The Move

Things have been a little hectic out here!  What is usually a sort of relaxed time of year with shorter work days, final clean up and close up of the farm, and a putting to bed of all the fields, is currently a little crazy.  We’ve been taking down everything at McMahon road, digging up all the water lines and taking down fences, piling things on pallets and storing them in a friend’s barn for the winter.  With the first hard frost last week, the rush is on to get as much done as possible before the ground freezes completely solid.

We’ve had a fantastic response to our pleas for help, and I’m very grateful to all our volunteers who have braved the untrustworthy weather to help us haul things in trucks and trailers, take down hoop houses, and bring us food.  It would be quite a daunting task without all the support.

These past couple of days the ground has finally dried out enough for me to continue plowing our new fields.  Josh and I spent a full day in September mapping out all the land that’s flat enough for vegetables, and I then had the brain-contorting job of trying to fit rectangular, 200 foot length sections into that strange shape.  I managed to figure it out, but once I started plowing, all those plans went out the window… things changed once I saw the dirt.  On the soil surveys of this land, it’s all the same, but once I started digging it up I saw the subtle differences.  Some of the higher ground has a distinct sandy quality, perfect for early planting in wet spring weather.  So fields that were going one way are going another now, and the picture of our farm is evolving in my head.  It felt great to get it all dug up, though, because that picture is becoming more solid and real every day.  I can see the crew in the hot sun weeding carrots in one spot, and I see them in big plastic rain pants transplanting onions on a blustery spring day in another.

Speaking of the crew… yesterday was Betsy’s last day, and we will miss her in these last few weeks, not to mention next year (when she’ll be in Malawi!).  The crew this year has been fantastic, and I’m very grateful and lucky that Jonny and Josh will stay on next year.  They are both full of enthusiasm and great ideas.  We are looking for more employees now for 2014, so anyone out there who wants to be part of a great team, drop me a line!