Waiting for the frost

Waiting for the last frost in the spring is sort of an anticlimax.  One morning, there is no freezing temperature, but you don't know if that is the last one until a series of warmer mornings convince you that it is time to put out the tomatoes.  In the fall, the first frost can be the end of most gardens, and it has the air of finality.  Each morning you walk out and feel the temp at 40 degrees or more you let out the breath you have metaphorically have held all night.  It looks like we have dodged the bullet for another week here on the NCR.  The tomatoes and beans still look good.

Referees and the other "help"

It's pretty amazing when an obviously blown call on national TV that affects the psyche of football fans across America prompts the end of a strike which most felt would extend through the season.  The closest comparison I can think of is the air traffic controllers strike in 1981.  Reagan made a calculated decision to risk the lives of millions of air travelors to break the union.  Had a single plane crash in that time been traced back to replacement controllers, the political damage to the president would have been catastrophic.  The union movement would have been much stronger as workers saw the power of unity demonstrated and validated.  Instead, we witness the referees' union grow more powerful without adding any impetus to the movement.   In these two instances it is possible to draw a direct line between scabs and disaster.  Game outcomes are changed; planes crash.  Unfortunately, if teachers or auto workers strike, it is harder to quantify the damage done by replacements.  It is a quandry for the labor movement and it will not be resolved as long as their is an 8% unemployment rate.

Nutrition and health care

It's a shame that the focus of the ongoing health care debate is on the treatment of symptoms and disease rather than the prevention of same.  As much as we all get a guilty pleasure when we see the "Walmartian" pictures showing the grossly overwieght shoppers at the store we love to hate, these unfortunate individuals should be driving the debate over health care.  These people and their children will overwhelm the system in a few decades unless they have a drastic change in the diet they consume.  Starting your day with a soda and a bowl of highly sweetened cereal and going downhill from there is not the way to maintain a healthy weight.  If the government would partner with fresh veg producers the same way it subsidizes  corn and cattle growers we would be on a much healthier path as a nation.

Atonement

The Jewish religion can sometimes seem incomprehensible to an outsider, especially to those brought up in more rigidly structured faiths like Roman Catholicism.  It seems everyone is an expert and there is no right way to approach the sacred texts.  But they have something that no other religion offers.  The Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur gives the observant Jew an opportunity to make up for a year of screwups.  Or at least to reflect on the transgressions of the past year and plan to avoid them during the new one.   At least that is my interpretation of the day.  As a lapsed Catholic who spent many a terrifying interlude in a darkened confessional, a once a year wrestling match with my conscience seems like a much more civilized alternative.    The one time 24 hour fast is easier than the Ramadan extravaganza the Muslims inflict on themselves, but it serves the purpose of reminding the faithful...of what.   Randy Newman said it best when he put the following words in god's mouth after enumerating a series of natural disasters laying waste to the earth.  Representatives of the major religions ask god what they are doing wrong and what can they do to stop the divine retribution falling on their heads.. God responds  "That's why I love mankind".

Winding down the season

The tomatoes have stopped ripening at the frenetic pace of two weeks ago.  Although there are plenty of green ones hanging, they seem to be in no hurry to turn color, unlike the sumac.  The small peppers have pretty much stopped growing and it looks like  the cukes are feeling the same way.   There is no frost predicted for the NCR at least through the coming weekend, so the season will continue in the present desultory fashion for the moment.  The spinach I planted last Saturday was up and growing yesterday.  Whether it gets big enough to make it through the winter is another story.  Meanwhile, the wholesale markets remain in the doldrums as people also make the transition to fall and winter eating. 

Averages

Looks like a rainy weekend coming up.  We will probably have a series of them now, since we need to make up our average rainfall for the year.  As several farmers around the country have told me, the averages are becoming more and more deceiving, as long interavals of drought are punctuated with torrential rain that runs off the baked soil.  So it will be a wet fall, which will at least rebuild the subsoil moisture for next year.  Unfortunately, the customers at the farmers' market on Saturday are usually not in a buying mood in rainy, cool weather.  so the leftovers will be substatial.  It all comes down to making the averages.

The Frost creeps in

A very little patch of white on one corner of the garage roof was the only evidence of frost on the NCR this morning at 6:15 a.m.  We probably had a little more as the sun started to come up, but there will be no damage.  However, not the same story in less favored areas of the North Country.  The head lettuce was frozen 4 leaves deep.  The inner leaves will probably thaw with no damage, but growers will have to peel the top leaf.  Anyone growing cukes or tomatoes in this area is probably done, but because of its suceptibility to frost, there are few if any growers tempting fate this late in the season.  There are many milder areas near Montreal where tender crops can be grown into October.  I'm still waiting for my last planting of spinach for overwintering to break the ground.  There is plenty of work to do, but it looks like little or no chance of further freezes at least til the end of Sept.

