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“Home is the nicest word there is.”— Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
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Happy November! ‘Tis the season of chillier mornings and gray days… the days grow shorter now that day light savings has come to an end. By 5:20pm it is pitch black and we are making dinner and hitting the hay (hopefully) by 9pm. Evening farm chores need to be finished by 4:30pm as the chickens and turkeys go to roost, the piggies pigpile in their straw nests and the cows need their share of hay before sunfall calls. We welcome the morning light though – having the sunrise at 6:50am vs. 7:50am is just so much better for our farmer minds. Really makes you understand the phrase “carpe diem” or “seize the day” since we seem to be running out of daylight hours. Chasing the sun.. always and forever…
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We’ve had a lot of busy weekends/non-harvest days here on the farm. Getting our ducks in a row and buttoning up the farm as we get closer to the winter solstice…
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The remaining tomato trellises and t-posts are coming down, storing drip line/irrigation, bucking the last of the winter hay, cleaning coops, winterizing piggies for farrowing in the next few months, finishing the end walls on the greenhouse, winterizing bees, trenching lines for irrigation (in the garden and pasture) are among the list for the beginning of November. We’re hoping for a few dry days to till in last of the summer crops to seed over with rye and oats. The end of this week is looking pretty promising (with highs in the 60’s?) Although the days do grow shorter there is never a shortage of things to do on the farm.
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Although October proved to be quite a wet month we have been experiencing a very mild Fall.. what with peppers still growing and we still have yet to have our first light frost! The warmer temperatures have surely helped us to get some things done around the farm as if to have a bit of an extension on the ol’ growing season. So, we’ll see what the end of Autumn and November will bring us all!
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Come December we begin planning for our 2015 growing season. It’s an exciting time to sit down, evaluate, communicate and regain strength (physically and mentally) for the next season. March may seem like a long ways away but it always sneaks up on us. In January we open up our CSA sign ups, put in all our seed orders for the year’s crops, pick up organic soil amendments and potting soil in bulk and even begin seeding the first of our onions and leeks… BUT, before we get too excited about a new growing season we will continue to ride the wonderful wave of 2014. After all, there are still 3 pick up weeks left before the end of our 2014 season. It really has been a really incredible growing season (our best harvests to date) and we have been enjoying every second of it.
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A special note: The members CSA recipe page has been real fun to participate in. Thank you all for your daily/weekly contributions. Keep up the great work! It’s inspiring to hear and see all the ways you are preparing our farm fresh goodies. We love it!
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A reminder about the last CSA pick up: On the last CSA pick up week, you will be picking up a double share (week 27 & 28) which will mostly be storage goodies that will keep nicely for Thanksgiving etc. Be sure to bring a big enough vessel or enough bags to carry all your goodies home in.
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Egg shares. Thank you to all who emailed in regards to November Egg Shares! We are in awe as we sold out of shares in under an hour (must be a new record!) The ladies of Chateau Poulet truly appreciate your support as do your faithful farmers. An egg reminder for winter: We will have eggs available through the winter and early Spring months (December – April) through email reservation. If you are interested in picking up a few dozens at a time please keep us in mind (since our eggs are extra fresh – only a few days out of the coop – they easily keep for up to a month in your fridge). Send us an email during the winter months and we will be happy to let you know our availability.
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In honor of a new month, we’re sharing another one of Mary Oliver’s beautiful poems Song for Autumn. It makes us feel extra cozy and present in the wonderful seasonal changes. Enjoy!
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Song for Autumn
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In the deep fall
don’t you imagine the leaves think how
comfortable it will be to touch
the earth instead of the
nothingness of air and the endless
freshets of wind? And don’t you think
the trees themselves, especially those with mossy,
warm caves, begin to think
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of the birds that will come — six, a dozen — to sleep
inside their bodies? And don’t you hear
the goldenrod whispering goodbye,
the everlasting being crowned with the first
tuffets of snow? The pond
vanishes, and the white field over which
the fox runs so quickly brings out
its blue shadows. And the wind pumps its
bellows. And at evening especially,
the piled firewood shifts a little,
longing to be on its way.
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Mary Oliver
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We’ll see you all soon! Enjoy the week and stay dry out there…
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All the best,
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Your farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
working hands farm 