Smokey Days on the Palouse

There are so many wildfires burning around the NW that our air on the Palouse is smokey and thick.  I am praying for the folks who've been evacuated from their homes.  I hope no one else loses their life, too.  The fire fighters are spread so thin now and are so over-worked that it is nearly impossible for them to figure when the fires will all be contained or put out. 


We got a hard freeze on Tuesday night and the beans are gone, plus no more autumn crop of raspberries.  The tomatoes were protected because they are covered, but as soon as they turn color I'll be picking them to finish ripening where they'll be safe from frost.  The dry beans were nearly all mature, so I'll pull them, hang the plants up and let them finish drying down - followed by a bean threshing so we'll have pinto beans grown right here at 'Rosevale on the Palouse'. 

We got some pumpkins and some winter squash from the volunteer plants that grew in the potato patch - oh yes, I nearly forgot, we need to dig "spuds", too.  I have already dug up a few and it looks to be a really good crop this year.