Van Rights

Full sun all day through-- the wet finally dried out of the ground a little after noon. The temperature stayed around 85F.


Today was a good working day.

I met the NYU and Stretch out back this morning. We stuffed buckets into the van and the boss took us up to the forest field for pepper picking. Tomorrow is double market/CSA so the boss wanted a big haul. We filled 15 buckets, (the boss brought 8 packing boxes and it took all we had to fill 'em up) then filled 8 more buckets. Stacked all the full boxes/buckets in the shade, then culled through the Red Knight rows-- picking out all the damaged/eaten/fungus covered peppers. We headed back to the store to get knives and crates-- then off to the lower fields. We cut swiss chard until lunch, filling up 8 crates worth.


Stretch headed off to football practice, his first game is next week-- time surely flies. After lunch it was just me and NYU-- he laughed, saying it was just like old times back in the Spring. He was real excited to hear I'm planning on (at least) spending the winter living in the City (where he goes to school)-- we planned to share many drinks. The two of us returned to the lower fields to cut kale-- 3 crates of Red Boar, 1 crate of Dinosaur (the dinosaur kale isn't as bunchy as the red boar, you can almost fit triple in the same amount of space). NYU wandered out into the sweet corn to have a heated phone argument with his girlfriend-- I minded my own business and kept to the kale. We carried the catch back to the store and washed the chard/kale/shipped-in lettuce.

Rhode Island had finished up his kitchen work, so he came out and the three of us picked 4 buckets worth of zucchini from the rows near the greenhouse. NYU and Rhode Island started washing/boxing up the zucchini-- but the boss had plans for me. The farm has had some problems over the last couple weeks with our phone lines, so the electricians were in fixing up all the wiring-- which meant no phone calls, credit card machine or electricity. The boss and Jockey had bottled up 3 big batches of tomato sauce this morning, so the big jars all needed to be sterilized/sealed in boiling water. While they set up some big propane burners/big water kettles, I headed out in the new van to collect the full berry trays from Bah and Old Rudolpho's crew. I drove around, following the town road up to the hill top. Loaded up 3 raspberry trays and 1 of blackberries-- carefully bracing the trays against one another, so the long drive along the dirt roads wouldn't spill the berries.

Back at the farm store, I loaded everything into the cooler and joked around with the boys. New orders-- we loaded the van with buckets and hoes, it was time for pulling more potatoes. The boss drove us up the hill and checked over the fields-- the potato plants themselves are in rough shape. Most of the red/yukon potato plants have been eaten by the colorado bugs-- not a leaf in sight. Fortunately, the tubers are fully formed and the beetles don't touch 'em-- which is good, as the ground was writhing with countless larvae. NYU, Rhode Island and I always get on-- so we joked and chatted about all sorts of filth. The boss likes nothing more than a good dirty joke, so he stuck around and pulled alongside us. The boss gave Rhode Island some advice for his women problems and told us-- a man doesn't stay virile forever, even if he's ready and fit, circumstances won't allow it-- so enjoy it while it lasts boys. We pulled 4 buckets of reds and 4 buckets of yukon golds.

The boss drove us and the buckets back to the store. NYU and Rhode Island got busy scrubbing the potatoes-- but once again, I had special orders. The boss and I loaded up the van, then drove out to pick some corn-- maybe I'm becoming one of the few trusted to properly gauge an ear's maturity. Anyway, we picked 3 bags worth and stocked up the store for the night. Closing time was creeping up, but the boss had one more job for me and the boys. I drove 70 some cardboard boxes down to the tomato storage in the barn, then me and the boys loaded up 70 full tomato boxes for CSA tomorrow. The van was nearly overflowing with tomatoes, so I took the long steady road back to the store. We arranged all the boxes beneath the back awning and called it a day.


Whew, the rainy days this week really wiped me out-- but nothing like the dry and sun to get me moving. Feeling good, there are some busy days ahead. NYU, Stretch, Rhode Island and Jockey will be missed-- but work goes on, we'll have to push that much harder (earning my 'full-timer' title, ehehehe). NYU plans to weasel his way up the ladder farm once he graduates-- I think the farm bug has caught him finally.

Take it easy, more coming tomorrow.