hump day nuggets :: farms, friends & the food chain

hump day nuggets :: little bits about the season in photos and words about the last week

October has been an incredibly beautiful month around here.  Mornings start with brisk temperatures, low-lying fog and the sun rising over the fields to the east of us.  Our first frost came like a warning last Thursday morning and whispered...get ready.  By mid-afternoon we have been shedding our sweaters, throwing on cooler clothing and completely relishing the warm, cozy afternoons.  Every night for the last week has been a show of epic sunsets up and down the Sonoma Coast.  We stop whatever it is that we're doing, pay attention, slow down and watch the colors blaze across the sky and color it varying shades of pink, aubergine and persimmon.  It's like church, only better.  

nuggets.

Steve's Winking Gourd, Grady's mini Cyclops & Tammi's Friendly Vampire

:: Victory.  Um, did I mention that we were in it to win it this year at the 12th annual Chute Pumpkin Carving Contest?  Well, we may not get invited back next year, but victory was most definitely ours.

You must have the tools of the trade if you are going to take first place.  I mean, c'mon now.  To show up unarmed is really an amateur move.  Steve's gourd was a last-minute decision and his design took first place.  Granted, there were a few people in the crowd that debated the use of a gourd in an actual pumpkin carving contest, but I think those were the same people that questioned my use of silver spray paint two years ago.  I call sore loser.

Grady and his Cyclops incarnation kind of look alike, with the exception of the additional eyeball on G's noggin, of course.  This annual party is really fun and the competition and constant ribbing is really all just good-natured fun.  Or at least I think it is...

:: Commission.  I commissioned a painting of my sweet little man about six months ago from his amazingly talented art teacher, Kai.  I asked him to take his time and paint our boy shortly after his eighth birthday.  I think he captured him beautifully, especially his mouth and hair!  Oh, that hair.

:: Going native.  We are super lucky to live near Mostly Natives Nursery in Tomales.  They have a wonderful plant sale during the month of October and we spent a few of our morning hours there this past Saturday.

We picked up a few flowering Penstemon (sour grapes varieties) to plant in front of our future art studio window and G finally got the Baumea rubiginosa he's been coveting since last year's plant sale.  Now, let's see if they make it into the ground...

Requisite jump shot & pumpkin head photo!

We rendezvoused with the Rangel girls and hit Peter's Pumpkin Patch at Spring Hill Cheese Farm in the tiny town of Two Rock Valley.

It was a really hot day and the kids immediately ran through the hay maze, milked a cow, pet the donkeys, fed the pigs and made fun of the resident Shetland yak(?).  We also purchased the dreamiest homemade pumpkin ice cream that just hit the spot for the kids and the adults.

With the surplus of all the free child labor we had on hand, we immediately put them to work digging up butterball, red & purple potatoes.  We steamed ours for Sunday night dinner and they were the best potatoes I've ever eaten.  G was real proud that he personally picked them for us and I'd love it if we could grow some next year.  Somehow, I think the resident gophers will have something to say about this plan of mine.

We rounded out our Saturday by attending a Pork & Pinot dinner at our good friend's home and ranch in Occidental.  He purchased this succulent pig and an auction lot of Merry Edwards 2007 Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir earlier this year at a Sonoma County Farm Bureau fundraiser.  We were the lucky recipients of his kind invitation to partake in the sacred event of watching the animal cook, be broken down and revered by all those in attendance.  It was paired beautifully with the silky, smooth wine it was auctioned off with and I cannot think of a more decadent way to spend a Sonoma County evening than with good friends, fantastic wine and desserts from Mom's Apple Pie.  A true locavore's dream.

A Sunday morning phone call changed the direction of our day and we found ourselves face-to-face with 70 chirping little chicks at Hands Full Farm.  Correction, make that 69, as one was dead upon our arrival and fed to the farm dog, Max.  Another example of the food chain for my boy to see and understand.  What a weekend for all this farm and food education.

Speaking of which, I did attend an author lecture at the Petaluma Seed Bank earlier in the week.  The charismatic Joel Salatin of Polyface Farms (featured farmer and farm in Michael Pollan's bestseller Omnivore's Dilemma) was the guest speaker and he truly inspired the packed room with his ideology and passionate straight talk.  When someone from the audience asked him his hypothesis on how to educate people outside of Sonoma County, as to eating local and supporting CSA's and the family farm - he said this:  Lead by example.  It's the most powerful thing you can do.  Be the burning bush.  

Amen.  

This is the first year that Grady has not been an animal for Halloween, specifically, a canine in these most recent years.  Oh, he's been Clifford, Scooby Doo, Underdog, Shaggy and Bolt.  However, I do think he's just the sweetest pirate this side of Nim's Island.  Total cost of costume: $4.  Thrifted pants, shirt and earring.  Dad made him an awesome sword and he gathered the handkerchief, scorpion necklace and stuffed parakeet from his playhouse.  I loved his pirate creation and, better yet, I loved his creative license this Halloween season.

Grady with our neighbors, Nurse Rosario & Doctor Giovanni

Grady trick-or-treated on Johns Street and hit three of the four neighbors' homes.  Remember, we only have about 126 people in this town.  This was clearly a good percentage of our town's population!  After our Johns Street stroll we headed over to Tomales where the sweet village was ready and willing to hand out candy to all of the local children that made the trek through town.

:: Alone time.  We've taken to kicking Grady out of the house this last week because it's just been too beautiful to be inside.  However, he just wants to read.  He rode his bike around for a few minutes and then figured out he could climb our oak tree and read up there without interruption.  He's a clever one.

::  Hello, morning.  Kiki Larue likes to greet the morning with me on the front deck.  I can't get enough of these sunrises.

:: Ka-Pow!  How do you like this coming at you?  It's something else alright.  Yes, another awesome school picture featuring this year's hair helmet, cool braided wrist accessory and the fiery, exploding background.  It's just the kind of thing I love about paying Life Touch for their school photo service.  Oh, and Grady seems to be missing his left arm.  Nice, eh?

Happy hump day one and all.