Are you there, fall? It’s me, Farmer Hannah. I’m tired.
Fall is creeping in on the farm, taking its sweet time. After we had threats of frost a couple weeks ago, the temperatures have risen again, allowing for some heat-loving crops to hang on a little longer.
Signs of autumn come in small bursts it seems. The hummingbirds who buzzed around our lilac bushes constantly all summer have left for their winter journey. The tips of the maple trees on the property are tinged with color. Weeds are dying back in the field. The evening darkness sets in earlier and we are up before the sun meets the horizon.
It seems the past several years have been marked by unusually long late-summers. The heat continues through September, we get a cold snap in October, followed by a mild November. Those kinds of fluctuations aren’t good for farming – pests don’t die back as much during warmer, wonky winters and perennial crops can get confused about timing.
These things are also not great for my mental health. When I first started farming, the end of the season was fairly clear. A timely frost would hit and put the summer crops to bed. We’d have maybe four to six more weeks from then until it got too cold for anything. There’d be a couple weeks of clean up on and off when the temps weren’t too brutal to be outside. By Thanksgiving or early December, it was pretty much a wrap on the farm season.
Now it seems there’s an earlier frost chance followed by more summer-like heat. That’s certainly been the case this year here. The unknowing about the forecast and pure exhaustion most farmers feel at this point in the season is a heavy load to carry. I look forward to the chilly, darker days of fall because they are a natural shift that allows me to transition slowly toward less physical labor and more rest in between bouts of work. With the weather bouncing back and forth, it’s harder to move into that graceful transition.
Crops like tomatoes, peppers and zucchini are still hanging on, but like me, they are dwindling in energy. Those recent cold nights we had shocked them and now they are experiencing another shock back into summer-mode. It won’t be long before the plants give up. Most people at markets are too busy thinking about soups and winter squash to see that my tables are still carrying those items anyway. I can’t blame them – some days all I want to do is spend hours in the kitchen creating a warm meal (then I realize it’s still 80 degrees and there’s outside work to be done).
In other news, I cleaned out most of the cucumbers from the high tunnel in the last few weeks and lettuces and bok choy have taken their place. Within the other half of the tunnel is our cucamelon crop, still going strong. I’ve made the decision that those too will be taken out soon to make way for quick-growing radishes, hearty greens and turnips.
The outside carrots, beets, watermelon radishes and storage turnips look great and I’m hoping by mid-October they will be ready. It would help if we got a couple days of steady rain. This lingering drought doesn’t help my mood either.
Last weekend Tyler and I loaded up both vehicles with produce to take to the annual Autumn on Main festival in Lake Tomahawk. We were received very well and I’m grateful for the show of support in the community. My family has deep roots in Lake Tomahawk and I consider it a second home. Before I even started my own farm, the plan in my mind had always been to somehow get food to people in that area. With my first season on my own almost complete, I’m excited about future opportunities to do just that.