I doubt anyone can think of more perfect weather than we on the Vineyard have been experiencing this past week. It seems all the more so (and unfair) in light of the folks who had the misfortune to live in the paths of Harvey and Irma.

I grew up on the top of a mountain and live here on the Vineyard a couple of miles from the shore. Therefore, I’ve never had to experience a flood. I hope I never have to. The very idea of all that dirty water ruining the garden and spilling into my house is unsettling at best. Plus, now with no power the conditions must be terrible.

I have been picking summer squash from my July planting. Also, the new cucumber plants are beginning to flower. Yippie. Good thing as I yanked all the first plantings. Between the bugs and mildew they had seen better days.

When I moved into my house in 1974 I found a crooked apple tree being overtaken by a scrub pine tree and bittersweet. I pruned around it and cut down the pine. It is still crooked and never gave up a decent apple. Until this year, that is. I had Todd from Vineyard Gardens spray dormant oil before the flowers opened and later for the winter moths. Great decision. The tree produced perfect apples like you see in the books — and plenty of them.

My son Jeremiah said that the problem is pests attacking the reproductive parts of the tree before it flowers. Therefore, it is impossible to make fruit. The dormant oil smothers the pests.

On Saturday, my other son, Reuben, and his friend Jake manned the cider press. I processed 26 quarts of cider in a boiling water bath and still have a half-bushel left to turn into sauce. It’s been a long 40-year wait. I highly recommend giving Vineyard Gardens a ring and getting on the spring spraying list.

My friend Sharlee is a genius. She and I were discussing bread salads. I call them sandwiches with forks — sliced tomatoes, some feta cheese, croutons, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. She threw one into the blender for a quick and delicious gazpacho. We did joke about never writing a cookbook.

Now is the time to begin thinking about next season. I hope I start perusing the bulb catalog and get an order together before things are sold out. I purchased some winter rye and need to prepare some areas to receive it. I’ve been using quite a bit of lime of late and am pleased with the results. I will lime all the rye areas once again.

This year my garlic crop was so good that I’m going to select the biggest and the best to replant for next year. Wow, this is a first. Am I am finally living in my perfect world.

Check the local nurseries. They should be having some good sales. It would be great to fill in some holes in the perennial beds and mixed borders.

One thing I like about myself is my observation skills. To wit: this year I have a good number of monarch butterfly caterpillars feeding on my property. They have decimated all the milkweed and have started on the butterfly weed. I have yet to see them forming chrysalises. Barbara Kingsolver wrote a great book about monarchs, Flight Behavior. Give it a go this winter.

One thing good about the hurricanes is that we had a few days of peace from endless Trump coverage in the press. He was back in force, though, by Tuesday. He wants James Comey prosecuted for “leaking” to the press. Honestly, DJT is like a man stopped for speeding who says to the policeman “whatever you do, don’t look in the trunk.”

He’s worried and probably should be. There are an awful lot of coincidences concerning Russian involvement in our election and Trump world.