Autumn

The weather has turned cool, darkness falls sooner every evening, and I suddenly find myself fighting of the urge to hibernate. I try to embrace the slower months, give myself grace when I wake up late every morning because the sun wakes up late, too. But not yet. The harvest isn’t all in yet: there are still sweet potatoes to dig, squash to cut off the vine, beds to sow with winter rye and cover with mulch. The first frost has kindly waited (so far) for me to finish these tasks this year.

The sweet potatoes I dug two weeks ago have been curing in a spare bedroom, and my experimental bed of brassicas appears to be producing some collards and kale. Although I’d hoped to harvest squash last week, the heirloom orange butternuts I planted in late spring are taking their sweet time ripening. Soon.

Unfortunately, the New Market Farmer’s Market has been cancelled this week due to low vendor count. If you would like sweet potatoes, garlic, hot or fire salt, or any of my handmade items, please send me an email, and we can arrange a time for on-farm pickup. We are planning to be at the market next week, October 29, so pray for sunshine and come out to shop! In addition to the list above, I hope to finally have some of those beautiful butternut squash for you and maybe collards and kale.

And if you’re wondering where I disappeared to last week, we headed to the Outer Banks for a few days of wild ponies, exploring, relaxing, and visiting with extended family before attending the beautiful wedding of one of Paul’s cousins (outdoors and fully vaccinated! 🙂 ).

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