Your organic farm in the Eastern Townships
The week has begun with a chill and our activities have followed suit.We are cleaning up fields that have already been harvested and doing an early harvest of winter squash, even though the full process will stretch until mid-September. Most importantly, though, we are focusing on planting another large batch of leafy vegetables, which has…
The week has begun with some particularly fall-like activities,like the harvesting of our first winter squash, the spaghettini, which should find its way into this week’s baskets. The plants were starting to turn yellow, which is a clear sign that it’s time to remove the fruits from the fields. We also thought you’d enjoy our small summer…
The week has begun under grey and rainy skies,and the recent humidity is beginning to affect the condition of some vegetables in the fields. You may have noticed that there are no more cucumbers in your baskets, as the plants have suffered from the excess moisture, which has led to the spread of various kinds…
It is sad to see an old barn go up in smoke…yet this is exactly what happened to a farmer friend who has just lost a chunk of family heritage, vestige of a bygone agricultural world. His barn, a structure of blissful simplicity which I used to glance at every time I passed by on…
“Where the forest is, Chateaubriand is believed to have said, there is the homeland: forests precede civilizations and deserts follow them.“ This quotation attributed to Chateaubriand,though no one seems to be able to find it in his writings or correspondence, has haunted me ever since I discovered it while browsing a web page. What did…
I harrowed one of my large green manure fields this weekend,the one that was leveled earlier this summer.A beautiful green manure that I buried under the teeth of my disc harrow. I could not help but note the following paradox: while through these repeated passes, I knew I was nourishing my soils and thus ensuring…
As mentioned in my last note, we spent the week planting:various brassicas, fennel, lettuces, basil, and more. These vegetables will certainly be in your baskets this fall, but we had to act quickly so as not to miss this short planting window. As we enter August, plant growth is affected by the amount of light…
DEAR MARKET MEMBERS:Intense workweek, short note.We started the week with nearly 200 trays of assorted vegetables to transplant to the field – failure was not an option, as it would have meant a less-than-abundant end of season. Fortunately, the weather cooperated nicely,with a little rain here and there, mostly at night, and plenty of sunshine…
I hesitated this morning beforemaking this decision,but as we did two years ago, we find ourselves having to cancel and reschedule basket deliveries for Wednesday, July 17th, and Thursday, July 18th (Montreal West, Town of Mount Royal, and Westmount). The reason is quite simple: we are short-staffed at the farm and have nearly two hundred…
After much shilly-shallying that has lasted weeks, or the entire spring, even,July is dragging us into the heart of summer.It is doing so without a true heatwave or excessive humidity: it’s just warm – warm enough to beckon laziness and the delights of beach activities. But we must not allow the mind to stray, our focus remains…