Dear Family and Friends,

This week I had to harvest my flowers a day early, ahead of the frost predicted for this morning, Friday. Even as the weather has cooled the zinnias have been blooming away; beds of amazingly vivid color. Often I stop just to take in the living reds, oranges, yellows glowing in the sunshine. Some of the reds actually tinge toward blue at the edges of the petals; some of the oranges, purple. So I cut their lovely blossoms for the last time this season. There were lots of huge buds still on the stems. I cut a few then realized they probably would not open. I noticed little insects hiding on the undersides of the leaves. When I got to the salvia, the purple-blue flower heads were full of bees already paralyzed by the cold. It was so quiet. No buzzing bees, nor any of the myriad insects that comprise the summer background music. I felt as though the plants and trees as well as the insects knew the season was about to turn. I was feeling kind of sad, yet wondering if even they, like me, were ready to be done with the summer's work.

Meanwhile the farm folks spent the whole day harvesting peppers, eggplant, and other frost vulnerable crops. The Fall salad greens had to be covered with remay. Straw bedding was provided for the 5 piglets and our Jersey cow, Blue Bell. Thankfully, our spotted lamb, barely a month old now, has a good woolly coat like the others in his flock.

Last Friday I bought an '87 Dodge Dakota pickup, two-tone blue with a cream cap. The plan was for Paul and Robin to pick it up in Edmonton Saturday afternoon on their way back from Nashville. On Saturday morning I loaded up the Ranger and started out for St. Andrew's market. As I was driving along, the truck seemed to keep losing power. By the time I got to Glasgow I could go neither forward nor back, stuck in the middle of the church parking lot. I felt very blessed to be there and not somewhere along the 26 miles of road between the church and my house! The other vendors helped me unload the truck: 4 buckets of flowers, 2 huge containers of vegetables, and the heavy Hill and Hollow stand. About an hour later AAA arrived to tow it back to Edmonton BP. Meanwhile, one of the vendors, Don, offered to bring me and all my stuff home after market. So I had a pretty easy time of it- got to market; had a pleasant ride home.

Later that afternoon Robin arrived ihere in the big white van followed shortly by Paul in my new pickup. I had to tell them the sad story of the Ranger. We agreed that the timing of my purchase was providential. So the Dodge pickup went into service for the farm. Two days later the van had to be towed to BP. And the "malfunction indicator lamp" lit up in my Honda. I felt ill with panic. All of a sudden our good rural life here was in jeopardy due to incapacitated vehicles. I guess that feeling confirms the point my favorite columnist, Tom Friedman, keeps trying to make- reducing our reliance on fossil fuel will require massive changes in the way we organize our lives, especially in agricultural areas.

Last month I made the Glasgow Daily Times- in a special supplement called "Agriculture Today". There were articles about a number of different farms and/or people in farming. Our St. Andrew's Market was on the first page of that section with a well-done story and a couple of color photos. I was inside, a quarter page black and white shot of me at our stand, and an article: "Organic Farming: Proof is in the Product". Then two full columns of an interview with me. I remember feeling lots of trepidation that day- trying to represent organic growers to a reporter. But she asked good questions- and I guess the old preacher kicked in- I talked a lot longer than I thought I could on that subject. I remember thinking what are Paul and Robin and their farmer friends going to make of this? As it turns out, the article came out the same week as the Hill and Hollow Field Day. Friends brought copies for us to see. They thought it was great. Paul and Robin thought it was great. I was very pleased to realize how much I have learned from them.

My best to each one of you for a good harvest.

Love, Louise