Posts Tagged ‘Farming’
I don’t like heat or sun. I blame it on being a freckled pale person. We must hate the sun as a form of natural defense. So, I was a little sad to see our mid-June weather already in the 90s as we headed to the CSA farm for one of our work days. Most CSAs have members do work days to contribute to the farming. If you are completely unable to, you can pay an extra fee to avoid the labor. Despite the hot day, we looked forward to doing our work day to learn more about the food we were eating.
The day started with picking root vegetables. My oldest son, who had accompanied my husband, enjoyed helping with this part. They pulled beets and carrots. The carrots were small orange balls, appropriately called “ball carrots.” Upon testing them, we found no difference in the taste. They were delicious!
Later in the day, I arrived and helped cut some greens. We picked arugula and endive. I keep getting endive and radicchio confused, but I think I’m learning. After the picking was done, we helped wash veggies. THIS was the job to have on the humid summer day. The CSA had a four-vat commercial sink set up, and we dunked the greens several times. Then, we placed them in mesh bags to go for a spin in the dryer. On my must-have list right now: a salad spinner or a mesh bag. You can spin the moisture off of the greens to help them keep longer.
At the end of our shift, we bagged the veggies for the rest of the members and received our weekly share. Big excitement this week: carrots and new potatoes!
Enjoy these pictures of the farm. It is a beautiful place, with hills overlooking the Finley River valley. The farm isn’t very big, which makes you appreciate how much food you could grow on an acre or two…not that we are getting any ideas. We have a couple of acres that would be perfect for a huge garden, but I have a known history of not being able to keep anything alive (I call this my “black thumb” condition) and I remind you, the last time we had a garden, we even killed the supposedly ‘unkillable’ summer squash. We appreciate that the CSA farmers have the knowledge and skills to turn their plot of land into food for so many families!
Enjoy these pictures:
Confessional note: No, my son did not act like Farmer Brown all day. He did get tired and hot pretty quickly and retreated to the porch to play Pokemon on his DS. That being said, I think it was still important for him to be there and for him to get an idea that yes, food does grow out of the ground…it doesn’t just arrive on store shelves out of nowhere.
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