Carrots, Coughs and Coldness...

Hey, I have to apologize for the lack of outstanding farm footage this week due to my acquiring of the illness going around last week. It was extremely effective in basically putting me in a coma for two days and out of the field, so I missed foto ops for Wednesday through Friday... In addition to that we had our first snow day on Thursday and two half days on Friday and Saturday where we began to disassemble Pie Four of all the twine and trellising. I can't believe it!! Monday was spent all day in the carrots and Tuesday and Wednesday were focused on harvesting as much broccoli as possible before the hard freeze. We also sent off some of our favorite people who have been with us for most, if not all, of the entire season. We'll miss you Ken, Luke, Emma and Ryan!! Cannot post all the inside jokes and laughs we've shared with you, the blog's not long enough. Here are the (few) pics of the week:

Oct 22

Rachel and Ryan bundling carrots on a sunny but cold Monday morning.

Oct 23

Nate, looking cool on the broccoli harvester Tuesday afternoon.

 Oct 27

Sad to be taking down the trellising we worked so hard on all summer! Me, cutting and winding up twine and removing stakes in Pie Four on Saturday.

Bonus Foto(s):

Rachel, cutting down trellising on snowy Saturday morning.

Twine birdnests on top of stakes in Pie Four. I mean, it just felt so surreal to see the change in the season and our poor expired tomato plants cut down in the snow.

Halloween and good luck send off for some of our favs! From left, Mitty, Joshua, Elena, Jacob, Ken, Luke, Abby, Arlo, Katie, Emma, Rachel, Val, Ryan, Eric, Chris and Tanea.

Harvest sunset Monday night over the feed corn as we harvested potatoes.

The blog had broken 8,000 hits, so I'd like to just take a quick moment to say thank you to those of you who follow or check in on us every once in a while. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be able say something like that when I started taking pictures at the start of the season... I didn't even know why I was doing it, other than to keep a record for myself of the season. It's made me feel great to know that family and friends and interns who've moved on to their next adventure follow our pics week to week. Thanks. I still have the remnants of the cold, but I'm back in the field. I promise to get all my days in next week. Until then...

XO,

Val

The Windy World of Farming

What a windy week! Monday, temperatures were so cold, we had lunch back at the intern house just to warm up and make coffee! And Tuesday and Thursday were so windy, it was a challenge to stand up at times, whether it was moving heavy macrobins through the onion field during harvest, or harvesting broccoli behind the tractor. We pulled a lot of carrots this week, as well as finished up our celeriac crop and the last bit of broccoli. The week was brutal on us for another reason too, many of our crew came down with a crummy fall cold, and were out of the field resting up, leaving us with a much smaller crew than we are used too. We made it happen though, as always. And to prove it, here are the pics of the week:

Oct 15

Rachel and Mitty riding the tractor to loosen carrots from the ground, with Emma and Sarah bundling in the background.

 Oct 16

The tractor with the garlic seeding implement at the top of Matsuta 11 on windy and chilly Tuesday afternoon.

 Oct 17

Sarah and I weighing down the shoe implement on the tractor to lift carrots Wednesday morning. Working hard, right Sarah? We made sure to finish our coffee first. 

 Oct 18

Joshua, manhandling a macrobin into the yellow onion field during our Thursday windstorm. Isaac in the background.

 

Bonus Foto(S):

Rachel holding up a massive purple cauliflower in Fischer field.

Me, and Joshua after harvesting, packing, and stacking crown broccoli for our CSA in Pie 3.

The endless onion field. Matsuta 11. Tanea, Ken and Rachel. from behind.

Stephanie carrying in an armload of celeriac for shipment in Fischer field.

Here's to next week carrying a few days of warmer temperatures.. and less blustery wind, in general! The sunshine was great this week, so we'll keep that! Cannot believe we are into the third week of October! The season's wrapping up and flying by...

XO,
Val

Rootin' down in the post harvest aftermath

There's no doubt that there is still plenty of things in full harvesting swing at the farm, including celeriac, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and the other roots we haven't even started with- turnips and rutabagas and parsnips, but it does feel like things are beginning to wind down this week with the weather change and the first frost happening the week before. Several mornings we have had solid frost on the ground and we've definitely had some cold days too. We had a half day on Monday after pulling carrots and cleaning up after Harvestival, harvested some large orders of broccoli and finished out the week planting hard neck garlic for next season! It was a great week despite the cold twist in the weather, though some of my fotos are lacking this week, just due to overwork and forgetfulness. Here is what we got for the pics of the week:

Oct 8

Harvestival cleanup Monday. Katie with a new 'tail" she found during trash collection!

Oct 9

Freezing Tuesday! Luke built us a fire in the field during lunch between harvesting broccoli. Rachel, Emma, Steph, Sarah, Katie, Luke Ryan and Austin. And of course, my sweet new ride. Note the bomb wood paneling on the door!

