Late summer always seems to arrive before I’m quite ready for it. The days are still warm and the flower beds are still giving me plenty to do, but there are little signs everywhere that the season is starting to turn. The mornings have become noticeably cooler and everything is covered in heavy dew when I head outside, while the nights are beginning to dip below 10°C. Some of the flowers are having their final flushes of blooms, and I’m starting to think less about what I can still get done in the flower fields and more about everything that comes next.
One of the things I’ve noticed surprisingly often around the farm this year is monarch butterflies. We’ve found a couple of monarch caterpillars on the milkweed growing around the property, slowly working their way through the leaves, and I’ve been seeing the adult butterflies more and more as summer winds down. In the warm afternoon sun, they seem particularly drawn to the wild goldenrod, moving from flower to flower as they take advantage of the late-season nectar. Then in the evening, I’ve noticed them flying up around the spruce and pine trees near the house. I’ve always known monarchs migrate, of course, but there’s something different about watching them here on the farm and realizing that they’re in the middle of preparing for that incredible journey.
The cut flowers themselves are starting to tell me that summer is coming to an end too. There are still plenty of blooms out there, but I can tell that the plants are slowing down as the nights get colder. I’m enjoying these last flushes while they last, knowing that there will soon be a point where I’m no longer walking through the beds looking for flowers to harvest every morning. The cooler mornings are actually one of my favourite parts of this time of year. Everything is wet with dew, the air feels crisp when I first step outside and then, once the sun comes up, the whole farm slowly warms back up again.
I’m also spending a lot of time in our kitchen garden right now, which has its own completely different rhythm from the flower fields. We’re harvesting and curing onions and potatoes, and bringing in the squashes and pumpkins as they’re ready. There’s something very satisfying about filling up the kitchen and storage areas with food that we grew ourselves over the summer. It’s a busy time, but it also feels like one of the most rewarding parts of having a farm. So much of the work we’ve put in over the spring and summer is finally turning into something we can actually eat and store for the months ahead.
This year that feels especially meaningful because our six-month-old daughter, will be starting to eat purées in about a month. I’m already so excited about getting to feed her some of the food we grew ourselves, especially our squash. There’s something really special about knowing that the squash growing in our garden will soon become one of her first foods. I know it’s a small thing, but these are the kinds of moments I pictured when we started growing more of our own food, and I’m really looking forward to experiencing that with her.
The squirrels have also become extremely busy. Our oak tree is loaded with acorns this year, and I’ve been watching the squirrels running back and forth from the tree all day, gathering them up and disappearing into the grass. Every now and then one comes racing down the trunk or jumps from a branch, sending acorns raining down around it. They seem to know exactly what time of year it is, even if I’m still mentally hanging on to summer. Between the squirrels collecting food, the monarchs preparing to migrate and the flowers setting their final blooms, there’s a definite feeling that everything is beginning to prepare for winter.
I’m starting to prepare for a few things of my own. As the wedding flower season continues, I’m also beginning to think ahead to the craft fairs and holiday markets coming up later in the year. I’ve started putting together little dried arrangements, mini bouquets and meadow boxes that I can have ready for Christmas and holiday shoppers. It’s a fun change from working on wedding orders because I can make smaller arrangements without having to think about an entire wedding palette or how many bouquets, boutonnieres and other pieces need to coordinate. I’m looking forward to seeing what people gravitate toward and experimenting with some smaller dried flower pieces that can be brought home and enjoyed long after the market is over.
At the same time, I’m still keeping up with incoming wedding bookings and thinking ahead to next year’s growing season. That’s probably one of the strangest parts of running a flower farm: I’m always working in several seasons at once. The flowers are still blooming outside, but I’m already thinking about winter markets and next year’s weddings. I’m harvesting vegetables while answering questions from couples planning their weddings, and thinking about what I want to grow again next season while I’m putting together dried arrangements for Christmas. There’s always something happening, even when the farm itself is starting to slow down.
For now, though, I’m trying not to rush past these last weeks of summer. There’s something really nice about this in-between time on the farm. The afternoons can still feel like summer, the goldenrod is glowing in the sun and the monarchs are passing through, but the cool mornings and early sunsets are a reminder that fall is close. Before long the flower beds will be finished, the monarchs will be thousands of kilometres away and the farm will become much quieter. For the moment, I’m happy to enjoy the last blooms, get our garden harvest put away, watch the butterflies moving through the goldenrod and, perhaps most of all, look forward to sharing a little piece of what we grow here with our newest little farm helper.
