Carrots, jam, and eagle

 We are seeing the first flakes of snow today. We’re lucky that it hasn’t amounted to much. Heavy, wet snow and/or ice on trees that still have leaves can be disastrous. We were also lucky that it was cloudier overnight than expected, and we did not experience temperatures in the upper 20’s overnight. In fact, it did not even freeze. Based on the dire predictions, however, I harvested the last two cabbages and all of the Brussels sprouts that were close to a good size for eating. About half of the stalks still have sprouts the size of marbles or smaller. They taste good but are putzy to prepare. A whole stalk worth of buds makes about one cup of sprouts. Hardly worth the effort of cleaning all those tiny things.

I have a few carrots in the high tunnel that I planted in early August for late harvest. I brought in all the carrots that I planted early in the summer. I wrongly thought that their growth would slow when the temperature dropped. I had some truly enormous carrots! In this photo, the carrot at the left is what I would call a normal size large carrot. Moving to the right, there is a monster carrot, a carrot that did not get the memo that it is supposed to be smaller at the bottom than the top, and a carrot that split all the way down its length. I suspect the splitting happens more with a specific variety of carrot, but as I do not yet have conclusive proof, I will not name names.

Left to right: normal carrot, mongo carrot, upside-down carrot, split carrot

We still have lots of apples, and I will get back to them. Meanwhile, however, I’m on to making jam. I’ve been freezing pulp for weeks, and I need to get those containers out of the freezer. What could be more beautiful than jars of red raspberry jam? They are little bits of shelf-stable summer, waiting to cheer me up on a snowy, blowy morning.

Red raspberry jam

Terry called me this morning while I was exercising. “There’s a bald eagle out here. She’s flying around like she wants to land on the transformer.”

I got my camera and headed for Terry’s shop. I moved slowly when I got outside, scanning the sky for the eagle. Nothing. Had I missed it?

Terry came out of the shop and pointed to a dead oak across the road. “It’s over there on that branch.”

I saw it. It was eating something. Red entrails hung over the branch.

Guts (or something) hanging over the branch

I took picture after picture as I tried to get closer.

Guts are gone. Eagles always look a little pissed off, don't they?

I ducked down behind the cover of some shrubs to get a clear view across the road.

Unobstructed view

I was trying not to disturb the eagle, but I did anyhow. It hunched its shoulders

Preparing for takeoff

And took off, still carrying its prey.

Up..

Up..

Up...

And away!

When I zoomed in on the pictures, as best I could tell, it had the hind end of a roadkill possum. The matted fur seemed to be gray with a white undercoat, and I thought I saw a naked tail hanging from behind.

I think that might be the closest I’ve ever gotten to an eagle. Kate’s dad says any day you see an eagle is a good day!