Bone-Chilling Temperatures

If ever a sign from God were necessary to signal that it was high time we pack our bags and head South, this would be it :according to Environment Canada, that depressingly doomsday-ish weather forecasting service of ours, night temperatures at the farm will hover between -6 and -11 degrees Celsius for the next 3 nights,…

Living Soils

Were it not for the torrential rains of the past weekend,the tractor and combine mechanical ballet would have continued uninterrupted. Every year witnesses the same field crop ritual. Just as market farmers are beginning to pack things up and in, field crop farmers sit astride their massive machines. Corn, for one, is harvested thus these…

Squash Talk

Can you guess the most popular squash in North America?It is the butternut squash, of course. It’s what I hear, and it is also what we note at our farm stands. But this market bias should not keep you from discovering other varieties of squash we produce. In some parts of Europe, and more particularly…

Blueberry Angst

It’s been 14 years of TLC,of pruning them when there is stillsnow on the ground,of protecting them from greedy birds,of going to tremendous lengths to findpickers at the season’s peak– all to ensure enough of a harvest to share some blueberries with our CSA members and our market customers. But enough is enough, the writing is…

Good Habits

Revving up a tractor in the early morning after a chilly night can be a challengeif you’re looking to start your day early. A recalcitrant engine and a wet seat – travails one faces in the wee hours of an early October morning. And so one trains oneself to practice good habits, including – insofar…

Late September Light

Mother Nature always has the last word, it seems.After having made us miserable all summer with an overabundance of rain and generally dreary weather, she seems suddenly to have taken pity on us, gratifying us with an unending spate of sky-blue, sun-filled days, lifting the spirits of your farmer and the rest of the team…

My Best Friend, My Mechanic

Last week I had to send one of my delivery trucksto the garage again.Something to do with a drive shaft on the verge of conking out. I couldn’t blame it on anything other than old age, since the truck dates back to a time when windows were still rolled up and down by hand… I…

Under Cloudy Skies

Yours truly would have preferred a bit more sun to start off the week, but it clearly was not meant to be…Instead, it was in the early morning chill and under cloudy skies and that we started to harvest the first of our true winter root vegetables – namely, the rutabaga. There is no more…

That ‘End-of-Season’ Feeling

It may seem surprising to read this on a hot and humid summer day, but as I traipsed through my vegetable beds this morning, the fields already had a bit of an end-of-season feel to them.More flight of fancy than fact, there was nevertheless an undeniable sense of relief, despite the heat, as some of the seasonal…

Sunny Weather Back At Last

I could wax lyrical about the return of sunny weather at last,but I will not – as there are more pressing matters to attend to, such as announcing the start of our Italian tomato harvest to meet your canning (or bottling or freezing) needs. And while we’re at it, we’ll also be taking conservation garlic…