Wow, what a spooky Halloween night up here on the hill, and I’m not talking about the zombies, wolves, witches and native pollinators going from door to door. That wind! We somehow only ended up with one child in our bed, but it kept the three of us up all night. Only the littlest one somehow slept through it all and was in wonderful spirits the next day.
I went out to assess the damage the next morning and almost got KO’d by a harvest bin flying across the street. Then I watched one of the covers flapping wildly and fly away as I thought ‘I should probably go put some more rocks on that one’. Of the 10 covers we diligently set out and pinned down on Wednesday, only 3 were where they were supposed to be. After the close call with the harvest bin, I defeatedly decided it was best to stay in, let nature take its course, and we’d clean up the aftermath after things calmed down. Did I mention wind freaks me out ever since we moved to the top of the hill? Seems to be a constant theme!
I was as prepared as I could have been for that storm. I saw the high winds coming a few days in advance followed by the first real cold of the season, so we covered all the tender veggies and used extra heavy rocks to secure the covers. Even after a fantastic season, it’s nights/days like those that I question the sanity of trying to farm up here. It’s such a picturesque and magical place…on a still day. But Mother Nature is so unforgiving and powerful – I feel so helpless at times like these! What I wouldn’t give for a flat protected garden area with a diversity of wet and dry soils! Doesn’t exist in this area? Grumble grumble.
We waited and waited for the opportune time to fight back against Her fury. There was a 45 minute window after the wind calmed down before dusk when we went for it full speed. We were able to put the covers back on just in the nick of time before the cold really set in Friday night, and it seems to have paid off as the lettuce underneath the cover looks great. We have at least one more week of abundance – all bets are off after the temperature nosedive forecast for Friday. Get all those green things while you still can! And please note, due to setting the clocks back, I am moving the pickup to 3-6pm. If this is an obstacle to getting your veggies, please let me know and we will work around it.
Veggie Ordering and Pickup Procedures: Put your veggie orders in online before 8pm Sunday. The website is a little buggy so if you don’t see a wide variety of items or you see items out of stock, try refreshing your browser. Also confirm on checkout that you have the correct number of each item in your cart. The two pickup windows are working well, so we’ll keep it going. Choose your pickup window while checking out online: 1230-2pm and 4-5pm Monday on the farm at 64 Potter Hill Rd in Grafton. Pickups are in the long white garage on the left across from the beat up tan and red barn at the crest of the hill.
