Your organic farm in the Eastern Townships
Last week ended in shades of grey. Nothing dramatic, just grey. In fact, I had been hoping for rainy weather to schedule plantings of lettuce, basil, spinach and more beets – rainfall to save us the bother of rushing to install our brand new electric irrigation system. Everything fell into place perfectly: a full day of planting, followed by…
They lie scattered between rural routes. One happens upon them between two cornfields, or at the edge of a village like Stanbridge East. Peaceful and seemingly forgotten, but open to the public nonetheless – unlike our more-than-centenary churches. One can stroll through them and witness local history through the headstones rendered almost illegible by the passing…
Extraordinary situations call for extraordinary measures. I never thought I would find myself doing this, but over the weekend I transferred an entire high tunnel’s worth of peppers to another field. It had already been two to three weeks that I was worried by their lack of progress. Plants that should have been knee-high were just ankle…
I cannot let this season end without a special mention for those who planted, weeded and harvested all the vegetables which have filled your baskets. 2020 will have been a very particular year : our core field crew, who hail from Mexico, arrived on average two months late, and it took a good deal of moral…
It seems the forecast is for a grey and rainy week…and there is nothing surprising to that, as the end of October is fast approaching. Patience is a virtue, so we sometimes wait for the rain to end, other times we slip on our rain coats, don our rain boots and brave the elements head…
The farm seems to be plunging headfirst into Fall. Fallen leaves are everywhere, empty boughs abound, nature is slowly emptying itself of life. How is it that the transition is always so sudden? It always takes me by surprise. All that’s left in the fields is row upon row of the vegetables that will fill your…
We had a rough start to the day last Saturday. A more-or-less anticipated frost had struck overnight, dashing all hopes of a lingering summer even as it killed most weeds. It was a mean hoarfrost, spreading its white crystals as far as the eye could see, not a speck of field was spared. Despite the shock,…
This morning’s field inspection took place in the deepest of silences. Dawn had broken, it was the beginning of an honest day’s work, but in the eerie quiet, it seemed as though everything was numbed by the morning’s chill. In the winter squash patch, a few forlorn and forgotten squash seemed to be begging to be…
I will not write of the week that has just passed, almost identical to the one that preceded it and not unlike the one to follow – all of them providing glimpses of the next season and of small pleasures still to come. I will instead tell you of our planting schedule for the next couple…
Last week started with an autumn chill and ended with diluvian rains. September has indeed arrived and with it the increased risk of inclement weather. In our fields, the once vibrant hues of green are slowly giving way to browns and golds. But September is also a month in which hope springs eternal, as summer lingers and vegetables…