Harley's new home

John and Harley home from the forest

We moved Harley to a new barn last Monday--a farm lush with grass, closer to good trail riding, and much nicer company. He's made friends with Echoe, and figured out he's not to bug Vance or Gator (the two head honchos). John and I have taken him for rides up into the Orris Falls Conservation area a few times, each time a little further. The bugs have been voracious this summer, but today, we finally had cooler, breezier weather. John rode him for about an hour and got back to the barn just as the skies let loose with a shower. Tomorrow, it's my turn!
He will be much happier here, plenty of food, and plenty of shade. Plus he's not forced to be in a stall 14 hours a day. These guys are out all night in the summer, mingling with the fire flies, the wild turkeys (of which there are many), and the deer. I'm sure an occasional fox or coyote pass by as well. Pete says he's seen moose, and bear sign out in the woods, but never near the paddocks--that would really give Harley a start! Callie likes it better here too--she gets free run of the barn with Michelle's dog, Dasher, and Pete's two dogs, Libra and Moby--all very laid back and cool with one another. Oh, and she gets to clean up Harley's spilled grain--yummy!

How does the garden grow?

It's a jungle overrun by winter squash, climbing, creeping, taking over the corner gardens. Our tomato plants are full of plump green tomatoes--we're just waiting for them to finally ripen. I harvested our first crop of green beans, enough for two meals. With everything started so late, I'll be glad to get whatever food we can this year.

I had my third driving lesson on the tractor yesterday. Dad had me harrowing, up and down, up and down, chopping up the grasses that grew in during our absence. John will plant a cover crop and then next spring, we'll plow that under and start anew. I told him there was no point in planting a fall garden unless he planned on fattening up a deer for our winter meat! We need to build a fence and decorate the borders with pie plates.