APOE news, 8-25-13

So much for the perfect growing season.  The mild temperatures and timely rains have given way to our typical late August burn-out.  I’ve seen these same cracks in the earth before, these same shriveling fruits and plants, these same clouds of dust drifting.  Still what a pleasure it was to enjoy “Nature’s first green” prolonged upon the scene, as if it could last for so much longer than an hour.  So each season’s rise and fall, so the toddler’s play gives way, so we embrace come what may, “so dawn goes down to day.  Nothing gold can stay.”  

Last year we jumped into drought and intense heat very early, but August brought relief in rain and cooler temps, which ushered in a beautiful, bountiful Fall/Winter harvest.  This year, as you well know, the Summer has been a bonanza.  Time will tell if these late crops can somehow thrive in stiff heat, without water.  It is no small comfort to have a barn full of garlic, onions, pumpkins and winter squash, plus two long, healthy-looking rows of sweet potatoes yet to be dug.  One way or another we will make it to the finish (lord willing and the creek is certainly not rising); it sure would be nice, though, for these last couple months of the season to match the bounty of the first four months.

The days are never long enough to get done what we want.  This is ever more so with Courtney back in school.  She gets home 4:30 or so and my day begins again, sometimes stretching way too late into the night.  It is a wild time in our lives—no time to think, hardly time to eat or drink.  We are always and eternally grateful for all the help and love so generously bestowed upon us.  As crazy as it gets, we rarely lose sight of what a blessing this life is and how wonderful it is to share it with you.

Last chance for chicken

Our last processing day will be this coming Saturday.  The birds have feasted on lush pasture all Summer long and turned out really well.  We do still have birds that are unspoken for, so just tell us how many you would like, and we will deliver next weekend. 

We are happy to have incorporated these chickens into the farm, for not only do they provide a delicious protein for us meat-eaters, but they also deliver a knock-out fertilizer directly to the fields, with no need for a combustion engine or manure spreader.  As our neighbor, Wendell Berry, has succinctly stated, when we (as a society) took animals off the farm, we created a fertility problem on the farm and a pollution problem at the feedlot.  We know that, in the long run, if we want this place on earth to remain fertile and productive, we need enough animals here to properly enrich the soil.  And so, in many ways, these chickens are an important addition to our farm.

Last 2013 potluck

The equinox is fast approaching.  Join us Saturday, September 21, at 3 PM for our 9^th annual Autumnal Equinox Potluck.  Good food, good people, good music, good earth—what more could you want?  See you then, if not sooner.