Normal

Full sun all day, apparently a quick storm blew through in the early morning hours. The temperature danced in the upper 70Fs.

Stretch and Rhode Island got in early and had started washing yesterday's pick when I arrived. I sauntered down to the greenhouse and set up camp. Watered all the sprouts and to my surprise the broccoli I seeded has already germinated-- little shoots were everywhere. To my discredit-- I didn't do the best job, many plugs had 2 stems poking out. Thinned them out, one plant one plug, until the boss rolled in.

The first market started early, so I fetched the fancy wood produce crates from the barn and scrubbed 'em down. The boss's daughter was going to cover the first market, so she was around the store-- finally got the chance for a brief introduction. NYU and I started packing up everything for the markets (figured we might as well take care of both at once). For each: 1 crate of spinach, 1 crate of bok choi, 2 trays of lettuce (1 of loose leaf, then the romaine), 1 box of sweet peas, 1 box of snap peas, 1 tray of raspberries (18 pints and 18 half pints), 2 trays of strawberries (8 quarts each), 2 boxes of jams, 1 box of small pies (10 chocolate bottomed strawberry, 10 strawberry-rhubarb), 1 tent, 3 tables, scales, signs and shopping bags. No one buys rabe except CSA customers, so we don't usually bring it to market-- same for the swiss chard.

The van was all loaded up and ready to go-- NYU was heading with the boss and daughter to help with set up. There really wasn't much to do (or else the boss was too preoccupied to think up something)-- he sent me and Stretch to the lower fields to 'mix the fertilizer into the soil' with hoes. Neither of us had ever heard of fertilizer needing hoeing-- all the same, we turned over/weeded all the new lettuce rows. Lunch finally saved us.


NYU was back after lunch. The first market off to a slow start. Easy came in and we helped him clean the produce wagon and set up the CSA. Rhode Island appeared along with the boss and we loaded up the van for second market (the old reliable). Again, the boss was too distracted to think out real work-- so he sent me, NYU and Stretch down to mix fertilizer into the chard's soil. Not everyday is graced by ridiculous conversation, sometimes you're just left to hoe. The chard took 2 hours.

Back at the farm store we met up with the foreman-- we washed up and re-bunched a bunch of produce the boss shipped in from friends' farms to fill out the store. The CSA was in full swing, the spread is getting more impressive-- today we had: strawberry quarts, both lettuce varieties, snap and sweet peas, broccoli rabe, spinach, bok choi, swiss chard and tiny bags of arugula (not enough raspberries to put them out yet). Mouse was in the kitchen banging out pies-- they're always a hot seller on CSA days, people come for their share and then pick up a pie for dessert. The boss came by and decided tomorrow might be the first irrigation day in weeks. NYU and I went out through the tomato and lower fields reconnecting all the lines moved for tractor work. We set a water gun line through the bottom of the tomato field, one through the lettuce, one by the chard/kale/beets/choi, one line on either side of the peas and favas, and then we attached up all the strawberry drip lines. All ready for the water pump tomorrow.

Once more, the boss was at a loss for work. Bah and the Old Rudolpho's family had taken all the hoes, but he sent us to aimlessly weed through the string beans. Without tools, there wasn't much we could do except grab at the largest tower-weeds. Field mustard has sprouted up in patches, but we cleared out the lot of 'em. Closing was getting close.

After pulling through the worst of the string bean weeds, NYU and I wandered through the corn fields then back to the store. We helped Stretch wash and bunch up what produce remained. The foreman had checked in on the farmer's daughter (at the new market) and things had really turned around, almost everything was near sell-out. Stretch and NYU milled about chatting with CSA families, while I headed down for the end-of-day greenhouse check. The sun and heat dries out the tiny plant plug trays pretty quick, so I gave 'em a once over with water-- then finished thinning out my broccoli mistakes.

Closing time came and then home. As NYU said-- Thursday is the last night to clear out all the week beer before picking up weekend beer on Friday. Amen.


I'm headed back to the city for a long weekend tomorrow (the boss gave us July 4th off). Seems all I do these days is work and ride buses... rest is a station bench. I'll write something up for the day on the ride.

Friday cometh.