Long fields of barley and of rye*

*I used this title just for Ky.

Yesterday we went to Dnipropetrovs'k to shop. Stayed over at Lena and Roman’s and came back today. We have had four days of +30º weather and the crops look great. Some of the wheat and barley is starting to turn and Tanya says the combines will roll in about three weeks. The canola is done flowering and all podded out. Most winter crops are tall thick and even boding well for a bumper harvest at least in this area. Early sunflowers are over half a meter tall and late planted are at least 15 cm. Corn is 20 to 30 cm and with this heat should really take off.

Tanya and I went first to METRO which is a Costco like store that requires a membership card to get in. As it turned out, only companies registered in Ukraine are eligible for this membership. There is one other company like it called MegaMart. Guess what? They gave us a day pass to Metro, even though my “company” is Canadian registered. A retailer turn down money? Never! But like any other “bargain” store, you better know your prices. We bought a few groceries and a few things for the house.

AND AN ELECTRIC GRINDER!! I now have two (count them, TWO) power tools having acquired a drill last fall for my birthday. No more rasping away with a file trying to keep the hoes or shovels sharp. And no jokes about dull hoes, please, though I think it was Janis Joplin who said “You can lead a horticulture but you can’t make her think.”

Then we went to TAKO which is our favourite Home Depot like place and filed up the rest of the car with “stuff” for the house. More garden hose, more pots for more plants, two more chairs for our front steps/deck/patio.

Today we went to Rainford, a big grocery store and found Brown Sugar for about $9 per kg so bought two. The clerk wanted to know what it was used for so I said for cookies and puddings and such. Next, I have to find baking soda and molasses. Our last stop was at DAFI (the Dolphin) Mall for lean ground beef.

We also found gelatin (like CERTO) for all the jams we have to put up this season, starting tomorrow. We had previously bought 75 kg of sugar in readiness for production. We already did 8 litres of strawberry jam. We bought 48 jars (700 ml) on the way home. Tomorrow we pick cherries as our trees are loaded with red cherries and black or sour cherries.

Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy Boy, Billy Boy…?