Your organic farm in the Eastern Townships
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…
It’s old news already, but this week was another hot one. We’re getting used to it. The strawberries seem to appreciate the heat, and even some of the brassicas are loving it, particularly the broccoli which we had to harvest hastily, given the searing temperatures over the long weekend. Broccoli is an under-appreciated vegetable if…
At 33 degrees Celsius in our fields and 37 degrees Celsius in our greenhouses, this heat wave is sparing no one, particularly on the vegetable front. If it’s a harbinger what’s still to come, we’ll have to steel ourselves and revise our seasonal litany of prayers. I may move to incantations, or consider reciting a poem or two – something along…