With the farm being only 7 miles from the coast, we get the benefit of the coastal breezes, but not as much fog as the coast gets.  Once in a while it reaches us, and the island becomes very quiet and even more special than usual.

Our experiment earlier this year with round zucchinis didn't turn out to be such a great success... but this experiment with lemon cucumbers was a huge success.  They are crisp on the outside and sweet on the inside.  We eat them like apples.

Every farm should have a hay stack.  Now we do.  Actually this is straw, so we have a straw stack.

We have been trying to find a source for straw bales since we first got to the farm.  We found one source between Eugene and Portland, but it always seemed like we should be able to find one closer.

Well we did... and this is what 120 bales of straw look like.  We're going to use them to contain  our compost areas and for a wind break for our bees.

No caption needed.

The idea of planting anything in September or October with any hope of
getting a crop was not even considered in our "short season" homeland
of Colorado. (Although Eliot Coleman grows lettuce all winter long in
unheated greenhouses in Maine... so it can be done). However, since
we are actually rated as a USDA zone 9 (the same as Southern
California) we have great hopes for our "second spring".

Here you can see the peas growing up their new trellis lines. We used
stakes earlier this year and decided to give them more support this
time around. They definitely like it.

In an effort to keep Jonathan from hitting me on the head with a
shovel the next time I asked "what is this?" and "when did we plant
it?"... we now have weather proof labels adorning our field. A big
thanks goes out to Liz for helping me look a little less lame.