GaryOsberg.com

Good morning from Collegeville,

They are predicting frost in parts of Minnesota tonight. You might as well put the swim trunks away for the year. Perhaps you should even sharpen the ice skates and dig out the liner for the leather jacket. Ahh, but there is still the squash. I never know for sure when the squash is ready to be harvested. The stem is supposed to be brown and there should be a hollow sound when you hit it with your knuckle, perhaps.

One year I had only one squash per plant and the largest weighed in at 42 pounds. The other three were over 30 pounds each. Gardening can be very relaxing and it reminds us of what is important. When you think about it, it really is a miracle that you simply dig a hole in the dirt, plant a seed or a slice of potato and if you keep the weeds down and add water once in a while, you end up with fresh and healthy fruit or vegetables. Next month the horse radish will be ready and I will be looking for some folks to accept the raw root if they promise to return a small jar of finished product to me as payment.

Tonight Barby and I are going to the annual barn dance at Carlos Creek Winery in Alexandria. It is the kick off of the wine and food festival which includes a grape stomp and a Lucy Look Alike Contest. We hope to see you there. Check it out a www.grapestompfestival.com

This week the show is a remix of past opening shows. The guest lineup this week includes Connie Evingson, Sara Jarosz, Butch Thompson The Old Crow Medicine Show.

Next week is the start of the new season of A Prairie Home Companion at the Fitzgerald Theater. Following the live broadcast, Garrison will host the seventh annual Meatloaf Supper and Street Dance on Exchange Street in front of the theater. The supper will cost only $5 and you will be able to try your luck at winning some cash prizes with a variety of contests including The Loudest Child. Come early and listen to the show outside.

Next week I will be traveling to Sun Valley, Idaho to visit my program sponsors and to try and find some new ones. I plan to take a couple of days of vacation and drive over to Bozeman to visit Aunt Maggie. There will not be a note next Friday.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” Mary Oliver, from “House of Light”