If ever a sign from God were necessary to signal that it was high time we pack our bags and head South, this would be it : according to Environment Canada, that depressingly doomsday-ish weather forecasting service of ours, night temperatures at the farm will hover between -6 and -11 degrees Celsius for the next 3 nights, the likes of which we have rarely (if ever) witnessed in late October. For those of you who wonder what -12 means for a vegetable,it is certain death, as no vegetable cell can resist that kind of cold, except perhaps our leeks, who can withstand a hard frost here and t ..read more

Were it not for the torrential rains of the past weekend, the tractor and combine mechanical ballet would have continued uninterrupted. Every year witnesses the same field crop ritual. Just as market farmers are beginning to pack things up and in, field crop farmers sit astride their massive machines. Corn, for one, is harvested thus these days, with everything a function of degree-days and thermal units. The longer the cobs can stay on their stalks in the field, the drier they get and the less it costs to dry them post-harvest. The downside is that all this heavy machinery is all too often de ..read more

Can you guess the most popular squash in North America?It is the butternut squash, of course. It’s what I hear, and it is also what we note at our farm stands. But this market bias should not keep you from discovering other varieties of squash we produce. In some parts of Europe, and more particularly in France, the direct competitor of the butternut is the potimarron – a European squash in name only…which you can find in the Land of the Rising Sun where it is commonly called Red Kuri. I have a penchant for this squash : it has a delicate chestnut flavour and it can be served up in ..read more

It’s been 14 years of TLC,of pruning them when there is still snow on the ground, of protecting them from greedy birds, of going to tremendous lengths to find pickers at the season’s peak – all to ensure enough of a harvest to share some blueberries with our CSA members and our market customers. But enough is enough, the writing is on the wall : nearly half my blueberry plants – ie all my early- and late-season varietals – will either be axed or given away to someone wanting to offer them a new home. It has not been an easy decision, but it does bring salutary mental and econom ..read more

Revving up a tractor in the early morning after a chilly night can be a challenge if you’re looking to start your day early. A recalcitrant engine and a wet seat – travails one faces in the wee hours of an early October morning. And so one trains oneself to practice good habits, including – insofar as motorised farm vehicles are concerned – always parking one’s tractors facing due south to allow the sun to warm things up a bit… This juxtaposition of nature and industry may seem contrived or superstitious, even, but if one considers that most self-respecting vegetable farms have more than a f ..read more

Mother Nature always has the last word, it seems. After having made us miserable all summer with an overabundance of rain and generally dreary weather, she seems suddenly to have taken pity on us, gratifying us with an unending spate of sky-blue, sun-filled days, lifting the spirits of your farmer and the rest of the team while our workboots finally begin to dry out. All good, but for the plants still in our fields, it’s a classic case of too little, too late.While two or three leafy greens may benefit from the sudden surge of heat, for all the rest – having endured diluvian rains i ..read more

Last week I had to send one of my delivery trucks to the garage again. Something to do with a drive shaft on the verge of conking out. I couldn’t blame it on anything other than old age, since the truck dates back to a time when windows were still rolled up and down by hand… I mention it only to illustrate yet another interesting farm fact: with a fleet of about 15 motorized vehicles, I can count on an average of at least half-a-dozen visits to the garage every season.Unfortunately, mechanics has never been my strong suit. Fortunately, however, we live in an area filled with tinkerers and ex ..read more

Yours truly would have preferred a bit more sun to start off the week, but it clearly was not meant to be… Instead, it was in the early morning chill and under cloudy skies and that we started to harvest the first of our true winter root vegetables – namely, the rutabaga. There is no more epitomic vegetable to remind us that Fall is at our doorstep and to behoove us to eat our fill of summer solanaceas before we have no choice but to make do with ersatz tomatoes served up by well-intentioned grocers. Our plants are still generous, but I feel their fatigue: their leave ..read more

It may seem surprising to read this on a hot and humid summer day, but as I traipsed through my vegetable beds this morning, the fields already had a bit of an end-of-season feel to them. More flight of fancy than fact, there was nevertheless an undeniable sense of relief, despite the heat, as some of the seasonal stress lifted off my shoulders with the realisation that we are indeed shifting gears… The last of our lettuces have been transplanted over the past few days, and we have weeded half a dozen rows of root vegetables. We will now be turning our focus to cleaning the fields ..read more

I could wax lyrical about the return of sunny weather at last,but I will not – as there are more pressing matters to attend to, such as announcing the start of our Italian tomato harvest to meet your canning (or bottling or freezing) needs. And while we’re at it, we’ll also be taking conservation garlic orders this week. Seasoned farm members already know how it works, but a few reminders about the ordering process are nevertheless worthwhile. Italian tomatoes (Italian in name only, as in fact we do a Spanish version of the Roma plum tomato called Granadero) : w ..read more