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Autumn Round-up :: Grapes Edition
It appears the deer have developed a taste for my grape leaves. I’ve got some plans to keep them off but first I need to get around to staining the arbor and a training trellis to help them climb. Hopefully I’ll get around to both of those projects before the end of Autumn. Beyond the stripping of the leaves the vines are doing great. Each of them have grown several inches in height and seem to be very content in their new homes.
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Eye on the Red Raspberries
To date we haven’t had a full yield from our two red raspberry beds. Last year we planted 6 shoots that yielded a couple berries but as expected most of their energy went into growing new roots. This year we saw a few spring berries but nothing to note. Even though the canes are only 2 feet high it does look like we are going to have a pretty decent yield in a few weeks. Now if only I can keep the kids from eating all the berries before I can collect them.
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Fall crop of raspberries are looking good!
I’m a little behind in mowing the yard this year and haven’t been paying close attention to the raspberry patches now that the japanese beetles have gone on their way. What a pleasant surprise to find the fall crop is already underway. Here’s to the first raspberry of September. On a side note we’re also going to get a nice crop of traditional red raspberries that most are familiar with.
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Goji Flowers
I knew goji berries were a vibrant red but little did I know their flowers were a brilliant purple. Perhaps they were glad that I got the trellis stained and tied in place for them. Although I’ll probably take it down for this winter and cover the goji bush. In the end decided to go with a semi-transparent coat, gave it a nice gold sheen but without the brown tint that we have been using on the chicken coop and planting boxes.
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Night on the Town, Art Museum Edition
No matter how busy life gets its always worth taking a time out now and then to relax. The Everson Museum of Art was having an exhibit on Yoko Ono and I highly recommend going. We’ll be heading back with the kids so they can have some hands on time with their imagination.
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Ripening Red Rome Beauties
Tick, Tock, Tick Tock, the clock goes slow for these beauties. Early October is their scheduled ripening period so there is still a whole month to wait… I’m keeping an eye on them and don’t think they all will last that long. Tempting…
