Cabbages and horses, too

Not only do I enjoy the labor of gardening, I also enjoy the thoughts of people delighting in the good taste of the dishes Master Chef Josh Hoy makes of my produce.

yesterday’s cabbage  harvest

Last evening I had the pleasure of helping to take some Flying W Ranch guests for a buggy ride. During the ride Josh at one point was telling these visitors from France that I had grown the cabbage that they had eaten that evening.   It gave me the chance  to actually hear folks raving about how delightfully tasty the produce was and what an amazing cook Josh is.  That feels good.  And coming from French visitors (and former commercial vegetable farmers to boot)  makes it feel like high compliment indeed.   

And then on top of that I also had the pleasure of working with a couple of the ranch’s horses, too.   We took the whole French family for a lovely sunset ride in a buggy pulled by Caesar and Brutus.

Josh moving Brutus into place.  Caesar waits his turn.

Josh is a superb cook.  I have frequently heard guests of the ranch saying that they knew they were going to have a good time but had no idea that the food would be so amazingly good.  A master chef he is but he is also a fine stockman.  He is one of the rare breed of horsemen in today's modern world who still knows how to care for, harness and drive a team of horses.  I’m lucky enough that I get to help sometimes.  This time I got to help harness Butus. 

Brutus is the harder worker of the two.

Off we go to pick up the guests for a wonderful ride.

This weekend is rodeo weekend in Chase County.  The Flying W Ranch will be hosting a bunch of people smart enough or lucky enough to have the opportunity to spend a weekend full of horseback riding,
 hiking in lush flower blooming hills, dining and 
Rodeoing.  Yee Haw!

And I will be lucky enough to have the chance to work with more horses, too.

 photo by Matt Goldsmith