Just another site along the (super)highway...

I've only been to Ohio once and it wasn't for long enough to really get a sense for its culture. Nevertheless, I suspect there's something not quite right in the water there.

I give you exhibit A, a run-of-the-mill office building in Newark, Ohio...

I stumbled upon this shot of the home office for the Longaberger Basket company while doing a Google Image search for "baskets." Who'd have figured I'd find one that included an elevator.

My question is, do you think there's a giant fried chicken, potato salad, and an extra large bottle of wine inside? And how long does it take to fold the napkins? And of course, wherever there's a picnic, there are ants... . Yikes!

A day off...

Sunday brought us weather that is as close to perfection as I'm likely to find in Blue Earth County. The sky was powder blue, tufts of cloud drifted lazily across the open expanse, and the line of trees at lake-side filtered the wind into a aural shimmer. So I decided to take the day off...from weeding, from blogging, from editing, from thinking. So serious was I to not taint a full day's respite from mental activity, I didn't just steer clear of my computer; I turned it off.

Instead, coffee was sipped outdoors. I read an article about making cheese. I baked cookies. I pulled onions and herbs from the garden and prepped them for future meal-making. I cut carrots. I took a nap in the hammock. I gazed at the vineyard for long stretches, taking in the sight of more than 600 vibrant vines climbing toward heaven. I took stock of the weeds underfoot, knowing that this was a chore left for another day.

Animal farm...

Farm dog (nasty predator that he is) has been banished from Four Cedars ever since the flock of Targhees arrived. And while the ewes add a certain character to the backside of the vineyard, they still regard me suspiciously and from a safe distance. In other words, we haven't exactly bonded, which I suppose is a good thing since one of them might spend the winter in my freezer.

That's left me no one to talk to this week except for the chickens. Fortunately, my three hens and two roosters are attentive listeners. And unlike the sheep, they greet me enthusiastically every time I pass nearby. This leaves me in a quandry. With two of the five unable to provide for my breakfast, will I have the heart (or the stomach) to turn them into supper.

Time will tell. Maybe I could assign that task to farm dog, nasty predator that he is. He returns with hubby this Friday!

The LeSeuer County herd at Blue Earth County summer camp.

Hurry up and grow...

I was reading the latest edition of Notes from the North, the newsletter of the Minnesota Grape Growers Association, and learned that Edelweiss is the most widely planted "wine" grape in both Nebraska and Iowa. Edelweiss, originally released as a table grape, makes for a crisp, grapey, fruity flowery wine; not necessarily the style of wine I'd choose to go with lunch.

This was the point of the article, however. As growers, we need to set our personal tastes aside and grow grapes for a developing industry. According to the article, 95 percent of the people who walk into a Midwestern tasting room like grapey, crisp, fruity flowery wine.

Edelweiss has become the No. 1 wine in Nebraska. Not the No. 1 Nebraska wine, but the No. 1 wine asked for in Nebraska, topping wines from California, France, Australia, and others. This is important news for growers who, like me, have rows and rows of Edelweiss in the ground. How far is it to Nebraska, anyway?