One Possible Solution

The unsustainability of conventional farming is something that I don't like to think about, because it terrifies me, because it makes me feel like there is nothing I can do. But gardening and permaculture may be the key to maintaining our food supply when we no longer have the option to fertilize and transport our food with the world's dwindling supply of fossel fuels.

This documentary opens with all of that dreadful information that gives me nightmares. But by the third part, it gets into the good stuff: realistic, productive alternatives that are already being put into practice by farmers in the UK.











Thank you for watching. I hope this inspires you to grow more of your own food.

Killing Frost

Yesterday morning we had our first killing frost. I managed, through dumb luck, to get photos of the nasturtiums in the moments when they were in the sun, but not yet thawed.




Once thawed, the leaves and flowers melted away into sad memories.

The Most Beautiful Thing in the Yard

Maples are gorgeous in the Autumn, but poison sumac takes the cake! There is a special place in my heart for this one, which looms over our rear lawn.

In full sun they go through the entire spectrum of Autumn leaf colors, including a shade of purple, and the individual branches seem to run on their own schedules. This small tree looks like it is throwing itself a party.

In the understory of the woods, however, they stay a more humble yellow.

Big Apple Farm

I kind of botched the camera settings, so you'll have to trust me when I say that the big red ball over the door of this barn is a big apple. The name of the farm is actually Pine Hedge Orchards, but because of the big apple, everyone now calls it Big Apple Farm.

Big Apple is a shining example of farmland that has been kept in business by catering directly to the public, both by selling produce directly to the consumers, and by becoming a tourist attraction. They have welded the two beautifully. They offer all the usual: hay rides, pick-your-own-apples, baked goods and seasonal produce. Here, you can see that they have arranged their apple-sorting machine so that the public can get right up close. The kids love it.



The place was packed when I got there. If I had ever wondered where in the US to find a harvest festival, now I know! Big Apple is actually so successful that competing businesses have set up shop right across the street, based around Holy Cow Antiques. Aparently Big Apple's feathers were ruffled by this, because they erected a large sign stating that the various vendors across the street have nothing to do with them.


Big Apple's history can be traced all the way back to 1785. Among other tidbits of history, one of the previous owners used the farm to raise and store plants for the Arnold Arboretum. Another worked in Rhode Island's costume jewelry industry.

Here, you can see a ridge of apple trees in the distance, and blueberry bushes up close.


Oh, those heavenly donuts! Somehow, I managed not to see the donut machine, eventhough Gabe and I scarfed down two and brought home another two dozen. (For guests, of course!)



Now here's something my office needs: an apple vending machine!



Apples apples apples apples apples apples!

October Frost

I don't know if this was the first frost of the season, but it was the first frost that I've noticed.

(This is the neighbor's lawn, as you can tell by the actual grass.)

In a Single Growing Season. . .

Remember what I was doing to the lawn back in February?


In a single growing season, it has gone from that, to this:


Hooray!

Apple Picking

Pick-your-own apple orchards are one of the origins of food tourism, and a staple of New England. As life in the Northeast became more urban, people began to yearn for farm life and fresh produce. This allowed apple orchards to stay in business in areas that were otherwise converting from farms to suburban lots.

Here is my husband, being hugged by a tree in an orchard just a few miles from our home. Our region isn't suited to Big Agriculture, thankfully. Instead we have small farms that cater directly to their local communities, like this one, called Fairmount Fruit Farm.

This farm is so suburban, in fact, that it exists almost entirely beneath high-power lines.

I grew up playing in meadows beneath such lines, so I am endlessly intrigued as to how such land gets used. Typically around here the land is left wild, but occasionally mowed, which makes it perfect habitat for what are typically transient meadow plants and animals. Putting a farm on such an easement makes more sense than cutting down trees. The double use of land would please permaculturists, I think. (Or at least it would please those who aren't paranoid about power-lines.)

When we picked our apples two weeks ago, Fairmount was mobbed with suburbanites, but even the noisy throngs couldn't keep up with the fruit trees. Thanks to the same cold, wet summer that traumatized the tomatoes and strawberries, overloaded branches were shedding apples like dogs shed fur. The whole farm smelled like cider.

I addition to apples, Fairmont Fruit Farm grows and sells other fruits and produce, and raises sheep and goats, including Tennessee fainting goats. Click the link to see fainting goats in action - but put down your coffee first. These guys are a riot.

My son gave the apple-picking experience two sticky, apple-scented thumbs up, and demands that we go apple-picking again tomorrow, because between the three of us, we have already eaten our peck - ten pounds! - of apples.