Full sun all day through. The temperature stuck to the mid-70Fs.
Lots of moving around and maintenance today. Time passed like a dirge, but that's how it goes sometimes.
The normal format doesn't really work for days like this so:
What we did today:
--Clear out the store, mopping out tomato/veggie juices (where flies lay their eggs).
--Refilled the store displays from the cooler produce.
--Wash/boxed zucchini/summer squash/patty pan/kousa.
--Packed 65 tomato boxes for wholesale.
--Packed 25 1/2 bushels of squash for wholesale.
--Went with the boss to the hill top fields to pick up bags of corn, then filled store displays.
--Sorted and shined tomatoes.
--5 minute lunch
--Unloaded romaine and loose leaf lettuce from the wholesale truck, then packed in the squash/tomatoes.
--Unloaded 2 palates of cardboard boxes from a tractor-trailer truck.
--Conga lined with the foreman/Newport: tossing cardboard bundles across the barn, stacked them in the new cleared area.
--Carried/cleaned out the big pumpkin boxes from the barn.
--Stacked cantaloupe in pumpkin boxes.
--Negotiated a wagon piled high with cantaloupe up to the awning edge behind the store (for tomorrow's CSA).
--Piled 2 more front loaders worth of cantaloupe onto the wagon.
--Newport, the foreman and I took the tractor out to load another run of cantaloupe into the tractor bucket (squeezed it all into the barn).
--Cleared out all the old cucumbers left in the cooler from the big run we had a few weeks ago (tossed 18 moldy crates worth).
--Picked zucchini and summer squash from the greenhouse fields. Washed and stowed in the cooler
--Washed and set out the potatoes from yesterday.
--Drove the van around with Newport, schlepped CSA tomatoes up for tomorrow and dropped off berry trays on the hill top (for the crew tomorrow morning).
--Day done.
Good thing:
People flock to Viking. A woman in town found a domesticated golden pheasant in her backyard, so she gave it to Viking. It's a gorgeous bird-- orange and bright yellow, the size of a chicken, with a long feathered tail.Viking called up her husband (he doesn't really have a job) and he started right away building a coop for the bird. We'll see how things go in the coming weeks.
Aside: Everyone is terrified about the potential hurricane. The boss doesn't think it'll affect most of the veggies: like squash/tomatoes/etc. But the fall raspberries and corn could be in real trouble. Everything is strong and developed enough that rain isn't the issue-- the roots are thick and deep enough to weather the storm. The wind on the other hand... It would whip the raspberry canes around, tearing off every berry, and could break the corn stalks right in half-- shutting down all ear growth for the year. And there really isn't anything we can do to shore-up the crop-- they're essentially on their own. A bad storm would be devastating to our season-- but, the boss says: the people in big trouble are the peach/apple orchard owners. A hurricane would strip the fruit and leaves off of every tree-- closing their entire production. Diversity of produce is key to survival apparently-- and we've got diversity, we don't rely on any one crop to make/break a year. All the same-- there could be trouble ahead.
I've gotten real exhausted-- just generally speaking. It's started to affect my work in a bad way-- I need to sharpen my brain knife and get back into it. I've just gone quiet-- listening, but hardly saying a damn thing all day. Maybe it's jealousy-- looking at Newport, he's cracking jokes with Bah and the boss. I don't have that rapport-- I just always worked hardest, and now I'm too tired. Maybe I've just hit a wall: a farm wall. Gotta break through this-- I'm hoping that my buddy Gizzie will be the key: making things fresh again. Viking thinks I miss the summer boys. And it's true-- things have changed since they left, it's a lot quieter and a lot emptier around the farm these days. I went from the head of a work crew back to just another field hand (with van privileges). Well, I've talked myself into more work-- I'm covering the late CSA shift on Friday and the early CSA shift on Saturday morning. It'll give me a chance to chat with the boss for once, maybe I'll wrangle Gizzie into helping out. Gotta wake up this zombied-brain of mine and get moving again. Slumps are bound to happen, but it's up to me how long they last. So,
Get moving.
But take it easy.
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