LOVELY October!

We are experiencing a wonderful warm October this year! It has been in the high 70’s during the days and down to a misty 45 at night. The air is scented with the smoke of wood fires and burning pine needle piles. The light falls at a steeper angle and the shadows turn purple. It feels like fall.

My garden is still doing pretty well and my new bed is ready for the onions, which should be arriving at the nursery in a couple of weeks. I learned from my Farmer’s Market friend Robert that I was not watering them enough, so I am excited to try my hand again. I have some greenhouse lettuces coming on, along with a few that I planted out in the “chicken free” zone. My cabbages are doing great surrounded by their little fence covered with snap peas. My broccoli have been devastated by chicken blight ~ you know, it is that thing that happens to them when you take their cages off to weed the bed and then TURN YOUR BACK for a ½ hour. On the other hand, that hen must be REALLY healthy, because broccoli leaves are filled with lovely vitamins and minerals.

The apples are getting bigger and I can’t wait to sample the Arkansas Blacks. This is the first year for this new little tree to bear and there are only four or five fruits. I fantasize about planting a whole orchard of fruit trees up on the hill. It would be a challenge to keep the critters out of them, but how pretty it could be!

All is well at FiddleSong Farm!