October Harvest at the Farm

On October 6th a crew of about fifteen from NYC joined Jessica and the Young Adult team to enjoy and help out with the High Point Farm Fall Fest. This annual event is a celebration of the combined efforts of Fountain House members and staff and High Point neighborhood volunteers who join our farm managers, Steve and Abi to keep the farm and its projects thriving. The party features a BBQ but the standout dishes featuring produce from our garden were the real treats. I don’t know when the last time our pear trees produced enough fruit to make pear pie, but this was the first in my nine years. Oh my, so delicious! The weather was ideal fall, the requisite warm sun and cooling breeze doing their work. The fun was so merry and the work so thorough that we didn’t head out until dark, a satiated crew napped and chatted all the way home.

Three weekends later while farm managers, Steve and Abi were hiking in Peru, David, Keith, Steve H, Gail and I, a contingent of the Garden Group, returned to the farm for a round of fall cleanup. It was a long, three hour drive through Friday traffic and a steady rain. We arrived in the dark but the lighted chalet welcomed us. After fixing dinner and cleaning up we retired early wanting to be fresh and rested for our upcoming rainy workday. Saturday morning we divied-up the rain gear and headed to the maternity barn to start our morning rounds feeding the alpacas, llamas, chickens, and of course the cats.

A wet herd greeted us with great anticipation of a delicious breakfast, and indeed the grain dressed with vitamins did smell terrific. We gathered a few eggs, enough to keep us in breakfast and to gleam up our farm fresh apple pie. After the animal chores we gathered in the garden room to see what work was available inside because the serious rain didn’t appear to be giving up. The house plants were parched so indoor work was urgent and plenty. We decided to give each pot a deep soak, trim, and some fresh soil. As that job got under way we sorted through our seed collection, pulling out a variety of greens for a fresh fall crop. Soil pickings were a bit thin so tying a shirt around my nose to protect form seed starter mix dust, Keith and I got a set of seed trays filled and soaking in water with the hopes it would be ready in a day or two.

As the indoor work was well on its way we had a big decision to make: Trek back to the Chalet through the near waterfall proportioned rain to bake goodies and watch movies or Gear up for the deluge and get out into the garden for some harvesting and weeding. A bunch of dedicated gardens decided to pull up our hoods and head out to the garden! After a couple of hours in the deliciously warm rain we harvested buckets of tomatillos, Brussels sprouts, a few late string bean and peas, lots of lettuce, kale, and parsley, a bunch more turnips, a few beets and carrots, late season beautiful yellow summer squash and pumpkins, and the tail-end of this season’s red tomatoes. Remarkably the rain was standing about six inches deep in some areas and shockingly I managed to find a foot deep spot of mud to step in on my way to the tomato/chard bed. About three hours into our work we realized the rain had stopped and the warm sun was breaking through the heavy clouds. We stripped down to our regular garden outfits and felt like happy garden plants ourselves as we tucked through the thriving weeds uncovering a new crop of chard, spinach and beets. The deep puddles of water seeped into the ground, miraculously. Steve captured our crew in the garden with his little camera, joining us between shots for weeding and harvesting.

Employing his many years restaurant cooking, Steve took a lead on some remarkable meals, again featuring loads of fresh vegetable dishes. Saturday evening after another round of cooking and cleanup, Steve headed to his computer to work his photos into panorama, his current art project. The rest of us fixed a big bowl of popcorn and enjoyed a movie together. Sunday morning we met Anthony at the maternity barn and made our way from barn to barn feeding and watering our hungry herd. Another round of harvesting the more delicate greens and cleaning the chalet we gathered a last time around the dining room table to enjoy a hearty brunch before heading home.

This afternoon another weekend garden crew, Anne, Anna, Ekaterina and Elizeveta is heading up to the farm. I’m guessing they will be bringing home a fall spinach crop and some fresh sage. I can’t wait to see what other garden treats they’ll bring back and look forward to our Tuesday planning meeting where we will develop next week’s Friday Cafe menu. Stay tuned!