Guest Post From The Farm

My friends are constantly doing interesting things- it's occasionally hard not to get jealous - in the very best possible of ways- of course! So when I saw all these lovely images of farming and gardening popping up on my friend Sarah Farrer Bukrey's photo stream of course I immediately was interested in what she was up to. She was kind enough to share some of her beautiful images as well as her own words on her time at the farm.

I started working at a local organic farm this June for many reasons. I thought it would be good exercise ( forced). I am a busy working Mom of two- and fitting in exercise is hard (Can I get a hell yeah?). I wanted yummy organic produce but I was too cheap to buy it, so working for it sounded like a great idea (and my garden always seems to die in mid July). Finally- I wanted something new that was not home, and not work. Something to look forward to - Something that was mine.

The first day at the farm I left tired and happy, and then could barely walk for three days afterward.  I have planted seeds, thinned seedlings and  planted seedlings. I have harvested asparagus in the morning, and then later seen asparagus ferns grow tall, dense and shine with morning dew. They look like fairy lands. I have weeded  plants crawling along the ground because the row is probably 2 miles long and I cannot crouch or bend another moment. I have cowered in a greenhouse during a severe thunderstorm- I had a job during that too, I don’t get paid to stand around.  :) I once washed plastic totes for two hours and left the farm with what later became the most enormous bruise I have ever seen ( beware the buckles on rubber boots). I have worked on box packing day where we form a vegetable packing assembly line. sometimes there are 10 people and sometimes there are four. Lately I have been harvesting. Picking beans- but never just green, wide white beans with purple streaks and long purple ones. I picked a rainbow of cherry tomatoes, pink, yellow, red in round, oval and pear shapes.

 

 

I have met people. There is Farmer Andy and  his assistant Jason, always cracking jokes and teaching us how to do new things (and showing me how much faster they can do everything). There are worker shares that are students, teachers off work for the summer, and others who like me were looking for something that the farm offers. Something more than fresh healthy food.

We found it.