Last night, we had to shift gears, moving into prevention mode. As I was inspecting our corn patch, to check on the plants’ progress and assess the silent presence of the nefarious corn borer, I noted some damaged stalks scattered throughout the patch, lying on the ground, felled at the base, unfinished cobs still intact. Clear signs that a skunk has been inspecting the corn, too – taking stock of the all-you-can-eat buffet to come. On the long list of farm pests, the skunk ranks lower than some, even though the havoc it wreaks can be appreciable over time. The skunk is a funny animal, with an ambling and erratic gait, and very poor vision, to boot. In truth, however, the pest I lose most sleep over and against which I will go to great lengths to defend my cobs is the racoon, master of woods and fields, imho. Far more intelligent than his stinky cousin, the raccoon doesn’t waste precious time in an immature cornfield. He bides his time until everything is ripe, then invites all his friends to a private corn husking party. So I have just decreed that this week will be Corn-Thieving Raccoon Prevention Week. While we’re at it, we’ll make it Blueberry-Stealing Bird Prevention Week. So, as you will have understood, protective electric corn fencing will be going up while blueberry netting will be coming down.

NB: This masked corn thief was transported some 10 kilometers from the farm to a large wooded area where he was released

Back to our veggies : yet another week of bountiful greens, with a hint of summer vegetables to come. In addition to the now-abundantly yielding summer squash, you’ll also find beans and cucumbers in your baskets. I bid you to be patient : our tomatoes are coming along nicely, the same goes for our eggplants, and the pepper flowers are blooming. A full week of sun should make all the difference and would allow us to begin to load your basket with genuine summer fare. Keep your fingers crossed.

Summer is in full swing at the farm, amidst alternating sunshine and rainfalls, just enough of the latter to tide the plants over to the next one. Last Friday I woke determined to do something both pleasant and useful – which explains why I spent the day harvesting garlic. Those of you who have been following us for a few years now know how much I love my garlic. It is both nourishment and medicine, ensuring sustenance and health. I will not dwell on its historical and cultural significance, but it is an essential ingredient in almost every culinary tradition. All the better, I say, and I trust that you will find the garlic in your baskets in coming weeks satisfyingly subtle and pleasantly unctuous. We were hoping to improve on the delivery dates for another banner crop – corn – but in the end, we will not be harvesting our first ears until next week. That said, we know it’s almost ready: two more raccoons have fallen for the bait in our cornfield traps and been discretely spirited away to wooded areas some 20 kilometers from the farm. We wouldn’t wish them on anyone else, but we do want to make very sure they don’t come back!

So, in your baskets this week: a cornucopia of summer vegetables to complement your leafy greens, and a second week of blueberries. They’ve had some time to sweeten – we’re even more eager to share them with you than last week’s batch.

It’s a corner of the farm we refer to as “no man’s land,” our own “dumping ground between fiefdoms,” tucked away between the woods’ edge and the irrigation pond we’ve dug deeper and wider over the past few years. A natural landfill which nature is constantly reclaiming, where we (and the generations of farmers who have preceded us) have deposited farm detritus including blue clay from the bottom of the pond, rocks from the fields and even old stone foundations from renovated farm buildings. We mention it because in the few years we’ve been here, nature has once again asserted her rights, covering the latest layer of clay and stone with weeds and wildflowers, a luxurious vegetation that makes the spot a wildlife haven, a perfect place to relocate our beehives this year. Indeed, we are prepping for our first honey harvest of the season…so you can expect some honey pots shortly, coming soon to a drop-off location near you.

Despite the unrelenting presence of a raccoon in our corn patch but perhaps subject to his forbearance, we are looking to include our first ears of corn of the season in your baskets this week. We’ve tried everything to catch the wily fellow, but racoons are far smarter than your average skunk, and he has so far eluded all our efforts to trap him.

Remember that corn is at its absolute best if consumed within 24 hours of harvesting, preferably raw (really) or just barely blanched (i.e. dumped in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes at most). The cooking method is not mandatory, but strongly recommended.

We finally caught him. For several days, he had been teasing us, eating the first well-formed ears, nibbling at others as he ambled down the rows — early indications of ravages still to come. We didn’t know what to expect — a racoon, perhaps, or maybe a skunk? Finally, our nemesis let himself be tempted by the sardines we placed in the trap…Much to our dismay, we discovered it was a skunk. Getting rid of a skunk is a losing battle for both sides, sprayer and sprayee. Our first thought after having captured him was where to release him…a midnight drop on our least favourite neighbour’s front lawn? (Just kidding…) A longer drive and a woods’ edge beckoned: better to have him go eat some stranger’s crops. Our skunk problem effectively dealt with, next on our list are the birds. This problem is definitively more of a challenge, as the remedy necessitates regular patrols (as frequently as every half hour)  up and down the corn rows. Skunks and birds notwithstanding, we’re expecting a generous corn crop in a few weeks.

Meanwhile and more generally, the season continues to surprise us. Our tomatoes are stubbornly refusing to redden, despite a few isolated cases of expiation. We know they’ll eventually ripen, perhaps even by Thursday — and there will be no respite from that time onwards. The eggplants are also ripening slowly, as are the peppers. Patience is a virtue, or so they say. A final word on our lettuce, hitherto conspicuous by its absence: too much rain caused considerable damage to the bottom leaves, resulting in significant losses. We apologize, but the next wave, to be harvested in coming weeks, is looking good — we’ll all be eating lettuce again soon.