Mostly overcast today, steady rain showers blew off and on throughout the afternoon. The temperature peaked at 71F and has only danced lower-- tonight a serious cold front is passing through, overnight low of 41F... oh boy.
Everyone was in a sour mood this morning. The boss and the foreman marched around like lunatics-- peering over everyone's shoulder, finding mistakes even in the way Gizzie held the broom. We loaded up the store and started preparing the market boxes. Today we had: eggplant, red peppers (bell and bull), green peppers, cucumbers, corn, tomatoes, zucchini, string beans, lettuce, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, pies, jam, pints of cherry tomatoes and raspberries. We packed two sets of everything to cover today's double markets. The boss's daughter came by-- she was annoyed that someone rolled over/dropped her silver pumpkin abomination. Few tears were shed. Newport was unusually silent-- maybe affected by the tension. We washed, boxed and stacked the morning haul of summer squash/zucchini/cucumbers/eggplant. Soon enough the boss left with Newport, Gizzie and the daughter to setup the first market. I was left behind to get the CSA in order. Without all the tension-paranoia I tidied everything up and got the wagons loaded in no time. Viking and I chatted out back for a long time about farm plans/imaginary improvements we'd make if we were in charge (building a solid roof over the back, instead of a tarp awning, was the top idea). Gizzie and the boss finally returned-- we all took an early lunch.
Gizzie blew off a lot of steam as we ate our sandwiches-- the morning really bugged the hell out of him. He's not very good at hearing petty, un-constructive criticisms.
After lunch Gizzie and I finished off his market boxes/the CSA. Today's CSA had: broccoli, cabbage (red and green), corn, summer squash, zucchini, eggplant, red/green peppers, tons of lettuce, swiss chard, tons of potatoes, string beans, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and cucumbers. Everything was set, so we packed up the van and it was off to market. The boss is pretty shaky on his feet ever since his doctor's appointment, so he had me drive to market and help Gizzie set everything up.
The sky rained down just as we pulled into the town square-- lucky that both Gizzie and I brought along rain slicks. We hustled around got everything nice and presentable. Gizzie is manning the fort alone these days, so I headed back to the farm.
I slogged through the mud up to the forest field, joining the foreman and Newport for eggplant picking. I tackled the fairy tale variety and kept moving along. We finished after a few hours-- piling all the buckets into the tractor. Before heading back we combed over the cantaloupe one last time-- we found very few stragglers.
Back at the store we refilled the CSA and boxed/chilled all our eggplant catch. Next up-- down to the barn to help Old Rudolpho and family shining tomatoes. The Guatemalans have warmed up to the three of us-- trading Spanish words for their English equivalents. Old Rudolpho joked around barking and pretending to eat the shirt off of his daughter's friend-- everyone laughed as she batted the old man away yelling 'loco anciano, loco anciano.' Big Jay-jay argued with his aunts over the proper words to describe the tomatoes' colors. I'm getting to the point where I pick up bigger parts of the conversation, understanding more of the jist of things. We shined away the rest of the day to closing.
Day is done, but there is still business left. My youngest cousin is in the hospital with a ruptured appendix-- serious stuff. He's getting older, but is understandably freaked out. I'm heading over in a few minutes and we're gonna celebrate his older sister's 16th birthday in the hospital room. A party is a party regardless of the setting-- so it's time to get lively.
I reckon there will be some repair beers with Gizzie late tonight at "The End' bar.
Take it easy.
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