August Is Made For This

Organic potato and leek harvest
Organic potato and leek harvest

August 1st.

Summer arrived so late this year that it feels short, and yet here we are: August.

The time of year when we oscillate between gratitude for the bounty of harvest and the exhaustion of mounting work.

I feel it in the length of to-do lists, harvest lists, and the number of items that get pushed to another day.

We’re in high-summer mode:

Organic raspberry harvest
Edge harvesting organic raspberries

Edge is out by 6:30 am to harvest, and a few days ago was out past 10:30 pm picking peas by headlamp.  

Between peas, beans, and raspberries, it sometimes feels like we’ll never stop picking — winter will come and we’ll still be out there, reaching for the plump berries, sugar snaps, handfuls of beans.  

But winter — that thought is enough to harvest more now.  To stretch out these days beyond what they already are.

In the lower field the weeds are creeping in (okay, in a few beds, bursting), and the grass hasn’t been mowed for two weeks.  

organic onion harvest
Fresh onion harvest

And in the midst of all the bounty, we seed more, transplant more, setting the fields for fall and winter harvests.

Even here in Zone 4b we’ll continue seeding into September, planting out the greenhouse with winter greens by October.

Among the successions, we’re planting: carrots, beets, lettuce, chard, kale, herbs, and beans.

And so it goes: seed, plant, harvest.  Seed, plant, harvest. (And somewhere in between, weed, eat, and go swimming).  

August is made for this balance: 

The crops maturing faster in the hot days and afternoon thunderstorms, the harvest pulling us out to the fields, and the subtly shortening days reminding us that another season is on its way.  

Reminding us to steep in this one while it’s here.


2 thoughts on “August Is Made For This”

  1. Michelle Demers

    While I don’t have a farm like you do, I can relate to the “heavy harvest” coming out of even my small-ish garden (36 x 24). It’s amazing that the snap peas are still producing, and I keep finding green beans even though I think I’ve picked most of them. The yellow squash is super prolific (and heavy to carry), but my zucchini isn’t doing well this year and I can’t figure out why — always things to figure out in the garden. Thanks for the reminder to enjoy and go swimming in the midst of the seemingly endless work, and to enjoy our short growing season while it’s here. (Though you do a good job of stretching out the growing season!)

    1. Your garden sounds beautiful! We’ve had a long pea harvest this year, too — I don’t think we’ve harvested so many in August before. Enjoy your bounty and play time. Here’s to stretching it out as long as we can 🙂

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