Tuesdays are one of my favorite days on the farm. For one, it’s not Monday (a nutty day trying to catch up from missed opportunities over the weekend) or Thursday (another nutty day for nutty reasons). But I like Tuesdays because it’s the only day that I feel we are fully staffed. We are able to get lots of work done – weather permitting – and it feels good.
We have four worker shares come on Tuesday and that makes all the difference in the world. Our worker shares help us fold boxes for the CSA (this takes a remarkably long time), they help wash produce crates and bins, they water, they plant and, right this very moment, they are cleaning and sorting onions. Whew!
Labor is one of the biggest challenges for any small business. Fortunately, we have an incredible crew this season. From the very onset of March, they have been working diligently to bring you the best produce we can. Today, our crew is harvesting carrots and onions, weeding squash and cucumbers and cabbage, setting out and pulling in irrigation lines, & potting up elderberries for fall planting. And that’s just in the morning. If I had my way, a fully staffed farm would employ about 3-4 more folks. The money just isn’t there, however, and that’s a big reason why we are trying to grow the CSA. More CSA members provides more income, enabling us to hire more good folks who can tend things. We do most things by hand around here and we could always use more hands.
There’s another reason why I like Tuesdays. It’s generally the day that I write most of the newsletter. I know that most days it sounds like I’m the frowniest, grumpiest person in the whole world but it’s not always like that (don’t ask the crew for their opinion, please). You see, I use the newsletter to share the highs and lows of farming. I don’t want folks to think that all farmers sit around all day watching the sunrise and playing the fiddle. While those things do happen sometimes, it’s not how organic farming is. I try to share our days and our work with people because I think they want to discover their food and how it’s grown and who grows it. Well, here it is.