CSA Newsletter 12/5/18- 2018, The Journey

CSA Newsletter 12/5/18- 2018, The Journey

One of the best things about growing vegetables is how closely aligned with seasons we become as farmers. In the summer time when the sun stays high in the sky the crew is out in the field bringing in as much of the harvest as the day allows. In the winter the lack of sunlight, coupled with cold wet weather, means it’s time for the fields and weary farmers to take a break. Starting in those peak season months we all start dreaming about how we will spend our winters. Some of us will go back to visit family or friends that we didn’t get to see all year, some will get on airplanes and spend their days sitting on a beach reading a book. Of course there is the contingent that will tough it out on the peninsula, taking advantage of a quieter, sleepy town probably rocking in a chair by a woodstove somewhere. No matter where we all end up or what we are doing our goal is to take a long break away from this thing we’ve been doing day in day out for the last year, which can be challenging. We’ve all gotten really good at waking up early even when it’s hard, lifting endless pounds of produce and spending a lot of time together. As my time to go on break draws near, I will have to retrain myself to sleep in once in a while and rest my mind and body.

My favorite part of the winter break is finally getting an opportunity to process what has even happened this season. There is hardly time or energy in August to look anywhere other than right in front of you. Thanks to technology we even get to find out how many pounds of little salad mix leaves we pulled out of the fields, washed and packed for the year. We’ll get together for our annual holiday party and reminisce about all the fun we had working together as well as the challenges we overcame to get to December.

Having a successful year is what it’s all about, which can be defined in a lot of ways. For me this year there were a ton of successes: the most prominent though would have to be what we cultivated as a group. It’s extremely rewarding to work with folks who truly care about you and challenge you to be a better human and farmer. As you enjoy the tail of the year’s harvest hopefully you find these coming months as rewarding as we do.

~ Lane