Even though we are already half-way into July (crazy how time flies!), it finally feels summer has arrived at the farm. While our days get busier and sometimes longer, this also means we get to start enjoying some of my favorite crops. Not only is it a joy be providing fan favorites like raspberries and beans, bountiful summer crops like these also create opportunities for the crew to spend time together harvesting. Imagine two tall rows of raspberries, the length of football fields. Daunting. That’s a lot of berries! But it also means that instead of bopping around and getting a few crates of this and a few crates of that, the crew has to come together for sometimes two hours twice a week working on the same task. I love this aspect of the summer! It brings about a lot of opportunity for laughter and fun conversations in the field.

A favorite topic of conversation lately has followed this query: If all the vegetables on the farm were members of a big town, what role would each play? Who would be the mayor? Who would be the bankers, the farmers, the skater boys?

As you can imagine, this conversation leads to an endless imagining of worlds. People are always coming up with new roles, often inspired by high school movie tropes, and engaging in light arguments over whether the beets would be hipsters or school teachers (or both)! I thought I would share some of my favorites! While we aren’t quite into corn season yet, there has been much debate about whether corn is regal enough to be the kings and queens of the land, or if corn would instead be a humble farmer. A lot of people want broccolini for mayor, but some people think that lettuce has more of a head for bureaucracy. One of my favorite discussions has been over the raspberries themselves, as usually we are picking raspberries, peas, or beans while discussing. I really think that the raspberries would be the movie stars, but some folks are trying to convince me that the raspberries are actually knitters and fiber artists.
As you can see, we find ways to keep ourselves entertained and laughing as things around the farm get busier. Maybe this question will bring some laughter into your kitchen as well!

~Paige