Fall Harvest

From the country...

Runner beans

Pumpkin in the grass

Black Turtle beans ready to harvest

The Black bean harvest 2011

bins and bins of beans heading to the greenhouse to finish drying.

Fall Plantings

snap shot of our behind-the- chicken-coop garden

Arugula, carrots and Swiss chard

 

Up close with the chard and carrots

fall crop of radicchio

late planting of sugar snap peas

 From the country...

The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting colder so we have been busy planting and tending to our fall crops. We have been preparing our cold frames and green houses by seeding short season greens (mizuna, choi, arugula, spinach etc) in order to get a late fall crop for market. Extending the season is an important way to keep the cash-a-flowing and I am learning new tricks every year. Like for instance, this will be the first year we have late season peas, green onions and a fall planting of radicchio (I have 100's of heads in...).  My hope is to keep pulling things out of our passive greenhouses/fields/gardens until the winter holidays- this depends on my skills and ultimately the weather.

Fall on the farm

Cylindrical Beets

Carrot piles

Green onion crop in the greenhouse- getting some water

Rogue sweet pea flowers from the compost- before we ate them...

From the country...

The frost came a little earlier this year then expected. And with that we said goodbye to the basil and the beans. Sweaters are coming out of the closet and the rubbers with the liners are being worn. Chores are done in the dark and meals are getting a little hardier around here. Welcome Autumn, I have been waiting for you. I love the seasons, don't get me wrong but I love the somewhat slower pace fall brings us here on the farm. Where the dark brings you into the house at night and the warmth of a pot of soup brings your tired soul comfort.

It is a time to reflect on the season and to list the work that still needs to be done to close the farm down(collecting wood, planting garlic,closing down gardens/field). It is a time when I begin to look at the inside of the house and think up a mental list of chores to be done (how long have those cobwebs been dangling from the living room ceiling?) for the winter months.

That is not to say that we have packed it in, no we are still on our toes tending to the fall crops to harvest before the snow flies. The turkeys are still keeping us busy with their daily shenanigans, breaking through the fencing daily and flying up to the barn roof where I swat them down with a broken kayak paddle and then we proceed to chase them around the farm. It is a job that Nate and I do everyday and he has sure grown into a fine turkey wrangler and he is proud to say that he can catch them faster then anyone here- kind of a farm boy hobby I guess.