October 25, 2009

The days are growing shorter and the farm season is drifting to a close.  The garlic has finally been planted and tucked under its blanket of hay.  Now all that remains is to finish digging the carrots.

The season was a tough one - too much rain in the spring, hardly any during peak growing season, and way too much rain this October.  The late blight took half of the tomato harvest and neither the corn nor the winter squashes did much. 

But still, Mother Nature without much help from me, turned in an amazing performance. The freezer is stocked with asparagus, spinach, beans, edamame, beets, eggplant, and tomato sauce.  I'm currently freezing pepper and still have more beets to process.  The fridge is stuffed with cabbages, carrots, and leeks.  Garlic, onions, and potatoes are jostling for room in the basement and there are enough spaghetti squash to last through till next harvest - not to mention some beautiful Long Pie pumpkins.

The late planted sunflowers all bloomed before the frost and smiled over the harvest.  The dry beans were a mixed story - the ends of the rows produced a nice fruit set but the middle plants had lots of empty pods.  I'm still puzzling over that one...

I will miss the days on the farm, the dirt under my nails, the sunshine on my back, the birdsong, the rustle of the wind in the tall grasses, the scent of wild daisies, and the delicate flowers of the Queen Anne Lace.  I will miss the bees and dragon flies and toads and frogs.  But the land needs to rest, to gather strength to pour into next year's harvest. 

Still, there is much to look forward to - eating my way through the harvest, the coming crop of seed catalogs, starting seedlings, the whole amazing cycle of life for which I am abundantly grateful.

I stand in awe and reverence as I consider the miracle of life and the kindness of the Earth in providing such bounty.