With the fall equinox behind us, the farm now begins its slow descent toward winter. In the short term, these cooler, more comfortable days are full of our final harvests, and it’s gratifying to see the season’s long song reach this crescendo.

In the middle term, we can look forward to what I’ve come to call “putting the farm to bed.” This involves pulling all our hardware out of the field and stowing it for next season, and cleaning the greenhouse and barn and setting everything in order. It also means mowing off and tilling under all the spent crops from the past season and sowing the field to a beneficial cover crop to protect it from the winter winds and snow.

And in the longer term, aside from enjoying a little rest, I begin to look toward next season, by drafting budgets, ordering seeds and soil, starting to accept sign-ups for next season’s CSA, and dreaming about what possibilities might still lie waiting for us in this place.

As summer now slides into fall, the name of the game is endurance. And our purpose becomes single-minded: the harvest. All other farm tasks have faded into the past. There is no more greenhouse work to be done, no more seeding and transplanting in the field. There is very little weeding left, and only a couple of potential pests to keep an eye out for. Our days fill with the urgency of the crops’ yields. And while we may be weary, we are glad for the generous earth’s abundance.