Shouting at the radio

I don't normally talk to my car radio, but this election season has inspired more than a few profane monologues in reply to some of the ideological morons featured on my local NPR (Nice Polite Republicans) station.   Today they featured Eric Erickson of Red State, one of the keyboard commandos fighting the culture wars from the standpoint of  the disaffected lower middle class white bigot.  This is a coveted demographic, fought over by Limbaugh, FOX news and the right wing noise machine.  For him to be given the megaphone of public radio to spew his toxic us against them message is at best deplorable.  He seems to feel Mittens should double down on the message he preached to his $50,000/plate supporters, namely 47% of Americans are hopeless moochers who need tough love from their Republican daddies.  Ericson feels Romney needs to own this particular line of BS.  As I  started to question his parentage, I realized this could probably be the final nail in the coffin if only the Republicans will take this advice.  Let's hope for the sake of our future that this morally bankrupt position becomes a well publicized talking point.

Harvest Jamboree

The title refers to the raccoons frolicking in the last planting of corn.  As I tilled the stalks under in disgust, it looked like they harvested at least as much as I did.  I've been told by some family members I should not be mad at the critters who help themselves to the garden bounty.  The argument is we should feel they perceive the garden as a gift to be enjoyed.  Next year, they are going to enjoy a quick trip to the local wildlife refuge, or failing that a small caliber final solution. 

Taking stock

As I walk around the gardens in the fall, I try to tally up the successes and failures of the past season and pinpoint the reasons for the one or the other.   Corn, tomatoes and lettuce were great this year, the former two because of the dry, hot summer and the lettuce despite those conditions.  Onions, shallots, potatoes and fennel were big failures, due to poor germination on the onions and wrong variety/wrong conditions for the fennel, and some sort of blight (not the dreaded late) on the potatoes.  Most of the other crops were not so bad, but not great.  I think the extended dry, hot conditions were the culprit for most of the problems and there is not a lot I can do to solve that problem short of digging a pond... hmmm.  The other things  that can be done are planning ahead for better varieties, scheduling seeding more timely and finding organic solutions to blight and mildew problems.   There is still plenty of gardening left before the big freeze.  I am still planting spinach to winter over, composting old plantings and cleaning up around the homestead.   The 2013 seed catalogs will be here before you know it.

September blues and blahs

September is always a pivotal month in the farm and garden.  Most of us have become tired of the relentless cycle of seeding, transplanting, weeding, spraying and harvesting during daylight hours.  The temptation is to drop everything but harvest.  Meanwhile, there is much to be done to prepare for next year.  Cleaning up or turning under crop debris, preparing beds for garlic planting, noting the successes and the failures and planning for next year.  Personally, I think I'll play as much golf as possible and fit the garden around that.

Signs of fall

Saw a flock of geese on Sunday (they were flying north, but what the hey) and some stressed trees are starting to turn colors, but the surest sign we are heading for fall is the number of farmers reporting they are nearing the end of their plantings.  Despite the fact we probably have a month of decent weather yet, the early heat has pushed many plantings of lettuce to be ready two to three weeks early.  So it looks like the big push will be over before the end of the month.  It is a bittersweet time, especially when the markets look good.  One thing salesmen hate is to be on the job with little or nothing to sell in a good market.  I stretched the lettuce plantings at home, so I'll probably have lettuce until the end of farmers' market season.  I'll still plant a little more spinach, but other than that it will be cleanup and harvest time in the garden.

Supply and demand

Whether it's produce, trucking or widgets, the law of supply and demand is primary.  The supply of celery in Quebec seems rather light at this time and we are selling out too quickly, so it is time to raise the price.  Trucks are also in somewhat short supply and truckers are starting to try to raise the price also.   Sometimes, sellers ovedshoot the demand curve and wind up with nothing.  Raise the price of celery too high and it sits in your cooler.  Demand too much for your truck and grass will grow around the wheels before it moves.   The moral is to find the delicate balance where produce and trucks move at fair prices for all involved.  It sounds easy, but I've been doing this for almost 30 years and I'm still learning.

