We don't know about you, but we're glad to be putting the past week behind us. Hope you are enjoying a great holiday weekend. Hurrah, school is out!!! All that sort of stuff.
Farm life was extra hard this week. Why was it tough? First, we were short handed because most of our summer crew was off for vacation (makes us really appreciate them and their return this week). Second, everything broke. One of our salad spinner greens driers broke which put a bottleneck in our washing and bagging operation for the greens, making our work less efficient and more time-consuming. Third, it was rainy and cold all week making much of our harvest tasks quite miserable and resulting in a couple of the kids coming down with colds themselves. Besides that, more equipment broke including two tractors and a mower (hence the tall grass). So Dave spent more time researching and repairing things than being productive. This week we celebrated Josiah, our oldest's, 17th birthday though we were too busy to do much for him and he came down with a cold working his tail off in the rain. It was hard work, but we accomplished everything we needed to.
What will we do on the holiday weekend? Well, farmers don't really get holidays. It doesn't much matter what the federal government tells us. We know we have work to do, so we'll be doing it. Once the soil dries up, we've got lots of catchup planting to do and more equipment to repair and of course the next week's harvest to start bringing in. "He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son." - Proverbs 10:5. For us, summer is not the time for extended rest.
Never not working? Not quite. We do take a sabbath rest each Sunday. One of our highlights in summer, besides worshipping at church, is music in the park in Blue Springs each Sunday evening. These Sunday activities sandwich a day when we avoid all but the most pressing activities (watering the transplants, feeding the animals, or harvesting the okra) are a fun family tradition that we look forward to after working hard each week.
This Week's Harvest
We'll be harvesting a lot of Napa cabbage this week and hope to continue a lot of broccolini harvests. Spring bunching onions and green garlic are also very plentiful and the garlic scapes look like they'll be coming in abundance as well. The lettuce, kale and spinach are gorgeous to! And have you tried kohlrabi. They're fantastic!
If you see sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes or cucumbers in the "sold out" category, just know that those are extremely limited supply right now. We'll have plenty for everyone once the plants are in full production, but these plants start slow. We know you want them and so we make everything we can be available through Harvie, but when we first start picking, there are definitely not enough for everyone. Just remember that it's been a cold spring and production is behind by several weeks. So don't feel too disappointed if you aren't lucky in receiving these coveted items this week.
Bread and Cheese
Bread: Farm to Market 100% Whole Wheat, Sliced
Cheese: Hemme Brothers, Rubbed and Smoked Cheddar block
Many blessings to you and yours,
Dave and Sheri
