working on a farm

so i realize it has been ages since my last post and i am sorry. it has been a busy month socially and my job on the farm keeps me tired.

but i do love it. it is truly what i wanted to do. it is more work than i had in mind though. i never expected farm work to be easy, but some things just seem so time consuming. i never thought about what it was like for a farmer to go to market. i thought you picked some stuff, you took it, you sold it. and this is coming from someone who is relatively educated about local agriculture. it takes us all day to pick produce, wash it, pack it, count it and put it away for market. this is what we do the day before markets. we have to try and anticipate what people will buy at market, how much of everything we will need, does this look good enough to sell, etc. it is quite a process.

the other thing i didn't think about before working on a farm was all the planting. i thought you planted some tomato plants and you were done. there are three different plantings of tomato plants, all spread out so we have tomatoes all summer long to sell. there are also 30 different varieties of tomato plants. so if someone doesn't like garden peach, they can choose amish paste. same goes for head lettuces - we plant four or five different varieties every two weeks. peas, beans, broccoli...multiple plantings of multiple types. makes sense, just never thought about it before.

sometimes the work seems overwhelming, how can we ever get all this done?? but it happens. things get done - plants get planted in the field, weeds get picked, produce gets picked and off to market we go.

i am sort of in charge of one of the markets the farm participates in and it has been an experience. i feel honored they have entrusted me with such a task, representing their farm and selling their products. it is fun to me, actually. the preparation for market is the hard part, once you get there and set up, you just sit back and let people buy. there are several regular customers who i have tried to talk with to let them know i recognize them. i don't want to be a pushy salesperson, but i think people appreciate when i can start a conversation with them about our products.

the weather has been challenging. as a farmer, you are strongly dependent on the weather. today, the soil is too wet to plant in. today, it is too hot to plant lettuces, etc. but on a farm, there is never a shortage of work, so tasks are shifted around.

i have gotten sunburn, tan, lost weight, sweated my ass off (literally), drank so much water and still didn't pee all day, etc...yet i enjoy my work. i have learned so much. i have experienced so much.