on the farm

A thanksgiving trip to the pumpkin patch is becoming a family tradition we look forward to. But where last year's excursion was dry, dusty and bright, this year was misty, damp and grey. I liked it. Hot cider. Rain boots. A tractor ride. A dewy walk in the pumpkin patch. My sister is more romantic than me, so I felt bad that her vision of cousin babies happily bumping along in the wagon was dashed before we even left the parking lot, but the wagon was put to another good use, and little M got to wear this bonnet (fashioned from a table cloth):





We were running a bit late - as usual - but we still took a leisurely cruise up highway 27 instead of the quicker but definitely unscenic 400. I love farm country. We have a half-baked idea of a weekend place with horses, a hen house, some veggies. One day. There was a very good article in The Post a few weeks ago, it talked about the coming shortage of farmers and the economic and cultural reasons why so few second generation farmers stay on the land. A bit doomy and gloomy - as a farmer's kid, I can't fathom the disappearance of agriculture from Ontario - but there were some bright spots in the story too: a 30-something woman raising organic turkeys, murmurings of a farming collective. This story about a 100 mile market in Meaford raised my spirits (though my mind wandered after learning Robin Leach's brother apparently lives in Meaford). Our farmer's market is closing for the season in a few weeks. I'm really going to miss it. It's harder than I'd imagined buying local, even at the peak of growing season. Our local Loblaws, which has the big lobster tank, the natural foods section, the $6 loaves of fougasse, rarely offers Ontario produce. South American apples in September. California tomatoes in August. I'm sure there are some very good, very complicated, very justifiable reasons why this is the case, but I prefer to blame dollar stores. They've changed our perception of value - $4 lattes notwithstanding. I'm a tad worried that I've become intolerable since reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, but it does make for spirited discussions on country drives.