A Day in the Life - CSA Farmers Judy Reinhardt and Jim Schwantes

We thought it'd be fun to share "A Day In the Life" of our area foodies. First up are CSA farmers Judy Reinhardt and Jim Schwantes of Sweeter Song Farm just north of Cedar. They graciously agreed to share this write-up from their Notes from the Farm they distribute to their CSA shareholders. Pick-up day starts bright and early!

Pickup day: How we make it happen

Over the years we have had shareholders ask if they can come early on pickup day and get their vegetables. Although we really do understand how the pickup schedule can sometimes be a hassle, coming early, especially as the season progresses, is not the solution, as we harvest almost all of the produce on the pickup day itself and often do not get everything set up until the last minute. We thought it might be helpful and interesting if we gave you an idea of the efforts and time that go into a typical harvest/pickup day.

4:30 AM Jim awakes

6:00 AM Jim is out in the lettuce (and Judy finally gets going!)

7:00 AM Debbie arrives to help get the lettuce weighed, bagged and put in coolers and Judy begins harvesting and preparing other vegetables for pickup

8:00 AM until Pickup: Mike and Kelsey arrive and begin helping with the harvest. At this point we're at full steam ahead!

Now, what gets harvested and what needs to be done to that harvested item is where it all gets rather complicated and time-consuming. Obviously, we don't harvest all of the vegetables every pick up day--we harvest them as they mature and, at the start of the season, this is fairly easy. But at the heart of the season it gets pretty wild and crazy around here! Let's look at some veggies and what it takes to get them to the pickup table:

• Garlic*: One-time harvest, then hung to dry. For pickup, cut roots and stalk, clean up
• Onions*: Harvest, cut roots and stalk, clean up, need 55 lbs per pickup (1 person, about 2 hours)
• Scallions*: Cut roots, clean off dead materials, sort and tie-up into groups of about 10, Spray off with hose, put into cooler, need about 52 bunches/pickup (one person, about 3 hours)

*These items we try to harvest and prepare a day ahead

• Lettuce: Harvest, rinse, clean up, weigh, and bag, 50+ lbs per pickup (2 people, 2 hours)
• Strawberries: Pick each berry, put into cartons (3 people, 2 to 3 hours)
• Radishes: Pull, wash, put into cooler (1 person about 30 minutes)
• Tomatoes: Pick, sort and put into cartons (2 people about 2 hours)
• Peppers: Pick, submerge in cold water to cool, place in baskets (1 person, 1 hour)
• Cabbage: Cut cabbage from root, rinse, clean off outside leaves, place in baskets (2 people, 1 hour)
• Peas: Pick, submerge in cold water to cool, place in cooler (3 people, about 1 1/2 hours)
• Beans: Pick, submerge in cold water to cool, place in coolers. (3 people, about 2 hours) Harvest about 200 pounds.
• Broccoli: Cut flowerets from plants, cut side-shoots from plants, put in cool water. weigh, and bag if needed (1 person, 1 1/2 hours)
• Zucchini and other summer squash: Cut from plants, submerge in cold water to cool, put into coolers (1 person, 1 hour)
• Melons: Pick, put into barrels (2 people 1 hour)
• Cucumbers: Pick, submerge in cold water to cool, put into coolers (1 person, 45 min.)
• Carrots: Dig, wash, pack into buckets (2 people, 1 hour)
• Potatoes: Dig, clean, put into baskets -- need about 80 lbs per pickup (2 people, 2 hours)
• Kale and Chard: Cut stalks from plants, rinse, tie into bundles (2 people, 1 1/2 hours)
• Beets: Pull, rinse off, tie into bundles, put in coolers (2 people, 1 1/2 hours)
• Summer Squash: Pick, submerge in cold water, put into coolers (2 people, 1 hour)

At about 3:30 or so, we begin to set up the pickup area: Getting the produce and "extras" boards up, setting up the tables, moving all the veggies from the barn to the tables, getting eggs, beef, coffee, etc. in place, and maybe even having a minute to get a little personally cleaned up -- all within those last 30 minutes. Whew!

So, there's an idea of what the harvest day looks like. It can be fun, challenging and even, at times, rather tedious (like after the first hour or so of bean or pea picking!), but that's when we stop what we're doing and simply sit in the fields for a minute and look around us at the bounty and beauty of the place in which we live. That's when we feel most fortunate and know that the hard and sometimes tedious work is most definitely worth it!

Filed under A Day in the Life • CSA