Good Evening,

We certainly enjoyed a beautiful, sunny Fall day. The dew lay heavy on the grass this morning when I hung the laundry on the line. Now this evening the moon and and the stars are shining and it is still warm enough to sit outside. It is calm with not much moving air and I enjoy listening to the night sounds. The insects are buzzing, a cricket is chirping and in the distance the neighbor’s dogs are barking.

Silos and silo bags are being filled with corn. This morning I saw a farmer getting his 5 horse hitch ready to disk the cornfield where he had cut the corn. He then sowed oats that he plans will grow yet this fall to provide pasture for the cattle.

The lawns are very nice and green again since we received some good rains. The weeds are growing again in the gardens which is good, now we have hopes that we can sow lettuce for this fall and possibly radish also. The tomatoes are still slowly ripening.

This summer there have been a lot of benefit auctions in the area. On Saturday, Sept 17th there will be one at the Holmes County Home. Mt Hope on Sept 15th, 16th, & 17th will have the Alternative Animal & Bird Sale and on the 26th the Back to the Farm Feeder Sale. Then starting October 3rd – 8th is the Mid Ohio Horse Sale at Mt Hope also. That will bring a lot of people into the area. On Sat, Sept 17th the little town of Winesburg will have their Fall Festival. And last but not least here at the Ashery we will have our Fall Harvest Sale on Sept 22nd – 24th. If you stop in at the right time you may taste the delicious Harvest soup. You probably won’t want to go home without a bag of the mix!

My last birding excursion was on Friday eve and we went to Waburn Reservior. We saw 11 different species of shorebirds. Just listening to the sounds and calls of shorebirds and watching them scurry along on the mud flats in and out of the water pecking and feeding is worth the trip. With the sun shining on we were able to see clearly the blue, white and green colors on the wing of the Blue Winged Teal.

Did any of you ever make Kale Chips?
Here is the recipe I had when I tried it.
1/2lb Kale
1 TBS coconut oil
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp hamburger seasoning
Wash and dry the Kale leaves and cut out the hard stems then weigh them. Drizzle oil and sprinkle seasoning over them and toss well to mix.
Divide onto 2 cookie sheets and bake at 250F for approx 1 hour or until crisp.
You can use your choice of seasonings. I baked them for an hour then turned the oven off and left them in overnight. The next morning they were crisp.

Quote: “Wise sayings often fall on barren ground: but a kind word is never thrown away.”
-Arthur Helps

Have a good day, Sovilla