Arlington Gardens

Although we’ve yet to feel the autumn chill, we’ve still felt the winds change as the rain fell this weekend – intermittently, but heavy nonetheless – before yesterday’s downpour, that is. This week’s harvesting has been done with our boots on and with water on our backs. It’s not like we have a choice : the…

I’d like to say we’ve crossed the Rubicon and that the cold nights we’ve been experiencing mean the end is nigh for all the undesirable flora populating the alleyways between, and in, our vegetable beds … but unfortunately, such is not the case. The temperatures have not yet dipped low enough to rid us of…

We’ve had sunset after sunset these days, and they’re all magnificent. Last week we pulled all stops, irrigation-wise – so summer’s last hurrah has so far been manageable. The only challenge has been in managing our irrigation schedule to ensure we don’t run our pond dry. Another week without rain will bring water levels perilously…

Sunny skies in September is a 2017 farmer’s almanac prediction come true. After months of complaining about the wet weather, the dog days of summer are upon us : hot and dry for the past couple of weeks, with not a hint of rain on the horizon. We have hauled out our irrigation system for the…

These days, we have been experiencing a radical change in diet at the farm. Since the arrival of Sarah, a new employee with us for the month of September, we have been subjected to the rigours of veganism – and have to admit that we’re enjoying the experience. Like the proverbial cobbler’s children, we have…

We’re into our last « big » harvest of the season these days, gathering up winter squash. While harvesting continues into October, nothing of this magnitude will follow. The fact is, you can’t escape winter squash on a farm; they take all the field space allocated to them, and then some. Whether of the creeping or bushing…

The brisk morning air, despite the sunny warmth of late August days that inevitably dispels it, reminds us that Fall is just around the corner. Everything has lost its luster, except perhaps the goldenrod, the final stop for our honeybees as they build their winter reserves. Harvests mark the season and the passage of time.…

Mid-season already. Time has flown, and the stars too. Yesterday we had two farm stay visitors de passage, in search of sunsets and shooting stars. We were happy to oblige – the sunset was beautiful, and although we told them we couldn’t promise the shooting stars, between the two of them they saw six. In…

Already early August, the season’s tipping point at the farm. We have started to free up portions of field, those that have already yielded their spring and early summer bounty – the first leafy greens, the brassicas and other …. A few of them, stripped of their vegetables for a few weeks only, have already…