Moving along
Greetings!
It’s been another beautiful autumn week on the farm. We continue to pull in an abundant harvest each day, while also focusing on transplanting, cover cropping, and loving on the new farm dog, Harry. We’re working our way towards the end of the busiest season ever, and looking forward to every farmer’s favorite holiday, Frostmas. Each year, the frost seems to come later and later. We’re designing for three weddings next week, and hopeful that it will be our last overwhelmingly busy week of the year. We can tell that the plants are beginning to slow down, the harvests shrinking in size slightly each day. The overnight low temperatures will hit the 40s next week, and the remaining summer crops will almost certainly begin to shut down. Soon, the farm will be at rest, sleeping until the tulips crack through the earth, bearing the first spring blooms.
Though we’ll continue to have dahlias until frost comes, we think this week probably brought the last of the enormous harvests. In peak dahlia season, harvesting our dahlia field can take one person up to five hours! It’s an immensely time consuming task, but we sell almost every stem, and the dahlia field is an overwhelmingly beautiful place to spend tedious hours.
Of course, the farm is never entirely at rest. Throughout the “Persephone period” (when daylight lasts for less than ten hours), the overwintered flowers and perennials stay in the ground, slowing growing and photosynthesizing, as microbes teem at their roots. Birds visit the feeders, various animals scurry through the barn, and people and pets roam the farm, seeking out joy, nourishment, and comfort.
Last week, Jenna introduced you to the new farm pup, who the family has named Harry. Harry has taken quite well to farm life. He’s been diligently checking out the groundhog hole close to the house, exploring the perimeter of the farm, and accompanying us in the barn while we work on floral design. As a young puppy, he’s full of energy and requires constant attention, which has been a bit challenging for us, but we wouldn’t have it any other way! It’s been a great delight to have Harry on the farm, and I can wait to see him grow into an outstanding farm dog.
Harry, sound asleep in the barn.
Harry isn’t the only new animal on the farm! Several weeks ago, we began to see this cat spending time on the perimeter of the farm. Slowly but surely, he began approaching us with greater confidence. Over the past week, it’s become apparent that he’s probably here to stay. The neighbors, who have many barn cats, know him as a stray and call him Spooky, so that’s what we’re calling him. At this point, he hasn’t been formally adopted, but it sure seems as though he’s adopted us. He’s a real sweetheart, and I look forward to seeing him around the farm each day. Hopefully he’ll help us with our rodent problems, too!
Sunday, October 17th, 8:00 am - 11:00 am: Johnny’s
We’ll be back at our regular market this weekend with lots of good stuff to share.
This week we’ll have arugula, carrots, figs, hakurei turnips, radishes, spring mix, and shishito peppers. Our produce offerings for the year are dwindling, but we’ll do our best to bring a good selection to market weekly.
We’ll have loads of bouquets, in addition to bunches of mums, celosia, dahlias, and eucalyptus.
Wishing you well,
Amelia and the rest of the Two Boots Farm crew
It won’t be long until the flowers are gone.
It would be unfair to write about Harry and Spooky and leave out Gray! Our sweet farm cat, she never strays far. A kind and reliable being.
October brings with it dewy mornings and the most magnificent spiderwebs. I’m amazed by the webs I find as I walk the fields each day.