The News from Windflower Farm
Hello from Windflower Farm! Good news: Henri brought us very little rain or wind.
What’s in your share?
- Lettuce
- Cabbage
- Sweet peppers
- Assorted tomatoes
- Mizuna
- Bok choy
- Yellow and red onions
- German White garlic
- Eggplant or squash
- Sweet corn
Your fruit share will be peaches from Yonder Farm.
We harvested red potatoes last week, and we’ll send them as part of next week’s share.
What’s new on the farm?
It is Monday afternoon and I have just snuck away from the assembly line. The pandemic has added this element to our packing operation. Many of you will remember that we used to send our vegetables in bulk, using recyclable plastic totes. But we decided last spring that pre-packed boxes are a requirement until the pandemic is over.
My job had been to put tomatoes in your box, but I’ve abandoned my station in order to get a quick newsletter off to you. The assembly line is a simple one, and I don’t think I’ll be missed. Abe sets a pre-folded box on the roller, places a cabbage in a corner and shoves it along to Kristoffer, who places an eggplant or two and two peppers in another corner of the box and pushes it down the line. Jan is next, and she puts red and yellow onions in the box. Her work requires a little sorting and represents the slowest stretch on the line, giving the rest of us occasional breaks and chances to chat. Nate is next in line and he puts garlic and bagged green beans in the box and pushes it along to Andrea, who puts lettuce and kale in a corner and then pushes the box up to me. Because four of us had spent the morning sorting and bagging your tomatoes, my job was nothing more than setting a bagful of tomatoes in the remaining corner of the box. Victoria takes the box from me, closes it and sends it up to Daren at the end of the line. With me gone, she also deals with the tomatoes. Daren arranges the boxes on pallets and rolls them into the cooler where they will remain until loading early tomorrow.
It has become routine now, this business of assembling boxes full of vegetables. Seven people harvest your shares over the course of two to four days a week, depending on where we are in the season. That work is rain or shine. The box making, produce washing, bean and tomato bagging and final filling of the boxes takes seven people a full day twice a week. It’s not bad work, and the packing shed is a comfortable place to be, especially when it’s raining or extremely hot.
Have a great week, Ted
Central Brooklyn CSA 