We have a big week in store at Arlington Gardens. The vagaries of the season are such that we find ourselves having to rush to harvest our winter squash which have all ripened at once as we also hasten to dry out our conservation onions a bit more in one of our greenhouses before bagging them for storage.
That said, the weather seems to be cooperating for now , even as the occasional shower slows us down occasionally. The irony of it is not lost on us: having complained about a heat wave followed by a drought, we are now subjected to rain showers with seemingly little rhyme or reason. This time, though, I will not complain – in agriculture, one practices gratitude by not looking the proverbial gift horse in the mouth…
It is not harvesting alone that will occupy us this week – there are countless end-of-season leafy greens still to be sown or transplanted, and a few root vegetables, too (such as radishes, to name but one). While the scattered showers have already delayed the seeding of cleaned plots we’ll try not to dally, as the sooner our green manures are sown, the higher the organic mass they will be able to contribute before winter sets in.
It is a sometimes daunting race against the clock, but such is the reality of life on a farm. For those of you familiar with Quebec terroir literature, the sheer intensity of it all that was the leitmotif of Quebec rurality more than a century ago still characterizes our existence on the farm as the growing season reaches a frenzied peak in September — a positive paroxysm for some, a source of overwhelming stress for others…
We’ve been waiting for them to blush before mentioning them, but our Italian tomatoes are finally turning red. For those of you interested in canning and other forms of winter reserve prep, please take note that you may now place your orders for ½ bushel boxes of organic paste tomatoes via our online farm store.
Meanwhile, please do not forget if you have a basket to pick up Wednesday through Sunday.
We look forward to seeing you all again.
