Greens on the Menu –
Things are changing fast around here. From sunrise to sunset, the days are at least 3-hours shorter than they were a few months ago. By midday, the temperature can reach the high 80’s, but there isn’t really enough time for it to feel really hot since the temperatures are in the mid-50’s at night. The sun is lower in the sky and in the morning when it shines through trees that are loosing their leaves, there are dramatic shadows on the ground and a lovely gentle quality in the light and air that even the most harried farmers can’t help but enjoy.
‘Harried’ only because there are so many projects that need attention. We finished harvesting our 12-acre walnut orchard, and when we have enough people, a crew is sitting on the hulling machine. Soon those walnuts will be cracked out and we will be ready to start selling our 2018 crop. There are tractors in many fields, mowing down and turning under summer flowers and melons. Part of our winter squash crop is still in the field, waiting to be picked up and stored in hundreds of bins, stacked up in the barn. The weeds are growing fast, so our crews also spend time keeping the carrots and other crops weeded. Planting too, is a priority — we have to have crops ready to harvest all winter and into the spring! Our organic inspection is this week, and our desks are piled high with paperwork…
Last week, in her News, Dru mentioned that 14 piglets were born last Sunday. One of them quickly faltered — there is usually a runt in the litter, and if it is too small, it can’t compete with its brothers and sisters, usually dying relatively quickly. This year, for the first time, the interns chose to try and bottle feed it with milk from our cow, and they appear to have saved its life. Bottle feeding babies requires an around-the clock rotation, so the interns can be proud. The little pig is by himself, and probably a little lonely, but growing and even thriving. We aren’t sure that we will be able to allow him to rejoin his birth family as he now thinks of us as the source of sustenance and his mama might even think he was an imposter.
The Fall weather has brought a marked change to your box contents. Hopefully you have welcomed the greens and winter squash .
Blessings on your meals — Judith Redmond