09/11/2026
There's a smattering of yellow leaves on the lawn, the big dog has stopped panting, and I met a school bus on our road.
It must be fall.
There are other signs. Those few farmers who still have cattle are busy cutting silage, and every farmyard has giant harvesting equipment pulled out of its storage sheds to be assembled. If you've never lived in farm country or your time there is seen through a rose-tinted rear-view mirror, you might not know that a lot of machinery these days is so massive that unless you own an aircraft hangar, the component parts need to be hooked up out in the yard just before you take them to the field. With farmers able to plant or harvest more in a day than I could do in a week or my great-grandfather could do in months, no wonder we only need 1% of the population to be active farmers. That gives plenty of you the opportunity to be hedge fund traders or wellness influencers.
Of course, with giant equipment the need to pay for that technology puts farmers in a race to get more and more land, meaning this time of year they work longer and longer hours. I remember when machinery got better lighting and GPS; it meant you could work 24 hours a day if you wanted to. Now... it means you can work 24 hours a day and I think some of my neighbors do. I saw a letter to an advice columnist from a 28-year-old who had started their own business and were working 10 hours a day, six days a week, and they were sad because that schedule didn't leave them any time for a romantic relationship.
I admit I giggled into my coffee, just a bit. If working 60 hours a week keeps you from delving into romance, about 80% of the people I know who were looking for love would be alone. And I'm not just talking about farmers. To make a living, a lot of folks have to braid two or three jobs together. That can add up.
We're deep into our own harvest, although the stakes are considerably lower. Another couple of varieties of apples came online this year so we're busy making cider and dehydrating apple slices. The tomatoes and peppers are being sauced and pickled, and the potatoes are coming out of the ground as Sunday dinners demand. This year my wife mentioned that a squash tunnel might be a fun idea to try, and it certainly worked well, although I'm not quite sure what to do with all the enormous squash I've raised.
The buckthorn project is wrapped up for the year. That corner of the grove no longer looks like a WWI battlefield now that there's a smattering of grass and a few wildflowers sprouting. The permeable paver project, replacing the apron in front of the garage, looks like a success, as are the new front steps. I’ve had a few failures - squirrels beat me to the hazelnuts again this year, and our bounteous wild plum crop went down the throats of the deer and a variety of birds.
You win some, you lose some.
I don't know if September is my favorite month of the year, but it certainly is a contender.
Copyright 2026 Brent Olson