Flirting with Frosty

Many growers in the North Country had their fingers crossed last night.  The Weather service predicted some frost in the normal cold spots, but as we get to the ides of September, historically the frost can become widespread quickly.  Fortunately, we all dodged the bullet.  Now we wait for the next full moon later this month.  Temps are expected to warm quickly, and we will be back in summer mode by Thursday.  The last planting of beans is making progress, but it's nothing like midsummer when you can pick every other day.  The rains last week are helping the later plantings, so there is really nothing to complain about at this point.  Now if only the markets would help make up for the reduced yields most growers experienced earlier....  I can't help myself.

Wild Ride

The weather gods were angry this weekend.  Sat. afternoon brought winds and a brief but torrential downpour.  I had planted spinach earlier in the day, so I think I am safe for good germination, unlike the last planting.  Unfortunately, the basil is being attacked by some sort of fungus which looks like it may wipe out the rest of the plantings for the season.  Basil is one of the biggest sellers at the farmer's market, so that will take a bite out of earnings for the last few markets.  Starting to do some fall clean up and planning for the annual garlic planting, which seems to get later and later each year.  I'm figuring we will have a  long, wet fall to make up for the hot, dry summer. At least that's how I see it now.

This and that

The democrats nominated President Obama for a second term last night.  His acceptance speech no doubt caused some (but not enough) republican and tea party heads to explode.  Contrary to 40 years of  denigrating the role of government in our lives, the president made the case for the "hard and necessary work of self government".  This line is the essence of  our shared responsibility for the commonwealth.  Without we the people, government becomes the caricature the republicans would have us believe is the best we can do.  Don't vote, don't participate and you will do exactly what the 1% would prefer.  Government by the few, for the few with the rest of us along for the ride at the back of the bus.  It is not easy to be a self governing people, and my generation is somewhat at fault for not raising America's awareness of its responsibilities.  Perhaps Mr. Obama, the tail end of the boomer generation can repair that omission.  I certainly hope he gets the chance.

Aftereffects

The drought is dead, long live the drought.   Although there is plenty of moisture in the soil now and more on the way, the cruel truth is for many growers and crops it was too late to make a difference.  Cabbage growers are saying the crop is stunted and will not make a real crop.  Late plantings of many vegetables were so stressed earlier in the season they will never make up the lost days.  Many corn growers are baling the crop or making silage instead of harvesting a very reduced grain crop.  Soybean fields have turned yellow and are dropping their leaves and it doesn't look like much of a crop from the road.  In the home garden it is still too early to tell what will happen with some crops.  I still have hopes for the cauliflower and sweet potatoes.  The late crop of plum tomatoes look good, although too late for the farmer's market and too late for home sauce making.   My fennel is gone to seed and the leeks are infested with a borer.  But the late beets and carrots are excellent.  It's a mixed bag, but probably as good as can be expected with the weather cards we were dealt.

Time to build the ark

Well, the skies opened up last night and I actually saw water running in the roadside ditch this morning for the first time in several months.  While it is too late for some crops, the water should make the later plantings of cauliflower and broccoli mature and certainly will help fall plantings of greens and cabbage.  I see good chances of rain in the forecast through Sunday, so maybe the drought is broken.  But it has been a wakeup call for me and for many growers who have heretofore depended on the vagaries of the rain gods to make their crops.  One grower is already planning new irrigation ponds for next year.  I'm thinking about drip irrigation, especially for long season crops which will be in the ground for months.  We are entering a more challenging climate regime and new strategies will be necessary to deal with it.  One harbinger is  new greenhouse company in New York which is selling turnkey greenhouse systems to large chain grocers.  The plan is to set  the greenhouses in the area serviced by the chain and hire a local grower to run the operation and deliver the produce to the chain.  I am somewhat sceptical this will be a viable business model, but controlling the growing environment may become necessary in the future.

A chance of showers

As one radio host put it, "We've had showers in the forecast many times this summer, but no actual rain".   That pretty much sums up the weather predictions.  It is almost as if the weathermen cannot believe we have not had rain in a month, so make us feel better they put a forecast of showers in.  Today looks like the real deal, but it will be too late for many crops.  The dry weather has provided one benefit.  It has concentrated the taste of corn and tomatoes.  It has been a vintage year for tomato sauce and corn on the cob.  The flavors are intense and redolent of the best imaginings of summer.  The other benefit has been the relative lack of disease, especially the dreaded late blight in tomatoes.  Overall, however, it has been a trying growing season.  I transplanted the last of thelettuce yesterday, and continue to plant spinach and some short season growers such as raab broccoli and radishes.  Maybe if we get some rain today and tomorrow my heart will be back into the game.