Life on the Farm

Wow,

I just realized it's been over a month since I posted here. That should give you some idea of what the harvest season is like in farm country.

So here I am in PEI, Canada, harvesting, selling, canning and freezing the work of the last four months as the harvest of produce comes in and the days get shorter in the north country.

Hundreds of pounds of fresh produce have been picked, packed and sold by yours truly as we wind our way through a land that actually has seasons you can't ignore!

Good reading for anyone who is interested in what we do here and what meaning it might have is Barbara Kingsolver's book - "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle." The premise is her family experience moving from Tuscon, Arizona, to eastern Virginia to raise children and food on a few acres of farmland.

Could you eat only home grown and locally produced food for a year?

Your chances are pretty good in Santa Barbara with glowing farmers market produce and
a growing season that delivers four crops a year. But try that in the heartland and you face a different challenge. Still, the rewards are large and the food is great!

And we did it all on about $150.00 of fossil fuel for the tractor (some of which I'm wearing now as the diesel spilled while I was filling the tractor from a plastic gas can.) and we maintained our organic certification under strict supervision and inspection.

In fact our largest fossil fuel expense (besides off farm transportation) was for mowing! No need for irrigation - it rained a LOT and we have the lawn and field mowing to prove it!

More mowing, compost pile building and picking to come as we close up the summer and look ahead to more healthy soil, weeds and crops in the spring.

I'll be home to lovely ash covered SB in a couple of weeks.