Au revoir Sweet Summer! With the end of August; the last full month of summer, we ready ourselves for fall and the excitement of the upcoming Harvest!
Apples are heavy on the trees and the cool mornings and evenings whisper of things to come. Pumpkins are getting yellow ( ours are still green because they went in late due to the cool rainy spring) However we are hoping they will “Orange up” by mid September. We need pumpkins for our open house (Sunday October 6th 2pm-4pm at the Farm 93 Bassett rd. Winslow). All are welcome! Everyone usually goes home with one for their Halloween celebrations; so keep your fingers crossed that they ripen.
We are awaiting the second cut of hay; we need another 100 bales, to keep us happy this winter (is Winter truly coming? Yes it is!) As I write this on the second of September it’s rainy out and this will be good for the hay fields. The last three weeks of August were perfect for growing hay: warm, sunny wonderful and with this kiss of rain we hope to bring in the last bales in Mid September.
September is a doing month and there is lots to do! Bring in hay, finish stacking wood, wood stoves, chimneys cleaned and at the ready etc. Harvesting the goodness from the garden: beets are coming, parsnips, red onions. We are now enjoying tomatoes, string beans, swiss chard, kale, fennel etc. The garden had a slow start, But it is abundant now; enabling us to share with our friends. We are so Grateful for the generosity of the sweet earth.
Getting barns and fences repaired and making sure our animal buddies are prepared for the chilly days is an activity we are beginning, but alas we are not there yet, We have some time; September still has wonderful sunny beautiful days and it’s a glorious month! But September very gently reminds of what is in store. The first aroma of fall in the cool morning air as well as in the cool evenings is present. As the fall progress the scent of the dirt and trees takes on a perfume that is only present this time of year. Our bird nesting houses are empty. It is a wonderful sight to see the young fledglings soar; they enjoy this time with abandon as if they sense the long migrations to warmer climes coming shortly.
This month we welcome a new program to our Farm: Assistance Plus; a neighboring agency working with adults with challenges. We hope the Farm and the activities here and our healing horses can bring these individuals joy and meaning and hopefully they will come often and become members of our Ephphatha community. We welcome them most sincerely! We look forward to the return of our friends from Skills inc. and plan some fun fall activities we can share together. Two weeks ago a group from Shawmut House ( run by Skills Inc.) brought a group of residents over to visit Bodyke and Diamond( our therapy horses) These friends planned a trip for their roommate Eliza. Eliza turned 88 years old and it was her wish to visit the horses. Bodi was his sweet self and was very happy to oblige in neighing Happy Birthday Eliza as we sang. Bodi doesn’t eat birthday cake so he and Diamond celebrated with birthday carrots instead.A fun time was had by all.
It seems that the rain has let up a bit; time to clean stalls during this break before the rain gets any heavier.
Blessings everyone. Enjoy these days of transitions with fall fairs abundant, wonderful comradery and sharing prevailing.
Happy almost Fall.
Dirty hands….harvesting onions. Wonderful gift! Mr. Bee working diligently these last days of summer. Friends!
