There may be some truth to this, not in scythe sharpening specifically but in work, physical work or activity. Of course a benefit in work/activity is health! There is also satisfaction in growing things, there is happiness in knowing what you're eating and that you can provide your own nourishment.

some apple varieties on the farm

The Honey Crisp is a modern variety of apple developed in the 1960's, the leaves, more than other varieties near it on the farm, are quite delectable to leaf eating insects. It is quite sweet but cannot even come close to the sweetness of our Honey Cider apple.






                                                                                         

The Redfree is another modern variety developed about the same time as the Honey Cider. It's supposed to be free from susceptibility to many of the common apple diseases. No complaints, it's a nice apple.

                                                              

The Hidden Rose apples are magically beautiful  with equally beautiful deep pink apple blossoms. There is a picture of the blossoms in an earlier blog post. It is one of several varieties of red fleshed apples on the farm.  I can attest that it makes gorgeous pies,  applesauce and juice. I mixed some sweeter apples into some apple sauce this year for flavor. It is a trademarked tree that was developed from the parent tree in the 1980's that was found in Oregon.

The Redfield variety has been around for a while, since 1938, and is mainly a cider apple. Its dry and tart with very dark red skin unlike the Hidden Rose. It doesn't seem to be bothered by pests or disease much which is a plus. It's flesh is more red  than the Hidden Rose, the Hidden Rose being deep pink, it seems to share the same tart, dry characteristics.

The Hudson's Golden Gem is a russet. It's flesh a creamy color, sweet and different, almost with a hint of spice. So sadly this tree which is above the barn was hit by a runaway tractor this fall and suffered some damage . We hope it will survive, if not we will make sure to get some scion wood. It's a 1930's variety and the parent tree found in Oregon. 

summer of extraordinary clouds

This summer has been one of extraordinary clouds. it has also been one of drought in our area with more record breaking global temps, July being the 15th consecutive warmest month on record. Jupiter is enjoying the view with us, no worries for him.

This horned guy can really put down the tomatoes; thankfully he seems to work alone. It seems we’re going to have a decent crop of edamame (Black Pearl) and potatoes despite the lack of rain. The Purple Viking are nice and large, we hope to grow more of those next year. The beautiful mottled deep purple skin offers some welcome added phytonutrients. I know the Santini are very popular, but the Purple Vikings out produced them and are just as yummy.

The much needed rain rolling over the hayfield

chicken looking

Here’s looking at you! I wish I could say they were looking for potato bugs but the beetles don’t seem to suit their palate. 

hoop house bounty

Hoop houses. So maybe they aren't so bad. Everything grows spectacularly and so far no pest issues. Kind of amazing just how well things do grow, we never had such amazing rhubarb and it is still growing strong. This year in the hoop house we are growing raspberries, strawberries, currants, hardy kiwi, summer squash, lettuce, leeks, onions, kale, rhubarb, peanuts, cabbage, eggplant, carrots, peppers, tomatoes, green beans, radishes, kale and shallots. In the outside garden- sugar snap peas, potatoes, soybeans, cucumbers, winter squash, more tomatoes,  popcorn, garlic, basil, ,sunflowers, and we have more to plant.

   

                  

Got quite of bit of mowing done, with two it goes quickly. It's enjoyable work, not taxing, there is an unmistakable rhythm that you fall into together without  realizing it. 

Mowing

By Robert Frost

There was never a sound beside the wood but one,

And that was my long scythe whispering to the ground.

What was it it whispered? I knew not well myself;

Perhaps it was something about the heat of the sun,

Something, perhaps, about the lack of sound—

And that was why it whispered and did not speak.

It was no dream of the gift of idle hours,

Or easy gold at the hand of fay or elf:

Anything more than the truth would have seemed too weak

To the earnest love that laid the swale in rows,

Not without feeble-pointed spikes of flowers

(Pale orchises), and scared a bright green snake.

The fact is the sweetest dream that labor knows.

My long scythe whispered and left the hay to make.

hidden rose apple blossom

The blossom of the hidden rose apple tree- this year is the first time, if all goes well,  that we will enjoy the fruit.

cupid, insanity

Years ago when researching the deed to our new home, it was curious to note that the only heir of Charles and Caroline Korb, the initial homesteaders of the farm, was a daughter named Cornelia Korb. The deed stated that the she was a ward at the Warren State Hospital for the Insane. I have oft times wondered just how it was that Caroline was mentally ill.

When we first purchased the farm, there wasn’t much of anything here by way of landscaping. There were a handful of old apple trees, a few very old pears, an old lilac and in the front of the house there was a spice bush,  a barely surviving rose and some pale pink flowers that we were not familiar with. We found out that the plant was called “Bouncing Betty” also known as (Soapwort) Saponaria officinalis. One has to wonder if this plant had a practical use for the Korbs because of its sudsing properties.

Sometime later when perusing the old graveyard in Troutville I happened to see a patch of Bouncing Bets. As I drew closer, it was surprising to see that they were growing at the grave marker of Charles Korb!  Had Cornelia planted them? When did Cornelia go insane and why?

