Dear Farm Journal,

It is week seven of our fall CSA and all the token fall produce is in its full glory; acorn squash, apples, sweet potatoes, delicata squash, beauty heart radishes, beets, carrots, and storage onions. These autumn items are complemented by the lingering summer salads of head lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos, summer squash, broccoli, and cauliflower. This is a bountiful time of year when we can have the best of both seasons, yet winter is hanging overhead, threatening to snow this weekend. As I work through the day’s harvest, I feel a familiar chill in the air. I switch between tank top and jacket, swap between bare feet and boots. I personally enjoy the cooler gales and waning light. It fills my farmer heart with the sensation of a carefree exhale, the gradual lowering of the velvet curtain after a dynamic show, or the crack of a cold beer at the end of a long hot day. The growing season is slowing and winter is coming. As I read over some of my journal entries from last winter, I remember how different the pace will be. With each season I farm, I feel more connected with the changing of the seasons. My daily life, activities, attitudes, and outlooks are linked in cadence with the calendar. Mother Nature guides my days and ushers me into each cycle of the moon. Her constancy consociates me with my ancestors who’s ancient lives were far less sheltered than our modern retreat from nature.

~Joy