Your organic farm in the Eastern Townships
The bell tolled this weekend for some of our solanaceas. Two nights at zero degrees was all it took to fell our eggplants, peppers and nearly all our unprotected tomatoes. The same goes for our beans and summer squash. Our covered solanaceas – the lucky ones protected by our tunnels and in our unheated field…
If we had to wait for the first frost this year before harvesting our winter squash, chances are the wait would have been a long one. During one brief staff meeting it was decided that we would not test our patience given the multitude of other farm chores that await us in coming weeks. It…
The farmer’s dilemma at Arlington Gardens this week : with how many varieties of lettuce can we ply our customers over a given time period? An existential question which returns to haunt us every season. Our field plan calls for staggered harvest dates for successive varieties of lettuce, but — surprise, surprise – 3 varieties with…
It’s hard to believe, but we’re already at week 12 of the season! The month of September signals yet another transition, this time towards fall vegetables – beginning with the spaghetti squash you’ll find in your baskets this week. Exceptionally, we feel like we are harvesting them against their will – a reluctance to be…
Following on last year’s epic fail, tomato-wise, I had promised some of you that 2016 would be ‘The Year of the Tomato’ at the farm. Indeed, after a disastrous season for Solanum Lycopersicum last summer, I resolved to take all necessary measures, and then some, to guarantee this year’s production, in terms of both quantity…
We’ve been finding it difficult to turn down requests for reservations at Hayloft Adventures, worried as we were that it might rain during someone’s farm, or more specifically, barn, stay. The barn whereof I speak is our very own, beautiful red barn, renovated three years ago but in need of a new roof. While a…
We rarely see sunflower fields in these here parts, but the one I saw stretched on forever, a glorious sea of sun-drenched and windblown bobbing heads. Indeed, such a rare occurrence warrants a roadside halt, a determined effort to pause and absorb the visual and sensational overload. In fact, I stopped more than once –…
Summer is in full swing at the farm, amidst alternating sunshine and rainfalls, just enough of the latter to tide the plants over to the next one. Last Friday I woke determined to do something both pleasant and useful – which explains why I spent the day harvesting garlic. Those of you who have been…
There’s no dearth of topics to write about this week, more so now that the transition towards summer is complete. How do we know, you may ask? Well, being able to harvest all our nightshades in one fell swoop is a first telltale sign. A second one is our impending corn harvest, courtesy of the…
The rainy weekend appeased the (good) spirits of the farm. Grey skies, cool weather and steady rain left the fields well-soaked. While those who toil in office towers cursed and appealed to the absent sun, we found the relief from sun-drenched cloudless blue skies refreshing, both literally and figuratively speaking, as we toured our fields…