Well fall has finally hit here. It's October 13 and we have just had our first slight frost on the garden. Latest one ever I believe. We are located about 1200 feet above sea level 3 miles from Lake Champlain as the crow flies and agriculturally speaking, our zone is zone 4. In this zone the growing season should be about 120 days. That's for veggies anyway. It's longer for pastures. Fall's arrival each year is slightly different. The light changes and one can actually take note of this in August up here on the hill. Colors are more vibrant, and the air smells clean. Fall also brings with it certain other chores on the farm. Like bringing in firewood. We heat in the winter using our own firewood harvested here on the farm. This means finding fallen down trees or cutting down standing dead trees. Then the trees must be cut up into logs and then into smaller chunks and then split into manageable sizes for use either in our outdoor wood boiler or woodstoves in the house.
Fall's arrival also signals the time to finish up necessary outdoor projects before Nor'easters begin to blow our way! Like the woven wire fence we are putting up to protect our blueberry fields from errant escape artist sheep. They love to nibble the tips of the leaves and scratch their backs on low hanging branches.The problem is during picking season they also knock a lot of fruit off the branches by all this movement. I must say though it's quite a sight to see about 30 sheep running on a mission to the blueberry field!
Clear crisp fall days also bring their share of lofty balloons soaring over our house. They seem so close I always wonder if they can hear me talking.
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