A few pictures from tonight’s Community Band Concert
Beckett and Adelyn were up early bagging up cookies with grandma who was up even earlier “baking cookies”! Then before going uptown for 9am coffee: 5 laundry baskets of sweet corn were picked, jalapeños, green peppers, broccoli, cucumbers, kale, lettuce, celery. With additional prep cleaning up onions and garlic.
Then time for grandpa to take a rest while the grands put up street signs in the garden plots! This is a first class garden with street signs so you don’t get lost!
WOW! Today’s market was BIG! More customers than I have ever seen before! At one time I’m told 20 cars in the parking lot! People were lined up before we opened! And in the first 30 minutes we sold out of 12 dozen corn! And by the end of market we sold out of 40 pounds of peaches, 40 pounds of tomatoes, zucchini, green onions, jalapeños, broccoli, 24 pounds of beans, 10 pounds of sugar peas, cabbage, radishes, dill weed, basil, celery, kale, kohlrabi, cucumbers, beets! We took a few onions back, and whatever was left sold to a gal that is often interested in buying what is left. Doors opened at 3:30 and we closed up, packed up at 5:00 to head home to wash all the coolers and bins used. Had a break from 5-6pm, helped a little with dinner for grands and Tom. Had a visit from Tom’s sister Sandy and her husband Jeff. I stayed for a short time but then headed up town to the Community Band Concert. They have a summer concert about this time every year but I usually come one week too late. Their band has about 30 members aged 6th grade to maybe their 80s! Fun night! Even included a pie / ice cream social fundraiser for the Albert City Historical Society which is well represented with 6-7 Aronson’s participating!
Today was a day of driving…45 minutes to pick up peaches and tomatoes in Auburn for market tomorrow, back to the farm and cleaned 120 green onions, bagged 24 one pound bag of beans, 10 one pound bags of sweet peas; then drove to Storm Lake to pick up a few things at Walmart. Then this evening drove 75 minutes to Denison to meet up with Amanda and drive Adelyn (5th grade) to spend a few days at the farm.
This morning I worked in the grove raking debris, picking up bigger sticks, a few branches and then dumped them to the burn pile by loading the tractor bucket a couple of times. Then I did what I love to do most of all…mowing! Had about an hours worth to do to finish off the south side of the lane.
We left about noon for the fair but first a quick stop at Bomgaars for smoking pellets, chicken, dog and cat food. Then on to Primghar for the Obrien county fair where Aubrey had entered several items in 4H: basket of flowers, Swedish rye bread, a dress, a Jean purse/bag, several photos and a flower art made with bottle caps that had been sprayed. A very talented young lady!
First stop at the fair was noon day dinner in which I enjoyed a ribeye sandwich, it really was good. Then Aubrey was anxious to take us through the exhibit as we searched for her entries! Then it was off to see the animals: bottle fed calves, goats, pigs, cows and steers. Then kids showing their bottle fed calves, the youngest calf was born May 6. Last stop was for a cool and refreshing treat of ice cream, there was a line and I thought it would be about a 15 minute wait but more like 45-60 minutes! That’s what happens on a warm day and one customer about 6 people in front of us had a 12 item order! But we got our 3 orders and we were cool and refreshed for the short ride to Sara and Ben’s just in the next town of Paulina. We hung out for a while, had a quick bite to eat and then hit the road for the one hour drive home. It was right at dusk so had to watch carefully for deer, think the last count was 4.
A little more layed back today with picking up Tom in town after he dropped his truck off to repair a tire, then he went to morning coffee and I headed home to mow a couple hours before heading to Storm Lake to pick up a few things at Walmart, get a haircut and wash my car. Not sure why I bother to wash my car when driving gravel roads!
Pruned about 8 more low branches from the mowing path and later hauled them to the burn pile. Burn pile was small compared to yesterday as Tom burned the pile in the wee hours of the morning.
Tom took me on a tour of his garden tonight explaining that he has 12 varieties of onions, 2 varieties of sweet corn, multiple varieties of tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, broccoli, dill, celery, green onions, potatoes, beets, beans, sugar peas, kale, kohlrabi, jalapeño, zucchini, not sure what I have left off the list! But I’m sure there must be a few things!
Early afternoon entertainment: Imagine two free range chickens had just eaten 4 cucumbers yesterday and you decided to give them a second chance, the next morning they ate six more! Well that happened to Tom, so after church today he had a “roundup” and let me tell you chickens don’t round up easily during the day! Tom was on the 4x4 Kubota weaving this way and that, forward and back! I only wish I had video taped it! But you will just have to imagine, as I was inside and headed outside to help but did not get a video! Tom won! Chickens were finally rounded up to their coupe! No more free ranging for them for a while!
