Now that we have turned the clocks back an hour for daylight savings time, I’m taking an assessment to see if I am getting ahead or falling further behind in my outdoor work. I’ve still got a couple dozen daffodil bulbs to plant before the ground freezes and several bushes that need a good cutting back as I didn’t get around to the task this summer. The gardens have all been rototilled so I am in good shape in that regards. The colder temperatures are definitely slowing down the growth of the grass so I’m thinking that perhaps one last pass over the lawn will end this year’s mowing season.
Jeanette and I took a ride to Watkins Glen by way of Penn Yan to see how much field work is left. The field of cabbages on route 14A that we saw is one of the most uniform fields of cabbages that I have seen. The heads seem fully ripe to me and I am wondering why these haven’t been picked yet. Jeanette loves cabbage and I am sure that we will take some with us to Pennsylvania when we celebrate Thanksgiving at Susan’s home. I found a neat recipe for cabbage soup which is supposed to help you lose weight (click here). I’m thinking that if I only ate cabbage soup for a week which doesn’t have any meat in it, I would definitely lose weight but would probably become miserable in the process!
Looking back to Keuka Lake from a side road off 14A, one can see that most of the field work is done. The corn has been taken in for silage and winter wheat planted in the corn stubble. The ear corn has been picked. You can see the sun just peeking through the clouds enough to light up the hill on the other side of the valley.
We follow route 14A to Dundee and then take a side road which comes out at the Glenora Winery. Most all of the grapes have been harvested by now and are being made into wine which will be ready to bottle towards the end of the year. The leaves on the grape vines yellow and then fall, but across Seneca Lake, one can see a surprising amount of color still left on the trees near the Lake.
As we returned home I stopped and took a picture of some beautiful red maple trees just up the road from where we live. Their color alone made the trip worthwhile. And to be honest with you, I don’t care if I fall behind on my outdoor work or not as there are still three perfectly good weeks of fall left here in the Finger Lakes!
