Fall seems to be closing in. Woke up to much cooler temperatures. 43℉. Evidence of a hard frost. Time to put up food.

Well the good news is we did get an Apple crop. The bad news is the apples were not the best of quality. There was a fair amount of insect / disease / cold weather damage. These five apple were better than most.

Picked and ready to process.

Last batch waiting to be processed later this week.

This is our food dehydrator. It does a great job dehydrating fruits and vegetables.  Notice that it has 10 stackable trays.

Here is one of the stackable trays with apple slices dehydrating.

Apple chips nearly ready for storage.

This will be the next crop we will pick and process. Maybe later this week or the beginning of next week.

This is what a nice bunch of grapes looks like. Although they all tend to start out this way many  unfortunately don't end up looking like this.  Between the birds, squirrels, and raccoons we loose a lot of the best fruit to the wildlife.  

Some get away with it.

SOME DO NOT and GET A TRIP TO THE COUNTRY

This guy is waiting for transportation. Heading out to "the summer home" to spend time with the first two that took the trip earlier in the week. Three trapped this year 4 trapped last year.

This how I found him early in the morning. Just lounging around waiting for someone to show up. Although they might look cute and friendly they are NOT.

This guy just charged me as I approached. Snarling, growling and baring his teeth. NOT friendly NOT friendly at all.

This weekend we joined some of our friends to make apple cider.

Evidence that the end of summer approaches. Fall is just around the corner.

Fresh sliced and ready to eat. Big Boy.

The grapes are turning and offer individual juicy treats for those passing by.

The plum crop was small this year but better than we had anticipated. This 8 lbs. was shared with friend and made into jam.

Hanging in the yard.

Our new grape arbor and shaded spot on the deck.

I'm reposting these from below. After a little yard work and truck maintenance I sat down in our new shaded corner on the deck. The sun was shining and  I leaned back in the chair and looked up..... see the picture below for the peaceful view.

This is the results we hoped we would get. A natural shaded area where we can sit and watch the grapes grow.  Now that is a view I could get use to.

Here is what it looks like from above.

Some of the potted flowers growing on the deck. Begonia

Pansy.

Petunia.

The 2009 harvest continues.... Trannies.

This year is the first good harvest we have had from the Transparent apple tree. This year we had enough for a few eating apples, enough for dehydrated slices and enough for one great apple pie. The tree is 6 years old.

2009 Harvest. All within 50 feet. Small yard gardens.

The birds made me do it. Really, as I sat in may chair working (really) I looked out the window and the blackbirds were stripping the tree. Decision time. Work, pick, work, pick, work, pick? I'll..............take a break from work and pick.

I'm going for the low hanging fruit. In this case sour cherries.


Might just as well pick some raspberries while I'm taking a break from work to pick cherries.

Might also need to check and see "what's on deck" to harvest next. Plums and........

Grapes and..............
Transparent apples.

Fruit Blossoms. We must be getting near spring.

Apple graft on the crabapple tree.


Apple graft on the crabapple tree.


Plum tree blossom.

This weeks smorgasbord of photos.

Thank you Becky for the beautiful piece of artwork. This shot from nature made me think of your artwork. The shape, colors and texture. Thanks again.


This guy and thousands of other like it were an all to common sight in northern Wisconsin this summer. An infestation with crop damage.


Not a very attractive moth but still a great photo op.



This is one of the small "crops" of apples we picked yesterday. This branch has produced 10-15 apples each year since it was grafted to our crab apple tree. We had to harvest it earlier than we would have like to but one of our four legged furry friends kept sampling the goods. A bite here and a bite there then drop it to the ground. It took us several days to catch on to what was happening. I didn't know squirrels like apples. They (the apples not the squirrels) sure made a great pie. I'll bet it will taste even better tomorrow.

Do squirrels taste like chicken? Fair warning my furry friends! Meat eaters live in this house.


This has been ID as a Buckeye Tree. Nice call JM. For additional info click here. This photo was taken in Port Wing Wisconsin in a yard.


Thanks to WG (see posts) This plant has been ID as common comfrey (Symphytum officinale). For more info click here. This photo was taken in an open field surround by goldenrod and blackberry canes.

Our "bountiful" harvest. At least a sampling.

All grown and soon to be consumed in our backyard.

Can you taste them?

If not I have. G...o...o...d!

Our yard is getting ready to harvest. Apples, plums, grapes, raspberries and blueberries.