Becoming a Farmer

June is an exciting month to work on the farm. The fields are filling up quickly with vegetables and fruit; the days are finally warmer and the longest they will be all year; and there are lots of new folks who are joining our crew.

May marked one year that I’ve worked at Red Dog Farm, and after twelve months of learning and observing, June is the first month that feels familiar to me. Then, like now, I remember the garlic being almost ready to harvest, picking fava beans into yellow buckets, cutting long beds of salanova lettuce in the sun, and trying to remember the names of all my new coworkers. When I started at Red Dog, I didn’t know a thing about farming. This year has given me some context to understand how much time, energy, patience, creativity and labor it takes to grow consistent, high-quality food.

And, on days like today, when it’s breezy and sunny, I think about some of the frozen, muddy, winter days when June felt so far away—and it’s that much sweeter. Now summer is here: the fields are almost full, the sprinklers are spinning, the walkie-talkies are buzzing, and the crew is gelling and darting from task to task like the swallows right above us.

~Henry