Last Saturday’s Living Local event was a good time had by all. We started on Friday evening at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center. A great documentary, Open Sesame, was presented before a sizable audience. It was about the importance of saving heirloom and open-pollinated seed.

The West Tisbury Public Library is starting a seed library and the film was a good introduction to the practice of seed saving.

Then on Saturday at the Agricultural Hall, there was a follow-up lecture on the subject.

It was wonderful to see the community show up in force for the annual event. There was delicious food, crafts, music and general enjoyment of each other’s company. There was a misty rain which did nothing to hinder the festivities.

Last midweek Nancy Weaver stopped by with a pawpaw for me to try. She had purchased two trees some years ago. One did not make it. Because they need another to pollinate, she drives to Chilmark to gather flowers from a friend’s tree to pollinate by hand.

It was completely delicious, similar to mango only much sweeter. There were three seeds in the half she gave me, which I intend to plant. Rick Karney advised planting them still wet with fruit rather than letting them dry.

Since seed saving seems to be the topic so far, I have to mention some collecting I’ve been doing. I generally let a few things seed themselves right where they stand. For example, kale, collards and lettuce will create their own fall crop given half a chance. This is where neglect pays off. I rarely clean up spent plants in a timely fashion.

I gathered dozens of seed pods from the Lauren’s Grape opium poppy. Each pod must contain a hundred seeds. These are also known as bread-seed poppies. They are stunning both in bloom and dried. I simply bust up the pod and scatter the seed here and there. The most important key to success is recognition in the spring of the tiny blue-green forked leaves.

I mentioned in the spring that I attempted growing cotton. It is a beautiful and interesting plant. A couple of bols have formed, but I have little hope that they will fully mature. It’s been too chilly at night for such a warm weather crop.

This is the week of the harvest moon. This full moon falls closest to the autumn equinox. Its bright presence is supposed to give extra light for the farmers working into the night reaping the rewards of their summer labors. Good for them. . . I, for one, call it a day after the sun goes down.

I confess I get a little homesick for Rew, Pa., this time of year. The fall colors in that part of the Appalachian mountain range are downright jaw-dropping. There are so many cultivars of maple trees with varying reds, oranges and yellows. I hate to say it, but the Vineyard falls are somewhat dull in comparison.

I have a 40-year-old sugar maple in my yard that I planted when it was six inches tall. It is probably 50 feet by now and a breathtaking color. My great-grandchildren can probably tap it and get a couple of tablespoons of syrup. It takes 50 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.

My dad made maple syrup from our property for as long as I can remember. He had an outdoor pit and huge cauldron. Now that he has gone, my brother took over the task. He only does it for personal use and gifts. There is nothing quite like it in this world.

No newscast is complete these days without the daily Ebola report. What a nightmare for poor West Africa.

I cannot gin up any panic for the U.S. I know the media is doing its best to scare the daylights out of us.

It’s yet another issue with which to blame President Obama.

I have more outrage for the things that do cause multiple deaths in our country — drunk driving, cigarettes and gun violence. Just saying.