Flint Hill Does Rodale

Flint Hill Farm participated in Rodale's Organic Apple Festival today, despite the rain. Above, you can see Kathy Fields, the owner of Flint Hill, driving two of her hardier draft horses with some sturdy country souls; there were two separate areas to visit, in addition to the orchard and grounds: the Bookstore and adjoining pavilion, and the Barn, where the various vendor/farmers were located. That's where we were.

We were entertained by several different performances throughout the afternoon. Above, you see the jazziest earthworm ever, staying cool while his pal, Red Delicious, contemplates her future in composting. The dude in the background was a fan. Poor Red was the last apple standing, and was a little worried about her future.

Here she is, getting schooled by our friend the worm, who graphically described his castings, just for laughs. You can see some of the vendors in the background. We were also treated to a game that taught children about the importance of honey bees and pollination, a folk quartet with a wide range of musical styling, organic hot-dogs and everyone else's goodies. I bought lemon verbena, some lettuce plants for my fall garden, two simple beeswax candles for home (and two pretty ones for a friend), some ground cherries and a jug of organic apple cider. It doesn't get much better than that.

But wait! I left the premises briefly and drove a scant 2 miles to an Amish stand where I scored two bushels of local plum tomatoes (GOLD, since the late blight hit in August), a bushel of slicing tomatoes to share with the neighbors and can for the winter, zucchini, eggplants, and sweet peppers for my friends. The corn in the adjoining field is about 7' tall right now. It's been a tropical summer. Kids would get lost in there. Heck, so would I!

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Kathy gracefully relieved me of milking tonight, and I will spend a majority of tomorrow (Sunday) processing tomatoes for winter. Stephanie and I will make soap, and I'll spend some evening time with my girls. This whirlwind of a weekend will fly by, as they do now, and I'll arrive at my desk on Monday in a heartbeat. Life is good. And she flies, she flies...