The Eagle has landed...

Y'all are familiar with my griping about how busy we are and dashing here & there with farm stuff and kid stuff...right? Well, our salvation has just arrived (Wednesday at 4:40 pm) in the shape of Bill's mom, Margaret. She is a saint in human form and a dervish of cleaning (Bill used to call her the Fairbury tornado due to her mad cleaning skillz). Why is this SO exciting? 'Cause it means that my house will not be condemned by the health department!! Within in minutes of pulling up to the house, she was asking what she could do to help....she and Emily started with dishes.

Now, we don't have the typical OMG it's my Mother in Law relationship--in fact, I'll let anyone clean my kitchen! Margaret is a great person and now that she is living in Florida we only get to see her about 3 or 4 times a year. The kids love having her around (except when she makes them clean their rooms!) because she is fun! And she spoils them with lots of hugs, kisses and love--and Disney passes! She works a few days a the Mouse House so when her grandkids come down, we have day passes for Disney. See, I told you she spoils them!

This time, Margaret came with a friend. She recently got a puppy that is part Yorkie and part Chihauhau--so cute! Cubby is so much smaller than our dogs (!) but settled right in and felt comfortable taking Chase's bone away from him this morning! Yes, Margaret is a Cubs fan, to the dismay of Bill. For those of you that know about Bill's love for all things St. Louis & Cardinal, this is very sad. Ball games are quite fun to watch, however with both of them razzing each other, often via long distance!

Now that both of us have our new right hand, some of the craziness that permeates the late summer markets will abate somewhat. We will be at our Country Insurance stand and at the State Farm market until the end of August. I will continue Tuesday afternoons in Uptown Normal as long as we have product and plenty of customers. Of course, we will be in Downtown Bloomington through the end of October (not so far away) with plenty of fall goodies.

What will we bring on our new fancy trailer?

• Sweet corn-still picking, although in a new patch, with 2 or 3 patches starting to pollinate. We'll have plenty of corn for Labor Day picnics!
• Watermelon-man, do we have a lot of watermelon! All sizes from small to feed-an-army size. Again, we will have plenty in time for Labor Day.
• Cantaloupe-juicy, sweet, lovely orange color--it's a fantastic way to get vitamin C
• Tomatoes--even with some major crop failure, the tomatoes that we are picking are just fantastic! They are loving this moderate weather--it seems to be giving the plants a chance to recuperate.
• Sweet onions--we hit a home run with the sweet onions this year--planted plenty of them and they got lots & lots of water, which is what onions need. These are fabulous cooked or raw.
• Potatoes--The white potatoes aren't quite ready, but the red-skinned ones are. Fresh potatoes that haven't been chilled are crisp and actually have taste!
• Eggplant--another home run crop. Disease issues haven't seemed to bother the eggplant and we've been picking enough for everyone in B-N to have one! Our white ones and the longer, striped Antiguas are just now starting to mature, so you'll be seeing more of them at the markets.
  
• Green Peppers--some are green, some are turning red, some are confused and are a little of both!
• Sweet Banana peppers--slice for salads, pickle for winter, stuff with cream cheese and bake!
• Hot peppers--just in time for fresh salsa! Hot pepper jelly is great over cream cheese (ok, low-fat!) or goat cheese.
  
• Cucumbers-still struggling, but we may have a few!
• Zucchini & squash-the plants are blooming so you may start to see some fruits here & there.

Will it rain Saturday AM? I hope not--although we had a great crowd last week! Friday night, set out your canvas bags, rain boots & umbrella, set your alarm and make your shopping list! We'll be ready for you at 7:30!