On Monday we made a smart decision and dug enough carrots to fill a couple weeks worth of shares in an effort to try and stay ahead of the hardening ground. Our rat-proof root cellar has been up and running for a while now so they'll stay nice and safe in there with their winter squash buddies as we dole them out to you over this week and next. It was a good thing we did that too, the ground was still solid at 3PM today when we went out to harvest some still slightly frosty escarole. We probably could have done the same thing with the escarole on Monday that we did with the carrots, but hindsight is 20/20 right? Next time we'll know. On a positive note, it gave us a good chance to check up on the squash that we've been storing in there since Oct/Nov. We separated out the moldy ones, and gave the good ones a nice shine so they're ready for their trip to restaurants, grocery stores, and your kitchen if you choose to pick up a bulk box. I'll tell you one thing, they're lookin' pretty tasty.
It was a weird harvest day though, the water in our wash/pack barn was frozen all day, and we weren't able to get into the fields to do anything productive until so late. When we finally got the escarole out of the field we had to move our washing equipment into the greenhouse where the water still worked so we could dunk them and get them into the bags. That was at the very end of the day, so we got to spend the morning fussing over our new lockers in the office and talking 2014 over donuts and coffee. Josh also takes off for Cambodia tomorrow, so talking strategy for the next two weeks was a big part of the day. He sure did pick a crazy time to migrate to the tropics, a lot of what will happen on the farm will depend heavily on how the weather decides to act and how we decide to REact. I consider it the apprentice's trial by fire (or in this case, ice), but we're psyched and ready for whatever will get thrown at us. We'll also make sure that you get all the up to date info on what's going on with harvest through these uncertain times. Anyways, all that being said, this post is dedicated to Josh in the hopes that he has a safe trip, gets a nice tan, and takes a lot of awesome pictures. See you in 2014 Josh! We'll hold down the farm and make sure it doesn't blow away or freeze solid!
Stay cool,
but not too cool (because of the weather and stuff).
Louis