Today's post is just a little of this and a little of that.

Sort of how our weekend was....

a little of this and a little of that!

Saturday was our wedding anniversary,

so we took part of the day to explore a small college town

about 20 miles away.

Each Saturday they have a Farmer's Market lining the sidewalks of their Main Street.

Most of what we find at farmer's markets we grow ourselves.

But this week we happened upon some wonderful treats...

like...

 locally grown organic leeks and organic red raspberries,

organic mountain mint whole leaf tea,

and these....

Do you know what these are?

They are ground cherries.

Ground cherries are in the tomatillo family.

They are a distant cousin that is indigenous to our area.

They are smaller and sweeter than a tomatillo,

and they are yellow.

The young man who sold them to us said that their seeds are difficult to find,

and quite pricey.

So, I squeezed a couple in order to dry their seeds for next year's garden.

And the rest we made into Ground Cherry Jam...

Amanda, "jammin"

and let me tell you,

this jam is super fantastic!!

I can hardly wait to grow my own ground cherries next summer.

There will be lots of ground cherry jam in our pantry next year!

If you happen to find these at your local market,

email me and I will send you a great jam recipe!

With the arrival of Hurricane Irene, 

we spent a good portion of the rest of the weekend indoors.

Rain and wind took its toll on some of my flowers,

so I cut the sunflowers lying on the ground,

as well as some hydrangeas, 

and brought them into the house to enjoy.

Nothing brightens up a rainy day like fresh cut flowers!

Each summer I cut these white hydrangeas and dry them....

a lasting piece of summer to enjoy through the winter.

A break in the rain gave us a chance to pick enough apples,

for me to make a luscious apple pie.

Served warm with a vanilla ice cream....

heavenly!

I had a little leftover crust,

so we picked a few bunches of grapes,

and made a grape tart.

By the end of the weekend,

we had only 1 3/4 inches of rain...

enough to raise the level of the pond by about a foot. 

Two more feet to go and it will be back to full capacity.

No post is complete without an animal tale....

Something has happened in the farm mafia.

Apparently Guinea Gus has been thrown out of the "family."

He has been spending his days alone, near the barn,

while Guido and Guiseppe remain in the company of the turkeys.

It's odd, because up to this point,

for the past two years, these three have been inseparable.

I overheard Guido saying to him...

(in his best Marlin Brando impersonation.)

"Gus, you're my older brother, and I love you.

 But don't ever take sides with anyone against the family again. Ever."

If only I knew what that was all about!