Full sun, not a cloud in the sky. Temperature started in the 70Fs, then climbed to mid-upper 80Fs in the afternoon.
Got right to it this morning-- arrived at the farm and headed out to the lower fields to pull the rest of the beet greens with NYU. We finished in about fifteen minutes-- then it was back to the store to prepare for the festivities. We washed off the beet greens and started soaking the bok choi (Bah and Old Rudolpho have been cutting non-stop). I reorganized the cooler-- with all the strawberries and greens coming in it's already near full. To simplify finding produce in the maze of crates and boxes, I tried to keep like veggies piled only with like veggies. The boss wanted to ease into the afternoon's preparations, so NYU and I headed back up to the second raspberry field to start the weeding process.
The weeding was painfully slow. The field and its paths were so over grown that it took until lunch for us to clear half of a single row. I got on all fours to rummage beneath the berry canes, dragging out fist after fist full of weeds and roots-- honey bees hummed above and spiders skiddered everywhere. It got to the point that I could tell what type of spider it was from just the feel of their legs sneaking down my neck or arm-- daddy-long-legs vs tiny white spider vs the fat bodied yellow guys vs the brown grass spiders.
NYU and I head back for lunch, but at the store we were blown away-- everyone was on today. Rhode Island was in the greenhouse; Jockey and Mouse in the kitchen; Easy was arranging the produce wagons; Viking was selling pies; the foreman was ferreting empty/full crates between fields. It was a madhouse, as more van loads of families came for the strawberry picking.
After lunch, NYU and I helped Easy lay out the produce-- pretty good spread for the first day: romaine, loose leaf, chard, bok choi, strawberries galore, some arugula from a farm in the next town, beet greens, spinach, broccoli rabe and bunches of spearmint we cut fresh from the garden. The wagons looked pretty full, but it'll only get better. NYU hoisted me up to tie back the awning-- gotta keep those greens out of the sun. We moved a few towers of empty crates back to the barn. I rigged up a wire latch to hang Viking's CSA sign and things started looking real professional. Easy setup a little greeting table with the list of names-- all ready for people.
The boss was sitting off by himself, munching at lunch-- in a busy mood. So I ran out with NYU to the lower fields to help the foreman move a few irrigation lines. Rhode Island gives me grief about running everywhere--but ya gotta do something to offset the cigarettes. Now that one big round of the bok choi has been cut, (and the beets, and the rabe, and the spinach, and some lettuce) it was time to harrow over these rows in preparation for the next planting-- this season is flying by already.
2PM marked the beginning of pick-ups, and right on the dot-- cars and the people descended onto the farm store. NYU really prefers milling around the CSA and chatting with customers, but (not so secretly) I was happy when the boss shooed us back to the weeds.
Back in the quiet hill corner, the hawks circled and the heat really picked up.The weeds we dragged out into the sun earlier in the day were already dead dry and crumbled beneath a boot. The second half of the row was in worse shape than the first-- but we pulled slowly along. NYU listens to books on tape as we work-- he had a copy of Blood Meridian going today-- and keeps me informed of the happenings and plot. He said he liked the context of this story and working on the farm-- we really have it easy, water is nearby (doesn't require days of marching) and we aren't always worried about being scalped. After some long hours we finished the row and headed back to the store to refill our water.
We happened into meeting up with the boss-- the basil needs to be planted tomorrow, so it was time to prepare the rows. NYU and I filled up our water in the kitchen (dodging through Jockey's hijinks), grabbed shovels and hopped on the tractor with the foreman. We rode out to the forest field and started laying out the drip line. Over last weekend-- Easy came in to help Old Rudolpho and his chubby grandson (Jay-Jay) lay down plastic for the cucumber rows. It was pouring rain, and Easy couldn't think of a less capable crew for the job-- but somehow they managed. (For the cucumbers they laid the plastic flat and wide, for the plant vines to really stretch out and grow their veggies weed-free. Think I've mentioned this before.)
The day was growing real short-- but we hustled through wrapping 4 long rows without a hitch. All the drip line was too short to reach the field's length, so we tied multiple lines together and carefully marked the connections by jabbing tree branches through the plastic wrap. We rode back to the farm store, weaved through the packed parking lot and called it a day.
Now that the CSA is going-- Viking, Jockey and Rhode Island stay to keep the store open until 9PM. I don't envy 'em.
Writing late tonight-- had band practice. Dusted off the mandolin, my brother brought along the guitar and we rehearsed with our father's band for a show this weekend. All this moving and shaking wipes you out.
So close to the weekend-- it's just on the other side of that basil planting and raspberry weeding.
Take it easy.
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