Fair Predictives

Here's what I need to get done at the State Fair this week, in case you were wondering:

Food:
-french fries
-Dairy Barn ice cream (this could conceivably be replaced by vanilla ice cream with lingonberry sauce if necessary due to location constraints)
-corn on the cob x at least 2
-Sweet Martha's cookies
-Big Fat Bacon (if you don't know, this is 1/3 lb of bacon that is caramelized, fried, and drizzled with maple syrup. on a stick.)

Farming:
-admire the seeds and crop art
-get my picture taken on a tractor (I don't know if this is possible, but I'd like to try)
-have a look at the prize winning vegetables
-admire and contemplate the possibility of preserves
-learn all there is to learn in the Agricultural Building
-talk to a real farmer
-check for advice about how to prepare crops when there is a threat of frost (practical application coming soon, unfortunately)

Livestock:
-WATCH SOMETHING BEING BORN. The fair will be a complete waste if I do not accomplish this objective.
-see the fattest pig
-figure out if there really is a dog building, or if N was just giving me a hard time

Other:
-visit the MPR booth and acquire stickers
-not get trampled in a sea of white people with blond hair
-visit the DFL booth and be smart enough to give them a fake phone number if I need to sign up for something
-pace myself on the food front so I do not actually explode
-send picture messages to all the people missing out on the Great Minnesota Get Together
-heckle the disgusting things Minnesotans eat (Scotch egg, anyone?)
-see Brandi C.


It's a lot to do in only two trips, but I'm very determined.


Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 73F
Yesterday's low: 57F
Warnings: Low tonight in the 40s!
Mood of the farm: Bundling up.

Green Thumb Sunday: Sunflower Hosts 80s Bug Edition

Green Thumb Sunday: Sunflower Hosts 80s Bug Edition

(I took this on the high-res setting and strongly suggest you click on it. That bug is something else. Fuscia and teal? Really, Mother Nature? Really?)

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Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Long Awaited Day

Folks. Before I get on with the bragging and self-congratulatory business, I'll start with the normal business. Have a look at what I dropped off (sort of dirt-covered) for H & N today. Not a bad haul, I think.

Okay, now on to the prize.
FINALLY. Really, I thought it might never happen, but it did. The first lemon boy is officially ripe, and ready for eating. Here it is showing its muscles on the farm:


And here it is taking advantage of the natural light in the living room. I think it looks just as lovely indoors as out, I'm not going to lie. And versatility is a good thing in a model--have you seen what they make those contestants do on America's Next Top Model? You really have to be versatile to model wearing raw meat.


All in all, I'd say the Lemon Boy has a lot of modeling potential. Flavor potential will be discussed when I return from another wedding.

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 85F
Yesterday's low: 67F
Warnings: Thunderstorm warning while I'm gone tomorrow. Hopefully the farm won't be too scared without me.
Mood of the farm: Hoping to get some attention now that the yellow tomato is gone.
Reason to consider a new career: I'm kind of liking my current career at the moment, to tell you the truth.

PhantomMiniChuck's Eye View

The MiniChuck family has been gone long enough that it appears they may be gone for the summer. Funny how you can miss something that once instilled so much fear in this farmer (remember the hissing and staring down?)...

Anyway, changes on the farm this week: One fewer zucchini plant, the rest of the lettuce pulled, watermelon taking over, tomato plants about to fall down they're so tall and full of tomatoes. Also, the sunflower is growing like gangbusters so the angle of this picture is slightly different in order to get a full view of the farm. And if you look really closely, you just might see the yellow tomato.
Like your peep shows to involve less work? Here you go:



Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 88F
Yesterday's low: 65F
Warnings: The tomatoes are starting to wrestle with each other. No really.
Mood of the farm: Cheering on that yellow tomato!
Reason to consider a new career: If that Lemon Boy tomato tastes as good as I think it will, not a single one...

ATTENTION.

A LEMON BOY IS TURNING YELLOW. FOR REAL.
(Not just in my imagination)


That is all.



Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 90F
Yesterday's low: 68F
Warnings: Heat wave.
Mood of the farm: Falling all over itself with tomato growth
Reason to consider a new career: Compared to how well my other career is going, I'd have to say none.

It Just Feels Like Years...

I know I've complained ad nauseum about how long the Lemon Boys are taking to ripen. So I thought I would see just how long it really is taking. Turns out, not very long at all...

On July 18th:

On July 23rd:

On August 1st:

On August 17th:

Is it just me, or are these really starting to look yellow?

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 88F
Yesterday's low: 68F

Green Thumb Sunday: Bees, and Tomatoes, and Watermelons Oh My! Edition

Green Thumb Sunday: Bees, and Tomatoes, and Watermelons Oh My! Edition

On first glance, this looks like a jumble of watermelon and tomato plant leaves,

But upon closer inspection, I found this bee in the process of pollinating the watermelon flower that was growing up the tomato plant and its cage.

And also this watermelon, about tennis ball size, right at the base of the tomato plant.

Here are the other two watermelons that are growing, in case lack of information about watermelon growth has been keeping you up nights...

The big one I've blogged about before:
The new miniMelon on the scene:

Join

Gardeners, Plant and Nature lovers can join in every Sunday, visit As the Garden Grows for more information.

Farm Vitals
Yesterday's high: 86F
Yesterday's low: 61F
Warnings: The last gasp of summer is on its way. Prepare for a week-ish long heatwave.
Mood of the farm: Surprisingly prosocial. This might be a bit of a hitch for Darwin's whole survival of the fittest thing...
Reason to consider a new career: None. However, I am working on my list of things I'm looking forward to (excited is too strong of a word--farmers are stoic people) at the Great Minnesota Get Together. I am planning two trips, and you know they will be copiously photographed.