Finding Satisfaction in Muddy Places

I have had the recent honor of being appointed as one of the farm trench cleaners! The trench runs the length of our packshed at the center of slightly sloped floors and collects all the mud and debris left over from washed vegetables. At this time of year the mud is prolific. Clinging to our knees and shins in clumps that stick long after we stand up. Speckling our faces like fake freckles when we spray a beet at the wrong angle. And of course, completely coating all the root vegetables we pull from the ground. The crates we bring in from the field are half vegetable, half mud.

Our barrel washer is the hero of the season. It is a horizontal cylinder that slowly rotates, making the roots gently tumble around, while we spray them down from either end. The roots shed their thick brown muddy coats and come out the other end as glistening gold beets, rainbow carrots, or bright-pink Red King radishes. Though this process is wet and noisy and dirty, it’s tremendously fun and satisfying. Afterwards, the floor beneath the barrel washer is about an inch taller with mud. And where does this mud go? The trench.

Cleaning the trench is yet another wet and dirty farm chore that is extremely satisfying. We pull up the grates that protect the trench and hose them down, then squeegee this dirt into the trench. Next we shovel the mud out of the trench into a bucket. We spray what can’t be scooped down into a small drain at the east end of the packshed. This drain leads out to a catch basin in the driveway. This basin also collects mud and must be emptied frequently to prevent clogs. Since the basin is at least 6 feet deep with an opening only about a two foot square, we have a special contraption designed specifically for such a process: a metal bucket tied to a long stick. We reach this down into the basin, drag it around the bottom and scoop out the mud, then empty it into our compost. Curious Farmstand customers may see us in the center of the driveway at times sending our bucket into the depths. The whole trench cleaning process is methodical, meditative. Joy can always be found in the little things.

~Hailey