It's 9:30 pm on Friday night and we've been getting ready for tomorrow's farmers market all day. I just finished my jobs for the day, but Jeff is still out with his headlamp on washing arugula and making sure the greenhouse and chickens are tucked in for the night. If my estimate is correct, he'll come inside around 10:00 pm, get cleaned up, and then we'll find a late dinner. Not every work day extends quite this late, but days before we go to market, especially in the spring, tend to be long and tiring. Spring is the season for bunched greens, arugula, lettuce, roots, and other veggies that require a bit more tender loving care. We want everything we sell to be absolutely fresh, so that means we pick as close to when we go to market as possible. Fridays, therefore, always seem like a race to get as much done as possible.
So what's a typical spring Friday like? I'll walk you through what we did today, but I have to warn you, you might want to sit down and put your feet up or else you might get tired just thinking about it.
7:00am Rise and Shine
Some farmers like to wake up before the sun and start working, but if we can avoid it, we let the sun rise before us. Around 7:00, the goats and chickens start talking and that usually wakes me up. I always hope the morning barnyard noises don't disturb the neighbors too badly. We drink our coffee and Jeff goes out to feed the chickens, goats, open the greenhouse to let in the fresh air, and survey the farm. I usually take care of any housework or laundry that needs doing. I know, it's an old-fashioned division of labor, but it works for us.
9:30 Friday Swim
So much of what we do is physical and can take a serious toll on the back. We've gotten in the habit of swimming laps a few times a week, which has done really great things for our backs and overall physical resiliency. Jeff and I both are pretty attached to the endorphins we get from exercise, so swimming before a long day's work does wonders for settling the mind and calming the body.
11:00 Picking Begins
Time to bend over and start cutting those greens! Today's picking list included the first kales, chard, collards, arugula, and lettuce. Anyone who drove by the farm would see our butts in the air as we picked as quickly as possible. We get a good number of friendly honks, which leads us to debate who the honk was intended for. We both think we have more "fans" than the other. For the next few hours, I mark the passing time by the chime of the bell at the neighboring elementary school. Before I know it, school's out and the traffic picks up. More honks.
4:00 Lunch, Coffee Break and Chicken Food
I'll admit it, we drink a lot of coffee. If I tried to deny it, there'd probably be an army of people who would stand up and blow the whistle on us because we can always be seen out around town getting coffee. I'm actually okay with my coffee consumption...a hard working girl deserves at least once vice. And believe me, I don't drink nearly as much coffee as when I actually worked in a coffee shop. Alright, back to the schedule. So we went to get a coffee and buy more food for the "meat birds" (as we like to call them). Those chickens eat more than you could imagine - and definitely not by force. They are Hungry Hunters, foraging the land for grasses and bugs, and enjoying their share of nutrient dense organic chicken feed. While at the feed store, we run into a handful of people we know.
3:45 Back to Work
Jeff gets to work picking beets. I start planting broccoli and beets into beds that Jeff prepared just before it rained a couple of days ago. In addition to preparing for and going to the farmers market tomorrow, we're also trying to get as much planting accomplished before it rains again this week. After a while, Jeff joins me in the planting.
6:00 Visited by the Management
Jeff's Aunt and Grandmother, out for a stroll around the garden, come to inspect our work and marvel at our flexibility. These gals hold us to a high standard and, you can be sure, wouldn't let us get away with anything funny! We definitely have the most qualified on-site inspection team of any farm I know.
7:00 Finished Planting...Finally!
We're finally finished planting. I'm starving, so I go find some food. Jeff finishes the planting job by covering the babies with floating row cover.
7:45 Egg Prep
Finished with dinner. Time to wash and label eggs. Now that I have a printer and can print labels, this goes much faster than when I had to hand write each label.
8:15 Time to Wash
We head back outside into the dark to finish preparing for tomorrow's market. I clean beets and Jeff washes and dries the arugula.
9:00 Finally Finished
Finished with my final job, I finally get to go inside and take a shower. Jeff hasn't finished with the arugula and his final farm tasks, though, so he's still out working.
9:30 The Present
Clean and warm, I sit down to write my blog and wait for Jeff.
So there you have it, my day. In my book, it's not so bad at all, but it is long and it'll seem even longer when the alarm goes off at 6:00 tomorrow morning.
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