Our hydrangeas still have a couple of flower heads with color. Most have faded to white. I'll be pruning them back once the leaves fall.
I pushed myself and got the south forty mowed yesterday afternoon. It looks much better. I'm planning to do the west forty today, then the north forty on Friday. The weather is good so I need to "make hay" while the sun shines, as they say. I can't cut the grass in the morning because we're getting heavy dew at sunrise. It takes most of the morning just to burn off. Wait. Does dew "burn off," or is that just fog?
In other news, the first of the grape picking out back started yesterday. A big mechanical harvester came and picked the chardonnay in the northern parcel near our house. The chardonnay is typically the first grape to be harvested around here. Very few winemakers in our region make a pure chardonnay wine. They use it to blend into the bubbly wines.
40 acres a day with a walking mower. You’re a wonder. The hydrangeas photo is a beauty.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, that looks lovely :)
ReplyDeleteMaybe in your region the purple hydrangea's reign? I love them but have only grown the Peegee hydrangea that was white.
ReplyDeleteYou tried adding the _____ (whatever the recommendation was) to get either the pink or blue? They are very common around here. I haven't been watching for them around town, but now I will. Your purple color is delightful.
The other day, someone mentioned a method of preserving hydrangea heads. Is that something you're going to try? Gorgeous color in that one.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how well machines work at picking grapes compared to workers, do you know?
ReplyDeletemitch, and a mule.
ReplyDeletejudy, lingering summer (not that we had much of a summer).
mary, I see beautiful blue ones here and there. People tend to theirs better than I tend to mine.
emm, I think I may just enjoy them while they're here. :)
michael, from what I understand, the mechanical process, while extremely quick and effective, bruises the grapes far more than hand harvesting. So, if you have delicate grapes (like late harvest, for one example), it's preferable to clip them by hand. FYI, there are areas in France where mechanical harvesting is either not practical (hilly terrain) or not allowed (like Champagne). So it's hand-harvesting only for those places.