At the Greenhouses

70f/21C, cloudy with occasional light showers.

I enjoy visiting Mark's greenhouses. There is much to see besides tomatoes, like this perfect field of corn. Mark's farm is a West Virginia Century Farm, meaning that it has been in his family for over 100 years.

I took a few minutes to photograph weeds, like this perfect blue morning glory. 

And a couple pretty pink morning glories. This wildflower takes me back to my childhood,  when our garden would also be overwhelmed by them. We children loved them, of course.

This fellow is jimsonweed, and highly toxic to man or beast.

A closer look at the jimsonweed plant.

Chickory is one of my favorite summer flowers. We used to try to pick it for bouquets when we were children. Two problems with that: its atems are very tough, and the flowers close immediately when picked. So disappointing for a child!

I could take hundreds of pictures around this place.

Larry particularly likes the swinging bridge, as he grew up with one in his neighborhood,  and often crossed it.

Tug Fork Road is a very pretty drive. It's always interesting to meet other vehicles on West Virginia's back roads.

There is a local ghost legend about Tug Fork (named for the little creek that the road borders) that i developed into a short story and posted here some years ago. If interested, you can find the story by clicking here.

I canned some whole tomatoes yesterday, but still have plenty. We've given quite a few to neighbors, and today Larry is at our friend Maddie's place, helping with their barn building. Maddie is our milk provider, and they are building their own place as they get time and money. Been there, done that. It's hard work. I was too worn out and hurting from a very full day's work yesterday and in no shape to go, unfortunately.  Sure wish I could have!

There are such cool road names in that area: Rock Castle, Thirteenmile Creek, Tightsqueeze Hollow, Ghost Run, Jim Ridge. Stories behind each one, I am sure.

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Lakeside Lunch

64°f/18°C, clear and cool. 

We stopped in Point Pleasant on our way back from Huntington on Wednesday, to have our lunch by a little lake in Krodel Park. Lake is really a misnomer; it's more like a large pond, but the idea of eating by the water appealed to us both.

So we stopped at McDonald's,  of all places. We rarely, rarely ever eat McDonald's food, but Point Pleasant doesn't offer many places for take-out. It was so odd to actually order a hamburger, and fries! But that was what I wanted. And a Coke. None of these are ever on our menu at home, so it felt downright sinful.

This mallard duck family seem to be veteran panhandlers, but we did not encourage them by giving them any scraps.

I am not sure what bird that was that photo-bombed the above picture. A swift, perhaps? I never even saw it until I was looking through my pictures.

Mama was quite a lovely lady. We never saw the mister.

These 2 young ladies captured our attention. 

I am not sure what they were doing, but at one point it looked like they were washing their hair.

Down from us, a young man set up his fishing pole.

Ironweed was already in bloim by the lake. Seems early for it.

We call these flowers hibiscus, but my phone says it's swamp mallow. I like hibiscus better. These bloom in the wild all over our area, and there are pink and red varieties too.

So peaceful. There is a large campground here, but it was quiet while we were there.

There is a replica of Fort Randolph on the park grounds. The original fort was built in 1776. 

Here is what Google says about it: "Fort Randolph was a key American Revolutionary War outpost in Point Pleasant, West Virginia, built in 1776 at the confluence of the Ohio and Kanawha rivers to protect the Virginia frontier. It is infamous as the site where Shawnee Chief Cornstalk, his son, and a Delaware chief were murdered in 1777, and it withstood a major siege in 1778 before being abandoned and later rebuilt. Today, a replica of the fort stands in Krodel Park, about a mile from the original site, hosting historical events and tours."

The state park Tu-Endi-Wei (too endi way) is located on the original site of the fort, and you can read about one of our visis there in the above link. We have never toured this replica at Krodel Park, but plan to do that this fall. Hard to believe I have lived so close to it and have never done that.

I do not know this history of this old cabin either, so we need to learn about it as well.

This was a nice break in our 2-plus hour drive home, and I hope we do it again. Maybe not with a hamburger lunch, though!

Copyright Susanna Holstein. All rights reserved. No Republication or Redistribution Allowed without attribution to Susanna Holstein.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes

65°f18.3°C, clear and low humidity. Perfection!

You know how we all long for the first fresh, ripe tomato? And how heavenly that first bite is, every summer? 

And then, here they come. Lots and lots of them! From the sweet little cherry ones

to the pink and yellow and black and red, suddenly there is a glut of tomatoes!

And then our friend sent a text: come get all we want from the greenhouses.

Today was picking day. We brought home less than usual--about 4 bushels--and set to work immediately.  These photos are what we have left at the end of canning today. 

We made 44 quarts of juice today; now, what to do with the rest?  I don't need salsa or pasta sauce or ketchup or bruschetta or pizza sauce, as I still have plenty from last year that we need to use. I think I will dry some, can some whole tomatoes, then probably give away the rest.

We met this gentleman at the greenhouses. He is related to our friend Mark who owns these greenhouses, and he had come after hot peppers. (Mark only grows peppers and tomatoes in the greenhouses.) This man actually lives just over the hills from us, and he is 85 years old. You would never guess it from the way he worked and talked. He was quite the talker, but very entertaining. 

He sure picked a lot of peppers. I have zero interest in hot peppers, but he planned to make several different things from them.

This is inside one of the greenhouses. Morning glory vines have overtaken the plants now that Mark's picking season is over. There are 7 of these large buildings: 3 for peppers, one for yellow tomatoes, and the rest are red tomatoes. Mark also grows 20 acres of pumpkins; he sells his produce at the Charleston farmer's market. In addition, he raises hay, field corn and cattle. 

Time for bed. We planned to do booths tomorrow, but that is not happening. I need to catch up on other things, but I will have to get started on drying the tomatoes too. At least that will be easier than canning them.