Pumpkins...in July?

I love fall. It is the best season hands down. I love the beautiful leaves (especially the orange ones, as you will see below), the crisp weather that coaxes me into cardigans, the pumpkin spice lattes, the comfortable bikes rides, and the celebration of my glorious birth. Yet, it is not TRULY fall until I see pumpkins showing up in front of grocery stores. I have had a love affair with pumpkins since I was a child; I can't get enough of their orangey roundness. But something has happened this year that has thrown my seasonal clock out of whack. THIS happened:

Pumpkins in July? Does not compute.

I started pumpkin seeds in the apartment after we had decided to buy our house. We went away for a few days to visit a friend in Ohio, and when I came back...BAM! A pumpkin sprout had punched a chunk a dirt out of the way and was greedily taking in the sunlight. By the time we moved in the house, the pumpkin plants were becoming so tall that they couldn't hold themselves up anymore. After I cleaned up the garden space, I immediately transferred the pumpkins to their new home. They went crazy! I had no idea how much space they could take up.

"Watch out!" says that tomato plant. (If you haven't seen the Honeybadger video, this comment isn't funny to you. Also, get some culture.)

Kansas has been unseasonably warm (which is why those leaves are so droopy, don't judge) which has caused a lot of crops to show up earlier than usual. My pumpkins have been no exception. As of last week, I have picked THREE pumpkins. THREE! And they aren't even advertising pumpkin spices lattes yet...

Needless to say, I'm experiencing an existential crisis that only a person who is just teaching one online class this summer (and mostly watching Korean romantic comedies) could have. Pumpkins used to bring me so much joy, but outside of fall, they seem out of place. I even question if I'll grow them next year because I've taken away the need to go to a pumpkin patch, an annual tradition for my husband and me. But on the less emo side, it was fun to see them grow, and I know they will last and be beautiful until Halloween and beyond. You might be thinking, "Can't she just put them in her basement until fall?" The answer is no. That's sad. 

Until fall comes, I'll just have to appreciate the pumpkins and find something to pass the time.......

The many things in my kitchen that are orange, i.e., passing the time.

 

Where the Sidewalk Ends: Exercising in the Country

When we lived in an apartment in the suburbs, my husband and I frequently used the paved trail that was easily accessible from our backyard. The trail was great for leisurely walks or sweat-inducing bike rides (when the trail wasn't under construction and the city wasn't lying about completion dates, we could go on 20+ mile bike rides). On the days we wanted some different scenery, we walked across the street to stroll around the park or trekked on the winding sidewalks through the nearby subdivision. 

While we had numerous walking options, we were pretty much stuck riding our bikes on the trail or schlepping our bikes on the car to safe, low traffic locations. Although I saw a couple brave souls riding their bikes on the busy street that ran in front of our apartment complex,  I was not going to put my life or my bike's life in the hands of any of those drivers. Even the trail was getting a little dangerous. I can't tell you how many parents, with three children under five on tricycles on the wrong side of the trail and a dog with its leash stretched across the trail, were diligently playing Words with Friends on their iPhone while simultaneously guaranteeing my certain doom. No matter how many times you ring your bell or shout, "On your left!", you're still forced to bring your bike to a complete stop as the parent eyes you as if you almost killed his/her children and not the other way around. I'm not saying bikes are innocent in this case; my dad was just recently pummeled by a cyclist who cut a corner on the trail going 1,000,000 mph. Don't worry- my dad is okay, and the other guy got 20 stitches. Anyway, my main point is that the streets weren't safe and neither were the trails.

Enter our new location in the country. There are no sidewalks, and honestly, I don't see a lot of use for them because I rarely see people out walking/running/biking. Lack of sidewalks didn't put a damper on our walks though. Apparently, you can walk on the street! Despite some unleashed, barky, charging dogs, the walks are safe and have offered really beautiful views.We see more cats than cars when we go on our strolls, and the plethora of "God Bless America" mailboxes is just something you have to see for yourself.

Okay, this is more of a yellow field than a green one, but it's still neat to see.

The bike routes available to us are the best part. Who needs a trail when you can go ride on the road and count the number of cars you see on one hand? Instead of children, yappy dogs, and iPhones, you are greeted by horses, geese with their awkward molting babies, cows, green fields, old-timey country homes, and wide open spaces (yes, the kind the Dixie Chicks sang about). While you do have to be a little mindful of traffic and people, you are able to spend more time working on your fitness and your pedal stroke. Best of all, you don't have to worry about the next yorkie that's going to clothesline you.

Don't worry, honey! This is a yorkie-free zone!

Speaking of bike rides, I'm going on a big one in September to help benefit people with multiple sclerosis. If you'd like to support me and help people living with MS, please donate on my Bike MS fundraising page. My best friend and a few of my family members have been diagnosed with MS, so this cause is close to my heart. Please help if you can. No amount is too small. Thanks!

Building Fences

When we first met one of our next door neighbors, he promptly told me that his turkeys and deer were going to eat my garden. Apparently, he feeds the wild turkeys and deer that run through our neighborhood, thus making them his. Having a garden was one of the things I had most looked forward to when we were looking to buy a country home.Our home already had a garden when we bought it, and it took me days to clean it up (it was buried in dead grass and leaves), till it, and plant our fruits and vegetables. I was not going to let the deer, turkeys, et al. ruin my hard work. I had seen the tears and rage that tomato-eating squirrels had brought upon my parents and my in-laws. I would not be part of it. We needed to build a fence.

When you go to the Home Depot gardening center, the only fencing you see are cutesy decorative wire ones. Deer eat these for breakfast and then continue on to eat your tomatoes. I read that I would need a 7+ foot fence to keep deer out. A serious fence like this requires a serious trip to Tractor Supply (okay, you can buy this stuff at Home Depot in the fencing department, but Tractor Supply was having a sale). I bought some t-posts and a roll of 5ft high garden fencing. Each t-post came with four clips. The word clip made me think of a chip clip, and how easy are those to use? EASY.

Clips? I don't remember needing pliers to close my chip bag.

On fence building day, my husband and I busted out the heavy metal tube we had purchased for beating the posts into the ground. I'm sure the neighbors cursed us for purchasing the house as loud metallic clangs punctured the air at 9 in the morning on a Saturday. We put a post every 6ft (which is what you're supposed to do) and then rolled out the fencing around the posts. Then came the hard part. The "clips" we had been given were not clip-like at all, and we were at a loss to how these were supposed to hold the fencing against the t-post. 

Close but no cigar.

My husband (the engineer) eventually hacked the clips into submission with this arrangement------------------------------------------------>

Imagine the fence in between the two clips. While this was kind of keeping the fence against the post,  it was fairly loose. We finally admitted defeat and consulted the all-knowing You Tube. After watching a couple videos, we realized it only took one clip and a good pair of pliers. So much for calling it a clip. We put about two clips on each post, one at the top and one at the bottom, and called it a fence.

This is how you do it! Viva la You Tube!

We built the fence over a month ago, and so far, I have been the only living creature to harvest my garden. I'm hoping this continues because if not, we will have to start looking at electric fences.....

The finished product. Please don't judge my droopy pumpkin leaves. Kansas has been very hot recently. They were watered thoroughly after the photo shoot.