They say it’s peak season around here. The height of production, the coinciding of all the fruit harvests, the most crew we have all season, and usually this means the peak of tiredness. But still the energy of the summer carries us! Peak season is characterized by long harvest lists, multi-page packlists, and coolers that are full to the top with vegetables. It’s quite exciting to see the fruit of our labor expressed in many, many boxes that stack taller than Blake (the tallest member of our crew).

So, since it seems that all we do is harvest around here in these short summer months, here are a few of my favorite things about a Red Dog Harvest: There is no room for boredom! The second you think that maybe the task you are doing might possibly bore you soon, you are done and moving quickly to the next task. I love how swiftly we move from vegetable to vegetable, from field to field, filling crates and more crates. I love trying to make the perfect radish bunch with the most perfect red orbs. I love spraying the dirt off the carrots, revealing their vibrancy. I love thinking about what’s for lunch. I love when we race to the first full bucket of beans. I love when my hands smell like rosemary after bunching herbs. I love that every week the growth and the abundance on the farm feels exponential. I love hearing ABBA or Neil Young playing from the packshed and knowing who is washing the vegetables. I love the quickness and hardiness of a cabbage harvest and the delicacy of basil harvest. I love snacking on cucumbers and the intimacy of a raspberry harvest.

In conclusion: vegetables are the coolest, people are simultaneously goofy and hardworking, and peak season is congruently tiring and exhilarating! Farming is all that and a bag o’ chips!!! Happy peak season!

-Julia