It’s near the end of the season, and if the cool nights weren’t enough of an indicator that Fall is right around the corner, my brother-in-law Denis has been busy repairing and maintaining the pull-behind plows by removing and replacing the knives that scrape dirt off the actual plowing parts as it moves along. If they are out of order or missing, furrows will not turn over properly and dirt scrapes against the metal, wearing the parts out. He has about 300 acres to do and wants to make sure he can get a move on whatever date opens up after the crops are off.
Denis and my husband Dan pulled out the canvas cow beds on the south side of the dry cow barn and changed the base underneath from lumpy sand to concrete, finishing a job started – oh I don’t know, maybe three years ago. I know it sounds uncomfortable for the animals, but if you think about it as a mattress with a box spring, you get the picture that a sturdier base increases comfort when you weigh as much as a pregnant cow. At least that’s what they tell me.
Today, we loaded the pigs into the new cattle trailer (my first real farm-equipment purchase) for that final trip to the processor tomorrow. No worries about humane treatment, they will have food and water and plenty of space to root around in overnight and will be less stressed during the haul given enough time to adjust to being confined.
This time around we will have made for us: fresh (not smoked) pork shanks for stews, plenty of ground for Chinese dumplings and meatballs, and whole shoulders to cook up in the smoker ourselves. No sausages, they were too busy with seasonal work at Brault’s Custom Processing in Troy to get to it right away and we didn’t want to make a special trip over the mountain to pick them up later. Mmmmmm, pork! C’mon, you knew they were headed for the dinner plate when we got them!
I can’t believe how good a year it was for our yard fruit. Now that the pigs are gone, the turkeys are eating the apples and pears that are falling off the trees. They have gained so much weight that they can’t fly to the top of their coop at night anymore; this makes it easier for Dan to herd them inside at dusk, a practice that keeps them from jumping down from the roof and into the yard every morning. Mmmmm, turkey! 
There are only seven Saturdays of farmer’s market remaining this year. Burlington has organized a winter market to be held at Memorial Auditorium starting November 22nd. We decided remain firm with our decision to stick to our short n’ sweet winter deliveries in the city, instead of working inside one weekend a month with our fellow vendors. We will be stopping by to say “Hi” and pick up gifts and local goodies at least once to see what it’s all about.
