Fall comes to the old frontier

Fall on the old Virginia frontier was, above all, a season of preparation against the coming Winter. The foundation of the cabin would be banked against the cold wind with a thick matting of cornstalks and pumpkin vines, or straw if they had it, or even banked with earth. And naturally a substantial stockpile of [...]

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Premature harvest

The damage from last night settled the matter. Stalks pulled down, ears ripped off, stripped cobs lying in the grass, debris trailing off toward the woods. The coons have been at it again, and each night with more brazen assaults.

So I decided, with considerable reluctance, to strip the remaining [...]

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Corn the color of sultry blood

On the whole, so far, it’s been a good season for growing, with only a few short stretches of dry weather when it was necessary to spend a morning hauling buckets to the field in the wheelbarrow. For the most part the rain has come when needed and in ample [...]

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A small disquisition on hoeing, boredom, and starvation

Many of these days lately I have spent much of my time hoeing among the corn hills in the field outside the fort.  Not long ago, while I was bent to my task, I gradually grew aware that someone was watching me.  I straightened up slowly (in negotiation with my arthritis), and turned to discover that [...]

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Fall Festival & Antique Fair at Pricketts Fort, October 11-12

If you are on the lookout for some early fall color and are planning to take a scenic drive along the backroads between Morgantown and Fairmont, West Virginia this coming weekend, do consider dropping by Pricketts Fort when you are out and about, and take in our annual Fall Festival.
In a beautiful, peaceful [...]

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Bringing in the corn . . .

I began bringing in the corn a few days ago.  We had planned to leave it on the stalks to dry completely, until the end of the season if necessary, but then we found two large gourds lying on the grass some distance from the field, where someone had evidently thrown them.  When I went [...]

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The harvest begins . . .

It is now mid-August, but these so-called dog-days have been the pleasantest I can remember: more like seasonable late September than sultry mid-August. I’m sure the heat will hit us yet, but for now it has been exceptionally nice.
In the garden everything is coming rapidly into its own.   Many ears of corn are ripe and [...]

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Garden update, late July

Everything is growing apace in the garden, despite heavy assault from a whole range of beetles, including Japanese beetles. Many of the bean leaves are thoroughly shredded, but since the beans are growing so fast, they generally keep ahead of the damage and the vines are producing well. The beetles seem to leave the corn [...]

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How does your garden grow

To all appearances, the fort garden is flourishing.  Most of the Seneca Red Stalker corn, planted May 8, is about 12 inches high, and one stalk is 17 inches.  The Birdhouse and Dinosaur gourds, planted May 8, are all about 7-8 inches high, with some leaves as wide as 5 inches.   Lima and Knifecase beans, [...]

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