With every passing week the workload is ratcheting up another notch. The increasing number of tasks mimics the abundance in the field and, since most of them are manual by nature, work often starts at dawn and sometimes doesn’t stop until dusk.
You will notice green beans and red raspberries in your shares this week. Both are popular crops, but time consuming to pick. With apricots also ripening and ready to be added to the harvest schedule, you can imagine how excited we are to welcome back 25 youths from the “Food What?!” program to give us a helping hand.
Food What?! Team Leaders
Similar to last year, every Friday for the next 5-6 weeks this wonderful group of teens will circle up at 9AM under the large oak tree by our Green Valley Barn ready to take on field tasks scheduled for that day.
What I like about this partnership is that teens are empowered to directly engage in the operation of a real working farm, where they have the opportunity to work side by side with our employees, experiencing literally from the ground up the fruits of their labor. Whether it’s weeding a 1 acre block of peppers or cutting and packing lettuce for a weekend market, these apparently simple tasks teach a lot about one’s stamina, ability to work in a team, learning new skills and paying attention to detail, under often unaccustomed outdoor conditions. I like the name “Food What?!”, it reflects what is at the core of our well-being – understanding our connection to healthy food and where it comes from.
Food What?! teens helping with the carrot harvest.
Weeding rows of pepper plants.
Planting seedlings.
The team planting many flats of seedlings.
