Earth Dance, Week #15

Weekly Produce List
Earth Dance Newsletter, July 22, 2010
(includes a piece written by Bushra)

Gorgeous weather today! We started with beets, and here Adriana gives them their first wash.

Stephanie and I gave them their second wash and stacked them to dry before packing them into the member boxes.  The beets have certainly been gorgeous!

Norm discusses harvesting of the turnips with Matt and Bushra. This is the second harvest for the turnips, and they're just a bit smaller than last time, but every bit as delicious.

Getting ready to take the turnips to the cooler, Matt coaches Bushra on driving the John Deere.

After finishing the turnips, Matt, Bushra and I joined Mark, Riley and Conner in the herb garden. We cut sage and put it into bundles, while Mark, Riley and Conner worked with the carrots. The carrots seemed to be the biggest job of the day, as with too much moisture, there was some rot.  The guys were careful to keep only the best for the harvest.

Mark and Riley were still working with the carrots when we finished with the sage, and our next job was picking green beans.  We worked until about 12:15 and broke for lunch.

Conner sat with me in my usual lunch place in the grass next to my car and ate lunch with me.  He told me about his Sheepadoodle puppy and how busy his summer has been.  He takes voice lessons and is a percussionist in marching band.  School will be starting up again in another month, so he's probably only got a couple weeks left this summer to work on the farm.

Okay ... it would take away the magic to explain this too much, but here's the short version. This is the back window of Riley's pickup truck, and this is a word he made up to describe varying degrees of work (I think). He could probably explain it better ... but, like I said, there's magic in just leaving it at that. : )

The big surprise of the day came after lunch, when Norm loaded everybody into his pickup and Noah's car and took us all to A&W in Spring Valley for ice cream treats!

What a fun way to cool off.

Bushra and I, as well as several others, got good ole root beer floats!

Riley, Mark, Adriana, Bushra, Matt, Noah, Stephanie and Conner.  Thanks, Norm!

And now ... back to work. Matt and I went up to finish the last of the green beans. On our way up, we passed Matt's van with his canoe on top. He told me he is going canoeing and camping this weekend on the Wisconsin River.  He's also planning a fishing trip with my husband some time soon, because they're both bass fishermen!

Stephanie, Adriana and Bushra show off the cucumber harvest.

Mark, Riley and Matt washing carrots.

In the shade of a big tree, Matt, Stephanie, Adriana, Bushra and I bagged green beans. This was such a great moment in farm time. The five of us talked and laughed, and I just thoroughly enjoyed my time with them. There's just nothing better than working like this with people whose company you treasure.  Lots of good happy karma went into the bagging of these beans.

Okay ... what is it about Matt? He seems to attract critters (of the worm variety). At least this one was prettier than last week's worm. It's a cute little lime-green inch worm.

Bushra and Adriana packing member boxes.

Matt and Adriana placing broccoli into the boxes.

This was the last photo I got, as I had to leave just a bit early. Hubby is in Canada with the kids, fishing, and so Alex had to go to doggy daycare, and Norm gave me the okay to leave early to pick him up before they closed for the evening. 

I didn't really want to leave ... Bushra's last week is coming up, and so this next Wednesday will be my last day working with her.  What a wonderful, kind spirit she has ... and what a hard worker.  I know Norm is going to miss her ... but I also heard today that there is a new intern who is going to start in August sometime.  Things just never stand still around the farm ... things are always changing ... like the crops and the weather ... things are always changing.  I'm so thankful I've been given this experience.  I will never be the same because of it.

The Harvest:
Kohlrabi, radicchio (farmer's choice), green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, beets, carrots, sage, summer squash, kale, and turnips.