UPDATE

So, since my mother will not stop badgering me about writing another entry, I've decided to acquiesce. This entry is going to be picture heavy and we’ll start by going back to two weekends ago, I’ll do my best to remember everything…

This weekend was “Wheels and Wings”, one of the town festivals in Osceola highlighted by old car parades, air shows, and the infamous truck-pull. Friday night we went with a van-full of people to the truck-pull, not really my cup of tea, but a cultural experience in and of itself. However, we were out until 10:30, way past my bedtime.

The next day after Saturday morning harvest I set off for Phillips, WI, a two and half hour drive East of Osceola. My friend Libby was having a going away party with family an

d friends at her dad’s cabin before road tripping cross-country to California to try her hand as an amateur filmmaker. That night we had a bonfire and grilled out. Sunday after a hearty breakfast and some time reading out in the sun we set off on a kayaking adventure. Because of the lack of rain recently the river that runs by their house was too low to kayak so we drove just under an hour to the Flambeau River, which hosts Level 1 and 2 rapids (the easiest). We had a leisurely three-hour kayak trip down river and then ended the weekend with dinner before driving back to Osceola. Libby and her friend Emily followed me home and stayed

the night in order to see the community and help out with the morning harvest before continuing West. All in all, a very fun weekend.

Fast forward to this past weekend (as everything tends to blur together and I can’t remember many details from this past week). Saturday afternoon Tina, another AmeriCorps intern, organized a little hike to Interstate State Park, which lies on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin and is divided by the St. Croix River. It was a very nice, easy hike with great views and lots of glacialpotholes. We also saw lots of kayakers and rock climbers. We finished up our hike with a walk to the local coffee shop in Taylors Falls, where Tina worked in high school.

Sunday, Oscar’s parents had a lamb roast at their straw-bale timber-frame DIY house in Spring Valley. They have a hobby farm where they raise meat sheep and tend a small garden. They had a lovely gathering of family and friends and lots of delicious food despite the fact that it rained the whole time.

Other highlights of the week include the first hard frost, which induced a night of frantic harvesting and crop covering, the birth of two more calves, and Julian getting chickenpox. We have also had an influx of school groups come to stay a few days at a time. One was a 3^rd grade class from a Waldorf school in Minneapolis and the other is a senior class from the Avalon school. We’ve put them to work harvesting, processing and doing other odd jobs around the farm. The younger kids were especially fun and I got to spend an afternoon making more grape juice with them. Additionally, this Tuesday we had one of the longest afternoons to date in the packing shed getting the CSA boxes ready.