That was some impressive rain on Sunday. Edgartown reported four inches. This is most likely an “old wives’ tale” (I’m not a wife, but am old), but supposedly an inch of rain would translate into a foot of snow, so four feet of the white stuff in an afternoon. Yikes!
Last week’s column had a typo, which amused me. I meant to say that baby trees need a healthy “sip” before winter but instead the word was printed as “sap.” I guess auto correct on the computer doesn’t think like me.
I cleaned up some roses that spent the summer in large pots collecting weeds. One can only hope that they finally get into the ground. I’m not a huge fan of roses. They require a lot of fussing and I usually manage to get a thorn or two embedded in my hand. Good thing I have some Dr. Christopher’s Black Ointment slathered on a Bandaid — it will draw out thorns and/or splinters. In a pinch, honey does the same thing.
When I moved to the property in the early 1970s, I planted a tiny Concord Grape Vine. For years, it has produced enough to yield dozens of quarts of juice. It requires a lot of work and countless loads of dirty pans, but is so worth the effort.
We harvested the winter squash and pumpkins. In my perfect world (in which I do not live), I would have left them to continue ripening in the field but, sadly, there were the beginning of critter bite marks. The little jerks already had their way with the Moon and Star watermelons. Violet and I got to enjoy a couple of tiny ones and the chickens got the rest. Sigh!
In the shrub border, Lespedeza is the star of the fall. There is a nice one at the entrance of Gayle Gardens (the old Heather Gardens) and one hanging over the wall at Polly Hill. A member of the pea family, it is sometimes called bush clover. I went on the Google and found that it is an excellent nutritious forage for goats.
I hauled out the food dehydrator. I am drying Black Eyed Peas. I had a bumper crop. The deer that ate my green beans left them alone. We ate some fresh, but I do like to have a few jars of the dried ones. By the way, they last for years if properly dried.
In the before times when I had an ancient gas range with a pilot light, it served as a drying rack for all sorts of herbs, beans, peppers and tomatoes. The new dehydrator uses electricity and is annoyingly loud — such is progress.
Speaking of progress, there has been alarming news this week on the potential damage from an out-of-control AI industry. I was going to say don’t even get me started about the data centers, but it’s too late — I’m started!
About 50 years ago, there was a health food store on Beach Road where I believe the Martha’s Vineyard Times is now located. It was slated to become the first McDonald’s on the Vineyard. There was an Islandwide protest and, as you know, we still don’t have one. No one has proposed a data center here, but elsewhere there have been protests, but many are happening after the fact.
What is happening to us as a society? Everywhere I go most folks are scrolling on their phones. There is no more exchange of pleasantries while waiting in lines.
My favorite quote this past week was DJT saying that those of us who don’t want the centers in our neighborhoods just wish to remain poor. I didn’t go to the Wharton Business School, Donnie, but I can do arithmetic.