When Summer Starts to Let Go

There is a moment every year when I realize that summer is beginning to let go.

It’s not dramatic. There is no particular day when it happens.

One morning, the light is different.

The evenings are just a little cooler. The grass is heavy with dew. The first leaves have started to turn, almost imperceptibly, and the sheep seem to be spending a little more time eating and a little less time lounging in the shade.

September has arrived, really “arrived”, and it’s not governed by a date on the calendar. .

I love this time of year on the farm.

Summer is busy. There is always grass to manage, fences to move, gardens to tend, hay to think about, sheep to watch. Everything is growing, and everything seems to need attention at once.

Early autumn feels different.

There is still plenty of green in the pastures, but the landscape has begun to soften. The goldenrod is blooming. The asters are appearing. The mornings have that crispness that makes a cup of coffee taste particularly good.

And the flock is beginning to shift into a different season, too.

October is breeding season here at Lucky Dog Farm, with lambs coming in March—a relatively kind time of year for baby animals. Which means that September is the quiet month before things get a little more complicated.

The ewes have spent the summer grazing and raising their lambs. Now I start paying closer attention to body condition and pasture quality. I’m thinking about which ewes will be bred, which ones will stay in the flock, and what I want next year’s lamb crop to look like.

The ram, meanwhile, is going to have a very busy fall. There’s a reason why he’s named Lucky.

For now, though, there is still time.

Time for the sheep to make the most of the remaining pasture. Time for the grass to recover. Time to watch the flock and make decisions about the coming year.

That’s one of the things I love about farming: there is always a next season, and somehow you are always preparing for it while still living in the one you’re in.

The gardens are winding down. The pasture is preparing for winter. The days are getting shorter.

And somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm already thinking about March lambs.

But not quite yet.

For now, I’m going to enjoy September.

The cool mornings. The golden light. The sheep grazing quietly across the pasture.

The little pause between one season and the next.

— Farmer Judith

The ewes enjoying apples from our trees.