Fall is the harvest season. As I sit on my deck and look across the orchard I see Ambrosia apples, Anjou pears and few other later apple varieties like Mutsu and Jonagold. Much of the harvest is now behind us but there is still a lot of work ahead of us. We have storages full of produce to pack, sell and deliver to our faithful customers. We have apples to press into our fresh juice, we will bottle it, supply our fall customers, and then freeze some for our opening next spring. The Cannery is busy preparing fruit and veggies for the freezers to make our preserves with this winter. Fall is the most challenging of all seasons, but also the most rewarding.
 
                  For a farmer to work all year nurturing his trees or plants and then to harvest the crop is an amazing blessing. Sometimes no matter how hard you work and use every strategy you can think of to produce the best possible fruit, there are always things we cannot control. Perhaps the wind blows too hard and apples fall to the ground, or the dark clouds rain down hail and damage your fruit, maybe the winter was too harsh, and the trees are struggling to produce a crop. Hundreds of things must work together to bring in the harvest, many in your control and many not. Farmers are caretakers, we don’t make things grow or control the weather, we nurture our crops and trust God for the rest. This year we are harvesting amazing apples knowing we are just the caretakers. We enjoy the blessing of the harvest and give all glory to God who made it all possible.
 
                  Fall is the most rewarding season, but for me, fall is also the most beautiful of all seasons. Fall is full of intense, radiant and beautiful colour. I am a colour person, I see the world in full colour. I can’t help it, it is who I am. When you love beautiful colours, you drink in fall. The transition of the leaves from green to gold to deep burgundy is a sight to behold. The colour and textures of pumpkins, squash, and gourds are glorious! It is pure joy to put together the harvest displays at the farm and blend the colours of the season both inside and outside the Gift Shop. I love this part of my job and I love to share it with so many who come to the farm. I see hundreds of people taking family photos at the various displays and it warms my heart that they too enjoy the beauty. Sometimes I get carried away with so much abundance. I decorate my patio, my porch, and pretty much every room in my house! I love the natural beauty and surround myself with it at home and at the farm. Fall is fabulous, so take some time to enjoy the bounty of the harvest, the colours of the season, and celebrate this absolutely beautiful time with us.
 
Happy decorating,
 
Tamra Davison
The Decorator/Farmer’s Wife
 
P.S. Thanks for subscribing to our newsletters, this week we are giving away 20 “Home Grown Goodness” tote bags with a harvest ornament to you, our faithful customers! We will contact all winners by email.