Harvest Days

Frantic.

Frantic is the word that describes the way we met the first rain of fall.  Leaves wither and we pull the last tomatoes and peppers from their vines.  The angular light that comes from the fall changes the way the farm looks, giving an ominous feeling that sunny days are few and the work of the year is almost over.

This artichoke is now fully in bloom, although it's leaves are yellow from the dry weather and onset of autumn.  The rain keeps the kale, swiss chard, and collards green and vibrant but most everything else is dead for the year.

And yet there is still new life.  Our kits are big, and should be ready for harvest around the first of next year.  There once open cages have been replaced with hutches that have heat lamps installed.  This is what we did to get ready for the rain.

Our ducks have also finally started to lay.  Our first eggs were massive double yolkers.  Now they are closer to the size of a regular chicken egg.  Just as the season comes to a close we find that there are a million other things to manage.

Because now that it is harvested we have to do something with it!  Everything that was eaten fresh during the season now needs to be canned, preserved, frozen, and otherwise distributed before it spoils.  Frantic?  To say the least.  There are many things to do before we put this season to a close, but oh the joy that comes from seeing all of our hard work put to use.