On The Farm: Seasons end, but not the chores

It’s fitting that on Sunday morning the sun rose at nearly the same place in the sky and at nearly the same time as it did the day we started this farm season back on April 1. That’s the day Heather-Marie trudged across the snow and turned on the heater in the greenhouse to start the first round of seeds for this growing season. They would be planted in our field and eventually feed our 45 CSA members and our farmstand customers. And now they’ll feed us throughout the winter that’s about to descend.

Our last farmstand of the season on Friday was ironically cold and soggy — ironic because this summer we experienced a drought that longtimers in this area told us was unprecedented and meant one of the worst farming seasons that anyone could remember. In spite of that, our fertile soil and our new irrigation system saw us through. Sure, there were setbacks and disappointments but, in the end, we were grateful for all that we were able to grow and to share with our friends and our neighbors.

At the farmstand on Friday, we had carving pumpkins and a photo booth. We had hoped to have a hayride but the rain picked up as the day went on, and we had to cancel that. We didn’t know what to expect when we set up. Would anyone show up at all?

But as the day went on, we were pleasantly surprised. Many of our regular customers who had supported us all season came to make some final purchases for the season, to have some hot cider with us in our warm greenhouse, and to say thank-you for the growing season.

Heather-Marie struggled over what to name this farm when she started her business in 2011. She thought of “Second Chance Farm” but in the end, she settled on the name “Rising Phoenix Community Farm” with an emphasis on the word “community.” After years of transient farming, leasing land, we know we are home here in Barnum. We have made so many friends and gotten so much wonderful support from so many people.

This year, we have seen the number of customers for our CSA more than double out here in Barnum. Many of them were people who discovered us through our Friday farmstands, and we have gotten to know them and their families as we have learned about the history of this community and its connection to agriculture.

Tuesday was our last CSA delivery of the season. It will be the end of my fifth season of working alongside Heather-Marie; it will be the end of Heather Marie’s 12th season. While the deliveries and farmstands are done, the season is not yet over. We turn our attention to finishing up a few more tasks before the snow flies. Those include planting 80 pounds of garlic, finishing our 100-foot-long high tunnel, planting cover crops in our beds and tucking the field in for the winter, so when spring comes and the snow melts, we are ready to go again. As much as we love farming, we are ridiculously tired and look forward to the dark nights and reading books. I can focus on my teaching and writing, and Heather-Marie can make plans for the upcoming flower and vegetable growing season, while working on her art and other passions.

On Sunday morning, Heather-Marie was away from the farm, and I had the place to myself. I got up early, took a few sips of coffee and grabbed my binoculars and walked out across the field. It was brisk and cool and the leaves were hanging on to the end of fall. The tamaracks down in our swamp were hinting at changing color. It won’t be long before we’ll be strapping on our cross country skis and gliding across our fields.

Writer John Hatcher teaches journalism at the University of Minnesota Duluth and spends his summers helping partner Heather-Marie Bloom grow vegetables for her rural Barnum business, Rising Phoenix Community Farm.