There is a woman in our choir who is a phenomenal singer.  She encourages the sopranos with their part in the harmony by saying “Push!” “Push!” with a big smile on her face.  She wants us to sing louder, higher, and open our mouths wider, to get great sound.  At this time of year, when the days are long, and the work seems endless, we really have to push and extend ourselves.  The end of the work day comes when the sun goes down, roughly 9 or 10 pm.  We don’t want to have to put tools away, fix the leak in the hose, finish the weeding and mulching properly.  But people are pushing themselves because they know that anything left undone, or mistakes made now, will later have to be paid for many times over.

We are pushing to get the fourth cabin finished, for Alice to move into.  The fifth member of our crew, Sidoney, is arriving from Chicago on Sunday.  David is looking forward to having his niece on the farm, and I think she is looking forward to having her first country-living experience.  We have been pushing to get cover crops planted.  David and Kevin have been incorporating rye cover crops so we can plant buckwheat.  The potatoes are pushing through the soil, only to be buried again as we hill them for weed control.  The crew is weeding, seeding, transplanting, irrigating, harvesting, ventilating (hoophouses), and building.  They got a big lift when they experienced the first week of produce pack distribution!  Thanks to all our fantastic customers who were so kind, and encouraging.

This week we will have roughly the same vegetables as last week.  We will add in arugula and garlic greens.  Although the rainfall has been ideal, the temperatures, especially at night, have been fairly cold, and we still have row cover or hoop houses protecting the tender crops.  On Sunday we will be building an extension of  the gothic hoop house with a group of apprentices from a number of farms.  The plan is to fill it with melons.

Here are some photos from this week:

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