Morning worship with Tom and Joni at the Covenant church, meeting a few more people each time. So fun to make connections and meet more and more people. In a small town everyone knows everyone so if you are new or visiting they want to know your story! And…I tell them…I’m an Aronson! And they smile….
This afternoon Joni and I worked on using the looper chain saw to cut low branches so when mowing one didn’t have to worry about getting hit in the head or worse! We filled a flat rack pretty high (see pic) which was harder to unload at the burn pile than to stack!
Tonight we went to Truesdale Bar for Build Your Own Pizza Night! When we got there Tom called Dick and Sandy to invite them, we were surprised they weren’t already there, well they were on their way! Then called Jeff and Sandy they said they were on their way as well. Well they were indeed as they were in the car with Dick and Sandy! Then called Gary and Julie but Gary just got home from golfing all day so they didn’t think they would be coming. Fun evening! Then home to put the Kubota tractor and 4x4 away and tools used in the afternoon.
Today was a full day with the morning weeding flower beds and raking up piles in the grove to later pick up.
Another day for Joni to be down and out with something that seems like a migraine yesterday and today. I feel bad that she feels bad. Hopefully tomorrow as a new day and she will feel much better!
Memorial Service for Eldora Schultze today at the Lutheran church. I got to know Eldora the last 15-20 years. She was sister to one of dad’s classmates Eldon Erlandson. Eldora helped outside the cafe at Threshermans making sure the condiments and plasticware were well supplied up until about 3-4 years ago! She was 99, she let me know early on that she shared a birthday with my dad on September 17! I only saw her 3 days a year at Threshermans and then we would only chat about 15 minutes each day! I learned at her service she was known for being spunky, loved to mow and loved to use of her burn pile! No wonder I liked her so much! Her picture in her program was of Eldora riding her mower! All of my favorite hymns too! Great is Thy Faithfulness, In the Garden and Children of the Heavenly Father! Songs that I heard dad sing so many times! I don’t tend to be emotional but anytime those to songs are played or sung brings back happy memories!
Home for a couple hours, Joni was still having headaches so she wasn’t able to join us but Tom and I went to a 70th birthday party for our second cousin Margo Forbes, daughter of dad’s cousin Vivian Wilbur. I only knew two people at the party: the birthday girl Margo and cousin Julie! But I did meet a couple that would come out to Everett yearly to Boeing for work related trip, always an opportunity to meet someone new!
HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SWEET KARLEE!
I’m excited for my first Farmers Market today! Both for the people I will see AND the new venue a refurbished food snack bar from the former Albert City football field! Refurbished and moved specifically to be used for Tom’s weekly summer Farmers Markets! (Side note: Tom was awarded the 2024 Albert City Citizen of the Year just a few weeks ago at the towns centennial celebration! An award well deserved!)
My early morning chores included weighing one pound bags of beans, peas, radishes. Well I always aim to be flexible and this morning that was the case as Tom woke early and did what I “thought” were my chores! Instead I did a couple hours of mowing with the Kubota tractor mower. Could be I get fired from that if my mowing rows aren’t straight enough! Haha! Several more hours of mowing to perfect my mowing skills! Hope to continue after market today. (Which I did an hour before supper and another couple after supper up until sunset! Tom joined me with the Zipper mower!)
11:15a - First load taken to the new market site: potatoes, garlic, onions (red, white, yellow), zucchini,
2:40p - Final run of produce and setup for Market: cucumbers, radishes, beets, kale,
First item to sell out 40 beets! 35 sold to one individual! Apparently they have a really good recipe for pickled beets!
I’m tired but it was a great day! Not enough sweet corn for the market today but there was enough for Tom,Joni and I to enjoy last night and again tonight! Young sweet corn!
While Tom was harvesting beets, he asked if I would go to the shed and bring back a pitch fork with wide tongs. I accepted the challenge! First stop, the garage I had swept out earlier in the day as I remembered seeing several pitch forks! Found one with wide tongs but the handle was missing! But I grabbed it anyway! Saw another in much better shape but it didn’t have “wide” tongs. Thought “better grab that one too just in case!” Then as I was driving the Kubota by the “market prep shed” I saw a “wide tong pitch fork with a good handle”! I thought “never can have too many pitch forks!” I’ll take that one too! When I got to Tom he picked the last one I had picked up! Guess I was right you can never have too many pitch forks! Then we proceeded to dig up leeks.
Only later did I find out that really none of those were the right pitch forks! He had actually wanted the one he left in the potato patch!
Below is pictured what I brought to Tom for his choices!
