Clear skies and sunny. The temperature was a cold 58% at its warmest.
Newport was busy seeing to some legal matters, so it was Gizzie, the foreman and me this morning. We stocked up the store and cleaned out the wagons for today's CSA (only a few more weeks left). The boss and I headed down to the greenhouse for winter squash-- but picking in the mud makes for messy fruits, every single one needed to be wiped down. So the boss and I cleaned up a loader full of butternut, one of buttercup and one of acorn squash. We talked over end of the season preparations, frost preparations and the like, Gizzie had told him that Darlin had been arrested-- so I gave him the story. He chuckled and said he understands-- it was much more common in his generation, he said, protesting is necessary: no one cares how people feel/what they want unless the powers that be are forced to reconcile. He was a little disappointed that me and Gizzie missed the big multi-state agro-fair-- it's a sight to see, he said. We had a lot of work to do in order to weather the deep frost tonight-- but picking/CSA always comes first.
I helped Gizzie arrange the CSA, today we had: 5 types of potatoes (Satina, Red Norlans, Red French Fingerlings, Yukon Golds and Kennebunks), butternut, buttercup, acorn squash, green/romaine lettuce (bought in), cabbage, big tomatoes, corn, fairytale/oriental/big eggplant, red/green/italian peppers, swiss chard, dinosaur/red boar kale and tiny ornamental pumpkins. I followed the boss out in the tractor to load up a few more bags of corn (15 bags)-- dumped some for the storefront, some for market and the rest for CSA. Gizzie and I hit the sinks to prep up 3 boxes of carrots for the store-- finished up just in time for lunch.
Gizzie and I were feeling a bit lazy today, so we dined like kings at the pizza place in town.
After lunch we bustled to get the compost/cardboard trash all dumped away, then we packed up Gizzie for market and sent him on his way. Newport was back and manically happy that all his legal concerns worked out for the best-- we swept up around the wagons and got things pretty. The greenhouse's back window had taken a bit of wind damage-- the plastic layering had torn loose from its bracing. We stretched everything back into place and nailed the whole mess up tight. Time to pick.
We grabbed 25 buckets and headed up hill. First up was the broccoli-- I focused on trimming back the over-mature buds/flowers as Newport/the foreman followed behind chopping the good stuff. We filled 8 buckets of broccoli. The cabbage was looking good (in places), so we hacked out 30 heads worth and packed the front loader. Finally, we turned to the tomato field. Frost is a fickle thing. Every degree around or below the 32F freezing point dictates just how screwed the plants will be. 33F-- not bad, things will recover fine. 32F-- not bad, things can recover with some nice sun. 31F-- bad, many plants die outright or their leaves are singed. 30F-- very bad, most plants die and leaves will be singed. 29F-- killer, almost all veggies die completely. So even 1/2 a degree makes a big difference. The hilltop tomatoes are positioned to do well, but all the same we culled through and picked 17 buckets worth of anything with the slightest color. Some tomatoes are better than none. This weekend is gonna be warm and beautiful, but we'll see what survives into tomorrow-- the heat might not make a difference.
As we loaded the tomatoes into the barn, the boss pulled up and called me over-- time for another tomato run. Old Rudolpho and his nephew had picked over the entire big field-- but only had 20 buckets to show. I loaded 'em into the van and it was back to the barn. Once the tomatoes were stowed away we closed up the barn and greenhouse-- day was done.
It is freezing-- the summer months have turned me soft. Maybe I'll go meet Gizzie for a late night drink, but then again-- it maybe too cold to move. Darlin is coming tomorrow to stay the weekend-- she's planning on working with me on the farm this Saturday. Should be pretty fine.
Take it easy.
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