Arlington Gardens

The week is shaping up to be a glorious one, under the auspices of the winter squash.We are quite fond of this cucurbit at the Arlington Gardens. First of all, because it marks the start of a kind of countdown, a hint of the autumn to come – although we now know better than to…

You may wonder why Rwanda, Dalmatia, Hildegard of Bingen, and pyrethrum all appear in the same paragraph – but bear with me. I was chatting with a CSA basket subscriber about her recent trip to the Land of a Thousand Hillswhen she showed me photos of fields filled with this white-and-yellow-flowered plant, reputed to have…

I will be brief with news from the farmin order to leave room for our upcoming offers of canning tomatoes and conservation garlic, deliveries of which will be starting shortly. First, the compressor of our main cold room gave out at exactly 5:15 PM last Friday.We went into full emergency mode, starting with a frantic…

It’s enough to develop a full-blown neurosis!A tour of the fields this morning reminded me just how much diversified vegetable farming is a matter of defensive positioning and protection mechanisms. If you have blueberries – so delicious and sweet – in your baskets,it is in large part thanks to the protective netting that shields them…

I had been thinking of writing a newsletter about the differences between unheated greenhouses and caterpillar tunnels, but that idea quickly fell by the wayside after my field inspection this morning.The drought of the past few weeks has finally taken its toll on our irrigation ponds, and as I write this, we are in the…

I read on the Internet that the famous painting by J.F. Millet, The Angelus, usually housedat the Musée d’Orsay, will be exhibited for a few months at the National Gallery in London,all part of a warming of Anglo-French relations, like in the good old days of European alliances. I will not wax lyrical about my admiration for…

Last week was a blessing for the farm as it allowed us to play catch-up on several fronts.We began by planting all those trays that had been patiently waiting their turn — lettuces, beets, cabbages, turnips, arugula, and more. Next came weed management, which involved mowing all the spaces between rows and, where necessary, weeding…

This week is going to be intense due to an accumulation of pressing tasks on the farm:major plantings of fall vegetables (yes, already!), massive weeding of several crops including carrots — the market gardener’s nemesis — all this without forgetting that we also need to continue harvesting everything that is ripe. Since we started farming,…

Wednesday, at dawn, we will go to Dorval to pick up the sixth member of our field team.We’ve been waiting for this gentleman for two months, as some await their messiah. Administrative troubles delayed his arrival at the farm, but the bureaucracy has finally outdone itself, and we will have the pleasure of welcoming him…

Things are taking off like crazy in the fields.There is nothing like above-normal temperatures to spark this kind of frenzy. Add to that substantial rainfall, and suddenly it’s a race to see what outgrows what. While an excess of growth is heartwarming for this market gardener,it might come at a high price because the weeds…