Nature's bounty from the farm……………

Hello sweet October.  

This is always my special month.  A birthday for me, 

other special family members, and this year I will celebrate 

52 years since coming to live in the United States of America.

Sunday afternoon, dressed up in sunshine and blue skies. 

A few fields of tobacco, dry and golden, awaited the 
last harvest.  

Cotton and soybeans were picked clean. 

Sunflowers, their huge blooms long gone, stalks plowed under.

Horses stood quietly in pastures. 
Now and then a dog barked in a far away field. 
A hawk circled above.

Tractors were still.

The countryside appeared to be at rest in the warmth 

of the afternoon.

We were thrilled to return to Johnson's Pumpkins with 

our granddaughter Cassie this time. She wanted 

pumpkins to decorate her home, and being another 

photographer in the family, I knew she'd capture 

some colorful shots at the farm.

Doug and Freda farm a lot of land in this lovely area 

of North Carolina. 

This is their family farm which goes back several 

generations. They told me this time, now that we know 

each other better, that they were high school sweethearts 

and have been married fifty years. They gave me the OK to 

publish their photo here online - and you have to admit 

they are a very special couple.

I believe the pumpkins are Freda's babies! She planted 

six acres of pumpkin seeds back in the Spring.

After a lot of damaging rain early on, the sun and heat 

of Summer arrived and the pumpkins did well.

She also helped harvest them, and then displayed them 

beautifully in their yard, ready for sale, by the side of 

the country road.

How could anyone resist pulling into the farmyard, 

grabbing a wheel barrow, and loading up with 

such awesome pumpkins, gourds, squash etc.

Cameron, Freda and Doug's lovely granddaughter, with 

Lucky the cat. 

We loaded up the trunk with colorful beauties - mostly 

Cassie's, but I admit to buying a few more too!

There's just something very special about a pumpkin patch.

I think it brings out the child in us.

Surrounded by almost comical shapes and raucous 

colors, the pumpkins seem quite magical.

But, perhaps even more special, is a pumpkin patch 

where the delightful family who grew the pumpkins

are there to tell their story, with laughs, jokes, and 

great pumpkin and squash recipe tips.

Try to visit a pumpkin patch this Fall - you'll have 

a wonderful time.

Pumpkin country . . . . .

This post will wow you with color! Autumn IS on its way, 

and here's proof from the fields of our beautiful 

North Carolina Piedmont area.

My partial stack of beauties - and Jasmin still had to add 

her picks . . .

I love taking country drives away from the hustle and bustle 

of the city.

On Friday we headed south to Harnett County. Partly sunny 

skies, very warm temperatures, and yet a feeling of Autumn 

was definitely apparent as we got farther away from town.

Tobacco fields were starting to be picked, hay was baled, 

corn was gone, fields already being ploughed under and new 

Winter crops were being planted.

When we arrived at our destination, Johnson's Pumpkins 

were waiting, plentiful and pretty, every color, every 

size and, as always, hard to pick favorites from such 

an array.

Perhaps even more enjoyable than choosing pumpkins, 

was spending time with not only farmer Doug - Bob loves 

'shooting the breeze' with him, and his welcoming wife 

Freda who always gives me great recipe tips for cooking 

the pumpkins - but a lot more of the Johnson farm 

family including their children and grandchildren.

Their grandson Easton above, permitted us to watch his 

efforts at hill rolling, posed for me with the horses in 

the nearby pasture, and talked us into playing ball with 

him in the farmhouse driveway. I assure you this was no 

quick stop to grab pumpkins and drive off, it was a truly 

wonderful afternoon visit with the nicest people imaginable.

 

This was granddaughter Jasmin's first visit with us 

to the farm - I think she'll enjoy going again. 

She took some awesome photos, nice to be young, 

able to crouch and get up again! 

Perhaps she'll share them with you later.

If you're close by I think you'd truly enjoy a visit to 

Johnson's Pumpkins as we do. It has become an annual 

happening we look forward to in September. In fact we 

even stopped by in July just to have a chat - Doug 

introduced us to his cows, and took us on a stroll 

around his pond, from there we could see the fields 

where Freda had planted her pumpkin seeds. We know

the hard work involved to grow from seed to harvest

on a family farm is huge, so much of a successful 

harvest depends on the weather. This was an usually 

wet Summer here in this area of North Carolina so

there were problems - quite honestly though I still 

think the Johnsons pumpkins are magnificent as always. 

I also purchased baking pumpkins and butternut 

squash, more on those in another post.