Dottie with her blue ribbon zucchini at the Yamhill County Fair earlier this month.
This is a full month! When I look at our calendar, I am amazed at how much has already happened and how much is still coming. I imagine others are feeling similarly, as we all aim to get the most out of summer while it lasts.
Here are some highlights from our family’s August:
We started the month off with participation in the Yamhill County Fair! This is our fourth year entering, and it was the first year that I lacked enthusiasm for the task. It’s actually a lot of work, between dropping off entries (twice if you have a craft AND vegetables, as we usually do), attending the fair (the best part!), and picking every thing up after the fair is over. It was hot out, and Rusty had just spent a long (wonderful!) week at day camp with Outdoor Education Adventures, and I would have been happy to just let the fair slip away this year.
BUT, the kids would not let us miss it! This year, they stepped up and took initiative for preparing their entries and making sure I was on board to help fill out forms and drive everything to the fair. Dottie chose her artwork, and I helped her frame it. The morning of the horticultural entries, Rusty grabbed the fair handbook from me and took it outside to help guide he and Dottie’s picking for their entries from their garden (you have to know how many of each item to enter). I was so happy to see their genuine enthusiasm for a project that until now had been very much led by me. They wanted to participate in this event and share their work with our community.
They also, of course, love winning ribbons. That is part of the fun! And, as always, they did well. Our fair is small, so there is ample room for every participant to do well. Dottie won Best of Show for her garden painting, which was the highlight of the fair for her. Both kids won several ribbons for their vegetable and flower entries. And, we even managed to survive the heat on fair day too.
Rusty enjoying his first live Shakespeare performance! A big milestone in our house.
That Saturday, Rusty and I enjoyed a very special date. I was planning to go alone to Willamette Shakespeare‘s outdoor performance of The Winter’s Tale, but early that morning Rusty cuddled up with me and begged to go. We had read the story of this play as part of our school last year, so he knew the plot summary. He really wanted to go, so he joined me to Stoller Vineyards to watch the play in their beautiful oak grove. He loved it — every minute! And, I did too. We were in the third row, and we were able to enjoy every little detail of the performance (as well as the gorgeous setting). If you’ve never attended one of Willamette Shakespeare’s plays, you really have to check it out.
Now THAT’s the way to enjoy Shakespeare! Chillaxing on a summer evening. (Check out my summer sandal tan lines! Must be August!)
Next up for our family was a week of swimming lessons! Followed by a wonderful shared dinner with our neighbors, 47th Avenue Farm. We harvested some of that trial corn I mentioned last week and started our meal by each tasting eight different varieties of corn. Every single variety was outstanding! We stuffed ourselves with that corn and then ate roasted potatoes right out of the pan while we waited for hamburgers, which we ate with cucumber salad, roasted zucchini and eggplant, and fresh heirloom tomatoes. We finished it all up with watermelon. What an August feast! Then, Rusty led us all on an evening walk about the farm. We ran through the cover crop field in the golden dusky light and relished the sweet cool air that had finally returned to the valley. It was a magical summer evening.
This week Rusty is doing day camp again, this time learning outdoor survival skills. Meanwhile, back at the farm we’re getting busy preparing to host lots of out-of-town friends for Monday’s total solar eclipse!!!!!!!!! We’re cutting back blackberries, mowing, and generally tidying things up — mostly because having guests is a good excuse to do necessary housekeeping.
But, yes, there’s a solar eclipse coming on Monday! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and we are so excited that we get to view it from our farm. I’m sure this is what I’ll write about next week, so I’ll leave it at that.
After that, our family will enjoy our last full week of summer “break,” ending with a fun date outing for Casey and me: attending the annual “Big Night” dinner at Bounty of Yamhill County. This is a super fun event that we look forward to every year. We are teamed up with Nick’s Italian Café this year, and we eagerly anticipate trying the yummy dish they make with our vegetables (as well as all the other delicious food too).
And, then the next day … we start school again! We’ll warm up to our school routine slowly, but I think we’re getting close to ready around here.
But, still! This has been such a fabulous summer for our family and farm, and I just want to hold onto it.
I imagine those sentiments are shared. I hope that everyone else has enjoyed their summer. At the very least, the food has been fabulous, right? And that will continue to be the case as we journey through late summer and well into fall.
Enjoy this week’s vegetables!
Your farmers, Casey & Katie Kulla
P.S. After writing this post, I sat back and thought, “wow, we live in an amazing community.” Such wonderful things are going on here all the time! Thanks to everyone in the wider Yamhill County community who contributes to the ongoing awesomeness!!!!
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Meet this week’s vegetables:
- Plums
- Apples
- Sweet corn
- Salad mix
- Tomatoes
- Eggplant
- Green peppers — If you’re wondering, yes we will have colored peppers too. But, (did you know?) that colored peppers (such as red) start green? Yes, indeed! Green peppers are just less mature versions of the colored bell and sweet peppers! This is why they have a different taste too, because the flavor profile is at a different stage of maturity. I’ve come to love both stages of peppers, appreciating them for their differences.
- Cucumbers
- Carrots
- Cabbage
- Fennel bulbs
- Zucchini
- Garlic
