Earth Dance, Week #10

Today is the first packing day of the CSA boxes this season, and tomorrow is the first delivery to the members!  Some harvesting took place yesterday, and the remainder was done today.

When I arrive, I join Mark, Taylor, Matt, Riley (behind Mark) and Bushra who are already harvesting...here, they're cutting dill and putting it into bundles.

Very soon, Norm calls Matt, Taylor and Bushra over to another garden to harvest cilantro, while Mark, Riley and I finish cutting and bundling dill.

Norm holding a cilantro bundle at the washing station.

While the others harvest cilantro in the background, Norm instructs Mark, Riley and I on harvesting the arugula.

Norm shows us the difference in arugula leaves when row covers are used.  Prior to using the row covers, flea beetles got to the leaf on the right, whereas the leaf on the left was a newer one that grew after the row covers had been put on.

Riley and Mark cutting arugula.

Adriana, Stephanie, Bushra, Taylor and Matt cutting and bundling cilantro. 

Stephanie just started today for the summer.  She is a school friend of Adriana's, and she will be paid to work Wednesdays throughout this season.  This is her third summer working at Earth Dance.  Since I come right through Stewartville on my way here and Stephanie lives in Stewartville, she's going to ride with me.

As our group harvested the arugula, Stephanie and Adriana made trips out to us to pick it up, so it wouldn't wilt in the sun. 

Taylor putting the arugula into plastic bags after it has been washed and spun dry (using a washing machine on the spin cycle!)

Adriana and Stephanie washing the arugula.

Adriana revealing the 'surprise' in the boxes...honey!

The empty boxes awaiting the harvest.

After we finished gathering the arugula, Mark, Riley, and I started harvesting strawberries.  And after enough cilantro had been collected, Taylor joined us.  Yesterday, they had harvested half of the strawberries that were needed and had stored them in the cooler.  We now proceeded to collect the rest of what we needed for the boxes.  Each member box will get one of these clear plastic boxes filled with strawberries.

Here I am (Bev), holding my first completed quart of strawberries.

And, here's Taylor with her first 2 quarts!

Gorgeous!

Time for lunch and my weekly visit to see the chicks!

Hannah always seems to find someone to pet her at lunchtime...this time, it's Adriana and Stephanie.   : )

Many more strawberries still need to be picked.  Taylor, Riley, Mark and I continue to fill quart boxes with strawberries after lunch.

Taylor showing off a perfect strawberry!

As we were picking strawberries, suddenly Taylor yelled, "A deer!"  We all looked and saw a deer running in the horse pasture.  I just caught this photo as it lept over the fence into Norm's backyard.  Don't know where it went from there.

Riley and Mark finishing up with the strawberries. 

By this time, it was getting pretty warm out there in the sun, and Norm came out to offer us icees and to let us know we could get up off our knees for the last hour of the day and hoe the weeds around the sweet potatoes.

Meanwhile, since lunchtime, Bushra, Adriana, Stephanie and Matt had been busy packing the members' CSA boxes.

Bushra, Stephanie, and Adriana.

I hadn't seen much of Matt today, but he was just as busy as everyone else.  Here he is carting the harvest from the cooler to be packed into the boxes.

Mark, Riley, Taylor and I hoe around the sweet potatoes.

Taylor....why do I suddenly have a hankering for a Bear Sandwich?!

I don't know if we had all had a little too much sun or what, but we got kinda silly this last hour.  Riley and Mark can be particularly funny.

Bushra carrying some of the completed member boxes to the cooler.  Bushra's last week is next week, and so next Wednesday will be my last day to work with her.  I am really going to miss her!

Transferring the boxes to the cooler for overnight storage.

The boxes stacked up in the cooler...tomorrow is delivery day!

I love Matt's new hat....The Farmer!

Okay...here it is, our first CSA member box.  I wasn't part of the packing today, so it's going to be like Christmas opening it!  I waited for Willee to be done mowing before we opened it together.

Beautiful!

The Bountiful Harvest:

Strawberries, Cilantro, Honey, Broccoli Raab, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Spinach, Romaine Lettuce, and Dill.

Salad made from the chard, arugula, Romaine and my homemade macadamia nut dressing.  How exciting to be eating food that we had harvested fresh from the garden just hours before!