Oct 10

Nate, chucking a broccoli onto the implement during Wednesday's harvest. Ryan, Ken and Isaac behind.

Oct 12

Friday's garlic planting in Matsuta 11. Rachel. Chris, Luke, Sarah, Katie, Ken and Joshua on the seeder, Isaac driving, and Emma walking behind.

Bonus Fotos:

Emma, super excited about planting garlic!!!

Justin came back to help us this week! Here he is with Rachel. Katie in background.

Sorry for the somewhat lack in foto diversity this week, I realized much of it might be due to the chronically overcast sky this past week. It looks cold in the pics, and it was! Though, aside from my toes I can say I am getting used to it a little more, though I am still missing my warm summer, tomato eating, sunburning months. Ah, well, I guess that it's all in the cycle, and I will just have to look forward to next season, and get ready for the snow, squash, and soups just around the corner!!

XO,

Val

October and Harvestival Weekend!

I have to apologize for not getting the blog out on time last Sunday! It was a busy week at Grant Farms, as always, culminating with our fall Harvestival last weekend. As I worked the whole seven days and was back at it again Monday, there wasn't much time to eat or sleep, much less get the blog together! We have been working past dark most nights this last week, trying to keep up with orders for broccoli, carrots, celery, and celeriac root. Also, we had the greatest time collecting pumpkins for sale and for our Harvestival pumpkin patch. We spent a great deal of time on Friday setting up for the event, including building a massive hay bale maze for the children, erecting tents, cutting cornstalks and placing signs. It was a super fun weekend, if you didn't make it out to attend, we had local vendors and bands, a farmer's market, hay rides and potato harvesting for the food bank! It was a great way to welcome in the fall and also some truly freezing weather!!! So, without further ado, here are the pics from last week:

Oct 1

Ryan harvesting celery for our CSA members in Fischer Field. Tanea, Katie and Luke in the background.

Oct 2

Austin and Mitty harvesting broccoli for wholesale in Pie Three as the sun sets over the mountains. We worked until 8 pm this night.

Oct 3

Our butternut squashes at Whole Foods, saved from frost this day in a mad windstorm
by all the working crew on the farm, including ours!

Oct 4

Mitty and Katie during pumpkin harvesting on Thursday. Ken in the background.

Oct 5

Joshua and Emma holding down cornstalks in the back of Katie's truck to transfer the the Harvestival grounds. Katie driving.

Oct 6

Hanging the Harvestival sign at the endtrance to the grounds. From right, Ken. Isaac, Alex, Chris, and RIchie.

Bonus Fotos:

Luke and Emma during pumpkin harvest Thursday.

Me with the new hoopty and some massive red chard we found in the corn. I'm calling it the ValStar. A good name for a spaceship. or this truck. Yess!

Nate and me with a heart shaped potato during potato harvest for the food bank during Harvestival. Emma is the best part of this picture though, by far, down in the corner of the frame. 

Thanks for being patient with me while I took my time getting last week's post out this week. The farm and my commute keep me so busy that if I miss my allotted time to get things accomplished, they sometimes just don't. It was a great week, busy, and cold, and I got a new pair of work pants and a warm jacket just in the nick of time as weather has definitely changed! Look for this week's blog immediately following this one, probably by about an hour. Welcome to October!!

XO,

Val

Fall fall!

Hey! Autumn is definitely here. Cooler temperatures, and a ton of harvesting!! Loving it so much. We are trying to get the last bests out of our tomatoes, and also pulling all the fruit off our pepper and eggplants! I had Thursday and Friday off this week, my first days off of the season, for my anniversary, so I only have some bomb pics for the first days of the week! A new bed of carrots is ready for harvest in Fischer and we have been scrambling for heirlooms and Valley Girl tomatoes in Pie Four. We had a half day rain day on Wednesday- I have a pretty great outfit for that pic. Also, we said goodbye to Justin last week and I missed that, also Megan this Tuesday. We will miss you guys, two of the veterans!! That said, here are the pics of the week...

Sept 24

Austin, Chris, Arlo, Kristin, Rachel. Val, Joshua, and Ryan on the back of the tractor lifting the carrots out of our Fischer Field early on Monday morning.

Sept 25

Steph with an awesomely huge heirloom tomato in Pie Four on Tuesday!

Me and Rachel ready for rain on Wednesday morning! I look like I am five years old... but then again,
 at least I am not wearing the garbage bag footwear!

Thurs..?Fri..?Bonus Foto(s):

Beautiful sunset picking green beans on Tuesday night.

Rachel, matching the harvest picking carrots on Tuesday morning (Megan's last day)! Also from left,  Ken, Joshua, Tanea, Ryan, Mitty, Steph, and Megan.

My buddy Megan's last day was Tuesday. Here's a retro picture from April! Can't wait to see what you'll do next girl!!! Love you!

Justin left this masterpiece for the Intern House, an awesome functioning cob oven and bench. Here is the Peacock in the foreground, modeling it for us! Good luck on your future building projects Justin!!

