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I didn’t really intend to leave the “House of Fungus” title up on the blog so long, but the end of harvest got a little crazy. Then, I felt compelled to catch up the maintenance items that had been piling up during harvest. More than a week after the end of picking, I’m finally feeling that life is returning to normal.

However, you can still write your name in the dust on any piece of furniture in our family room…Soon, soon.

And I’m feeling very lucky to have a whole month of summer left to enjoy! Most years, by the time I get back to a semblance of normality, there is one week before September fog and shorter days set in.

Anyway, harvest ended as well as it had gone all July…Great weather, good crop, nice price…lots to be thankful for! My only complaint would be that I had to get subs too much of the time. I admit to pining for the olden days when kids didn’t have sports camps, mission trips, and the expectation of engaging in a social life during the 5 weeks of berry harvest.

But before I go too far into THAT observation, I will move on to say that The Farmer had his own complaint about the season…Our little nemesis, the Spotted Wing Drosophila, made its migration north very early in the season. This necessitated the application of sprays during harvest to keep the fruit clean and uncontaminated.

For those who might not remember – and why would you if you are not a berry farmer! – the SWD is a tiny little fruit fly that has the unique ability to lay their eggs in fresh fruit, as opposed to rotting fruit, which most fruit flies prefer. This means that our lovely berries can be contaminated with hatched eggs, which become larvae, and those, well they become…okay – tiny worms!

NO thanks!

Fortunately, it doesn’t take really strong chemicals to kill them, but this year they were present for much of the season, and that meant multiple sprays…carefully applied so as not to interrupt the harvest cycle.

Tests at the processing plant let us know that we were keeping the right intervals to avoid either kind of contamination, but it is just one more variable to manage during the busy harvest season.

All in all, neither of the irritants is bad enough to tarnish our feelings about this season. It is a year where we end with feelings of satisfaction…and that is a blessing!

On the Fungus Front, we continue to make progress. The ring on my chin is now a semi-circle.  Re-growth of hair has been observed on Daisie’s multiple bald spots. I’ve learned varied methods of getting the medicine down her, most of which involve peanut butter, which, fortunately, she still loves. Angus ended up with 3 spots, and Olive – none, but they have both been on medication long enough that we dare to let the three of them hang out again. So far, I know of no other humans that were infected.

But then, I haven’t asked too many questions either. I don’t think I could handle the guilt…

Happily, the weather continues to be wonderful, and so, I have prescribed for myself a daily treatment of sun exposure. I must do it in the interest of defeating the ferocious fungus.

Really…it’s just the responsible thing to do.

Really.