The Bouncing Betty still survives today by the steps in front, over a hundred years later, despite the tansy and peony newcomers who keep trying to nudge it out. We still have not tried its soaping properties, but we have tried to lovingly restore the old farmhouse that Charles and Caroline built. This year we went back to the Troutville cemetery and I checked to see if the Bouncing Bettys were still surviving there. There was no sign of them but Charles’ head stone had been replaced and I noticed a grave mistake. The birth date for Caroline just didn't jive with Charles’.

As inquiring minds want to know, I did some research and lo and behold by the virtues and miraculous nature of the internet I found a gem. Who could have ever thought that after 100 years I could come to find this tantalizing piece to the Cornelia puzzle?

As cool as it was to find out how Cornelia ended up in the asylum, it didn’t provide the satisfying closure I had hoped for. Now there are many, many more questions and speculations. Cornelia, the poor woman, is listed as single and living at the farm in the 1900 census. Her mother died in 1901 and her father died in 1902, she was 36. For seven years, she was sole proprietor of the farm.

Who was taking care of the 300 acre farm with one of the largest barns in the county? Was she selling off the livestock for her upkeep, perhaps she was leasing the cropland? Was perhaps the beau a farmhand hoping to take over ownership of the farm? Who sent her to the asylum? Why wouldn't they let her out? What caused her to be violent and who was her anger directed at? It was July 22, 1909, was it very warm and humid and the couple were doing hay together and they argued and tempers flared and she went after him with a pitchfork? Maybe there wasn’t even a boyfriend, only unrequited love.

The most unfortunate and very tragic part of whatever scenario it was that caused her admission to the asylum, was that Cornelia not only had lost control of her temper, she lost control over everything. As strange coincidences go, the very week that I came upon the online news clipping this fascinating article came to me.  It has photos of the contents of the suitcases of asylum patients that expected to be only staying for a few days and from the same time period as Cornelia’s stay in Warren. http://www.collectorsweekly.com/articles/abandoned-suitcases-reveal-private-lives-of-insane-asylum-patients/

At the time it was easy to get yourself admitted to an asylum - drug use, alcoholism, mourning a little too long over a lost child, a fit of anger - all could have you admitted. It was easy to get in but impossible to get out. Cornelia, from Warren State Hospital records, was in there for years and each year her estate was charged for her keep. In 1917 her debit was 129.00 for the year and that’s the last entry that I can find, she would have been 51. Sadly, for now and perhaps forever, that’s as far as the story goes. 

Side note: some clues as to what life in the asylum was like http://www.pagenweb.org/~warren/misc/warren-state-hospital.html

 

wedding hill apples

There are two old apple trees in close proximity to each other near the top of the sunny side of the hill. It was reported to us, decades ago, that the larger tree was a Northern Spy and the smaller a Winesap, but we’re not so sure. We don’t think the larger is a Northern Spy, the smaller may be Winesap but maybe more likely it could be a Baldwin, but we’re just uncertain as to what they are. The larger tree split in half a number of years ago during a particularly strong storm and is clinging to life and seems to be getting stronger. They both ripen in late October and both are delectable. 

There was a marriage on that hill 30 years ago this 2014. It seems like yesterday that the three happy and nimble farm children climbed the twisted old trees and tossed the apples down to us; the children are all grown and gone now to eastern cityscapes. Do they even remember those carefree times?  These apple trees have likely been picked by at least 3 different farm families. I don’t doubt that many a pie has been baked with them in the same old kitchen filled with apple pie aroma on a chilly but glorious autumn day.  

 It’s not impossible for a standard apple tree to live for 300 years- which is quite phenomenal! Can any apple tree grown today have a similar life expectancy? None of us will be around to tell of it. I also know from experience, that it’s not easy to get an apple tree to get to the point that you don’t have to worry about them anymore, rabbits can destroy a young tree in one evening’s meal and borers can decimate one.

This little chicken, half the size of her peers, survived an attack from a red tailed hawk. She is super friendly, perhaps from time spent recovering in the kitchen from her wounds. She prefers to hang close to the house and not with the others, seems to prefer human or canine company. She likes to nestle close to the dogs and is fond of sitting on your shoes but would prefer your lap if you’d let her. 

This was a bumper year for chestnuts especially for the hybrids, we never had such a crop of huge nuts. The pigs are eating quite a few of the Dunstan hybrids as we still prefer the Chinese chestnuts for taste.  Chestnuts are really good for you don’t you know! They are high in essential fatty acids, high in fiber, beneficial for cardiovascular and nervous system health. They are low in calories compared to other nuts as they are low in saturated fats. They are high in vitamin C unlike other nuts and high in B vitamins. They’re an “excellent source of minerals such as iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus and zinc, besides providing a very good amount of potassium” !!!

Peculiar. Two of the most consistently productive apple trees here are unknown seedlings. One is very close to the road, completely neglected and  nearly run over by the plow each year. The apples are consistently large and unmarked. They are beautiful apples with a rosy blush on one side of most of them. They’re tasty too, crisp and light textured, mildly sweet.  The other tree which is most often just covered with medium size lovely red, disease free apples. These apple are good too but they don’t keep well and get mealy quickly. When they are just picked and ripe the taste and texture is just great. We made vinegar, applesauce and apple butter this year, still an abundant supply leftover.