The first two weeks of October were as nice as many late summer days to do what you wanted to do outside. Construction jobs that had been put off could be worked at in your shirt sleeves. Fourth cut hay, grain, soybeans and corn silage were fun for farmers to work at when mitts or coats were not needed.
Black bears which usually eat or knock down hundreds of areas in corn fields about 100 square feet each time they eat were accompanied by a bear hole dug in the soil. The bear hole is usually about the size of a wheelbarrow tub. It gives them a nice cool place to sleep near each eating spot. Usually the bears go back to the woods or a creek for a sleep but this year they just stayed in the corn fields, in a nice cool hole.
Some cattle were brought home from pasture but both the cows and the farmers were thinking why? The grape harvest at the winery was delayed because the sugar content of the grapes was still lower than normal. The dry early summer, followed by several wet weeks must have caused all the grapes to have lower sugar content than normal. When I picked up sugar to bring the grape juice-wine up to that perfect taste I noticed many other wine makers taking out from a few bags to tonnes of white sugar.
Some of the people who help harvest the grapes arrived with a coat or sweater but these extra clothes were soon seen hanging on fence posts because the weather was so nice. Even a few drops of rain or a heavy mist was warm enough to not stop the grape harvest.
Most homes, halls, restaurants, and stores had no need for extra heating. Thoughts of winterizing the car or checking the antifreeze in farm machinery never even entered people’s heads.
Then, it rained a little on both Saturday and Sunday and we woke up and wondered where summer and fall had gone. Long sleeves, long pants, coats and even warm underwear were quickly looked up. The temperature had dropped ten degrees over night.
It’s time to get the garden cleaned up, vehicles winterized, doors and windows fixed in every building and pick up everything that might get lost under that first snow fall. It is time to put away the summer clothes, shoes and even that bathing suit unless you are twice vaccinated and planning a vacation on the other side of that soon to open border.
The air transport industry is gearing up to get those locked down vacationers moved south. The international agri-tourism association, after a two year lock down, is planning to come to North America in 2022 and has stops planned in Pontiac County. Twice vaccinated visitors from all over the world, (Italy, Japan, France, Taiwan, Switzerland, etc.) will be visiting and having the annual meeting in Vermont. English will be the language that everyone will be comfortable speaking. This is why Pontiac County is a natural place to visit in Quebec, Canada.
Although the Royal Winter Fair has been canceled for 2021, a 100th anniversary for the Royal is planned for 2022. The Royal is always in the middle of November and I’ve noticed that the end of the Royal is a signal that if you don’t have your plowing on the farm finished by the time the Royal is over, don’t plan on finishing it till the spring.
Now is also the time to get the snow blower ready, watch for a sale on a new snow shovel and look for a bargain on salt.
With the upcoming municipal elections, it is also time to ask the wannabe councillors, mayors and warden if the important things for you are the same as theirs? What is their long term vision of our municipality, our MRC, our province and our country?
This is the most admired country in the world and we live in the best part of it because of the decisions of our ancestors. Let’s keep it that way.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
gladcrest@gmail.com
