When our extended family decided that mid-October would be a good time to visit us for a long weekend we worried about taking time away from our many incomplete fall projects to entertain. Luckily, the weather was glorious and the cousins, aunts, uncles, and Grandma were all game to pitch in and help. On Sunday we hooked the tractor to our 1950s-era potato digger and headed to the field. Within just a few hours the field was dotted with nearly 100 red mesh sacks of beautiful gold, white, and red spuds. As the crew helped us load them into the root cellar we estimated that each bag weighed 60-70 pounds, tallying up to over 5,000 pounds of food for the winter! Thank you to the whole gaggle of merrymakers who searched, gathered, stuffed, hauled, and made butt prints in the freshly turned soil!
Many hands really do make light work of so many jobs on the farm. From planting thousands of seedlings, to pulling tens of thousands of weeds, to harvesting bushel after bushel of veggies and fruits, we couldn’t do it without the many hands who help us on a daily basis. The physical division of labor is certainly a big part of it. Divide 5,000 pounds among 13 people and the task becomes more manageable, even if one of the people is a 3 year old! But the benefit of turning chores into fun when working alongside family and friends is not to be overlooked. We challenge and race each other, tell jokes and stories, sing, and make memories, all while getting the job done.
Cheers
Norah and the Sweetland Crew
Week 23 Harvest
Potatoes Sweet Potatoes Kale Lettuce Radicchio Hakurei Turnips Rutabaga Arugula Tatsoi Spicy Mesclun Mix Carrots Acorn, Autumn Frost, Butternut, & Honeynut Squash Garlic Leeks Apples
What’s Cooking This Week
You can find ingredients for all of these recipes in our farm store! We source meats, dairy, grains, beans, sweets, and more from local and sustainable producers. Don’t forget to use your CSA member discount by entering your account phone number in our POS (member discounts are automatically applied to LocalLine purchases for off-farm delivery).