Autumn is Here

Speaking artistically the mornings are crisp but in true factual fashion they are getting darn chilly.  One day last week as I let the hens out I noticed that the grass was very damp and then on the trek back to the house soft frost had actually developed in those few short minutes.  Autumn is definitely upon on as I become aware of the shorter days, letting the hens in at night around 7:30 and letting them out after 7 in the morning.  Why am I so conscious of the time?  Last winter I read that foxes are particularly sly and are most likely to pounce on the oblivious hens at dusk or dawn therefore it behooves me to outwit the fox.

Over the last week or so I have begun digging up my potatoes and again found myself disappointed in the small amount of potatoes under each plant.  I thought something was very wrong and so I inquired of a girlfriend who had been raised on a farm what could I be doing wrong?  It turns out that my “hilling” technique was inadequate.  Little did I know that I ought to have covered the plant right up to the leaves and even over the leaves.  I had merely put dirt a little higher than to the first level of leaf.  “Bury the leaves, even?” I asked.  “Yes” she answered.  Wow, new knowledge to be stored away for next spring.  Meanwhile I wondered how I had gotten so many potatoes in the past and I realized that the person who plowed my field must have hilled my potatoes along with her own without my knowing it.  Lesson learned, be more observant and ask questions of those who have done this before.

I planted 8 hills of zucchini but only 2 came up with a third starting very late in the season so I have to wonder what happened to the other 6 hills.  However, the 2 mature ones are yielding enough zucchini for myself with a few extra to share with a couple of friends.  Next year I will have to plant even more if I want any for my country fair.  Along with the zucchini I will plant my pumpkins which again have merely bloomed and bloomed.  This year I did see a quarter size fruit appear several times but then they disappeared (either eaten by the hens or simply dissolved in neglect?).  I suspect I planted the pumpkins in an area with too much shade as well as putting them in the ground rather late in the season.

The final lament of the summer has to be “why didn’t someone predict rain on a daily basis”?  If I had only known that it would rain almost every day for 2 and a half months I would have planted more bushes, trees and water loving vegetables in the field.  Now isn’t that the voice of a farmer?