I have had two extra days off of the farm this week and I have missed it so much! It's really ridiculous. Can't wait to get back up to Wellington tomorrow and get back to harvesting! Harvestival at Grant Family Farms is next weekend, October 6 & 7! Please come up if you want to learn more about our farm and what we do! Should be pretty fun, and oh, also, welcome to October!! It's the first tomorrow...What??!! 

XO,

Val

The Last Week of Summer

The first day of Fall was yesterday. I know the harvest season isn't over yet, but I feel sad to see the summer go. Fall has always my favorite time of the year, but this has really been the best summer of my life, and I don't want it to end! Our crew had long long days all week the week harvesting and we have seen the start of broccoli crowning! New and old harvesting tasks combined this week to include the last few harvests of our tomatoes in Pie Four (no!), apple picking in the orchards (the east orchard has our sweet free range turkeys bopping around in it), corn and cucumber harvesting, peppers, eggplants, green beans for preserving shares and a crazy amount of broccoli harvesting! We worked for the first time on Wednesday past sunset. Here are the pics of the week:

Sept 17

Mitty and Joshua in the orchard by Lou Grant's house, during apple harvest. Sarah and Emma on the side.

Sept 18

Joshua and Katie harvesting jalapenos in Pie Four at the days end Tuesday.

Sept 19

Megan throwing a broccoli crown up onto the wagon for bunching and packing in Pie Five. Tanea, Luke, Joshua and Katie harvesting with her.

Sept 20

Mitty and Ryan harvesting Cortland apples in the East Orchard on Thursday. Our young turkeys are enjoying an apple snack on the ground around them.

Sept 21

Isaac and Katie deciding to end a long day of broccoli harvest at 4:30. It was a nice break for Friday after a week of brutally long days!

Sept 22 

Emma, harvesting Anaheim peppers in Fischer field.

Bonus Foto(s):

Joshua is like the photo star of the week! Here he is with a bouquet of bunching broccoli during a break on Wednesday.

Can you believe these colors are real?! Heirloom purple cauliflower and Dr. Wyke's Yellow heirloom tomatoes for the farm dinner on Friday.

Ken enjoying a little corn in transit after harvesting Thursday.

Rachel and Sarah picking apples in the East Orchard.

Great week, as always, as you can see! Still there is so much to do, and I am so happy about that, tons of harvesting still ahead! Welcome to Autumn whether you are ready for it or not... I love fall and can't wait to see how the work will change in the coming weeks as the season cools us down and crops start to come to an end. Thanks for reading, have a wonderful week!

XO,

Val

Peak Season

It's a been busy and heavy harvesting work up at Grant Farms this week. The packing shed where we take our vegetables and fruit to be received for shipment has been bustling and mad busy with huge cartons of squash going out for wholesale and skid steers zooming around everywhere taking wooden pallets full of boxed produces off wagons and onto trucks. The parking lot of the main office is filled with semis awaiting shipments, and there is a waiting line to get our goods into the shed for processing and storage. Isaac says that this is the height of the season right now. The next two weeks will be the busiest of the year and it definitely shows. We had a rain day this Wednesday, but it doesn't feel as though we were doing any less work, harvesting melons, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant and green beans! We also said goodbye to Richie this week, and had a great send off party on Tuesday for him. Good luck in Steamboat man! We'll miss you! Here are the pics of the week:

Sept 10

Emma, spokes modeling some potatoes for us. Note that we have the magic school bus hooked up to tow the wagon on this day as well! Ridiculous. Chris, Kristen, Sarah, Katie, Arlo and Tanea's arm also featured.  

Sept 11 

Richie and Victoria on the wagon holding down boxes of wholesale eggplants on the way to the packing shed. Richie's last day. 

Sept 12

Rain Day!! No Pic.

Sept 13

Chris with a huge basket of leeks in Diamond One that we hand planted way back in April in the brutal wind!! Our boss told me I looked like I was gonna quit that day. I can't believe they are all grown up and ready for harvest! Yay!!

Sept 14

Kyle with the largest and most terrifying spider I've ever seen in Fischer Field. I was about to wipe the web aside to grab a tomato when I saw him. He was eating a bee!!!

Bonus Foto(s):

Leave it to Nate to find another weird tomato face! Pretty cute smile though, I must admit!

Five thirty harvesting green beans in Pie Three.

Rachel, Ryan, Nate, Tanea, Sarah, Stephanie, and Emma harvesting green beans for our preserving share members, Friday afternoon.

Have an awesome last few days of the summer season! The first day of fall is next Saturday, September 22nd. I am so, so sad to say goodbye to summer! Most typically, autumn is my favorite time of year, but this has been the best summer ever and it's hard to let it go. I can't believe we will only get about two more weeks out of our tomato plants this season. Mind blowing!! So, soak up the last rays of our sunny summer next week and get ready for a change in the weather, I already feel a nip in the air!

XO,

Val