Fall Harvesting

Round and round we go in a full fall daze, trying to get everything done before the earlier night falls. It takes many circles to wrap up the haying, rolling over bumpy fields with the mower, rake, baler and finally the truck. The cows are secure of their winter feed, lined up like giant tootsie rolls in side the fence.

Another circle is the cycle of organic matter from hay through cow to soil humus and back again. This turning over of life powers the farm like an old engine, steady and reliable. Wheels within wheels would be one way to wonder at all the microbes living and dying to create more life again.

Spherical squash in cylindrical baskets are stacked everywhere you look. Sweet potatoes harvest is happening, with promises of many smiles and happy tongues.

Apple globes are still being harvested and squished into cider, to let our cups be filled once again. The Liberty apples ripen a deep purple and explode with tasty sensations, and the Arkansas Blacks with their yellow flesh pack a flavorful punch, too.

Thousands of lettuce transplants eagerly await a rain, something we haven’t had for a few months. A farmer gambles, and I’m counting on a nice rainstorm to transform this garden from little green dots to full blown greenery. Compost is my ace in the hole, keeping it all alive, but a shower would make a royal flush of new growth.

Cooler temperatures seem to help the fall greens, but the tomatoes look bewildered. The cherry tomatoes and paste tomatoes keep on producing the longest, and although smaller, still are full of flavor. Peppers refuse to slow down, producing packs of pods for Poppen’s pepper pickers’ pleasureful plucking.

I’m still sowing the little round kale seeds, with four more rows in the garden by the cave. The last of the plantings will be garlic and then spinach. Fields for next year’s gardens need composting and turning, probably as the leaves turn. The world keeps turning too, spinning, breathing, and creating with every new dawn, now with the autumnal excitement of new, cool things to do.

Brrr! Like cut rounds of firewood.