July 14, 2020
I had an idea for this month’s blog post that I would document “a day in the life” of Farmer Kim. That idea lasted for about five minutes. First of all, it’s all I can do to get to the farm by 8 a.m. to start my own workday. By that time, Kim already has an hour or two under her belt. Second of all —- to watch me following Kim around all day would be like watching an old dog trying to chase down a jackrabbit (for 10 or so hours!).
So instead, I decided to post photos of some of the daily duties that go on behind-the-scenes at Stone Bank Farm. Mind you, this is only a small fraction of what actually goes on here each day!
The process of getting SBF’s signature salad mix to the SBF market and local restaurants involves a lot of steps — but the freshness and taste of the product makes the time spent well worth it! Once lettuce is harvested, it’s immediately chilled for a time, then double (and sometimes triple) washed, spun-dried, briefly fan-dried, chilled again, then bagged and put on shelves in the pack shed cooler — ready to be transferred to market shelves that very day.
July is a giant harvesting month, and it’s also a seeding, watering, weeding, trellising, trimming month. In these photos we’re pruning suckers on tomato plants in the greenhouse, covering raised garden beds to deter pests, planting beans and radishes for end-of-summer eating, and harvesting green beans for the market.
Did you know that much of the garlic that is sold at our grocery stores is imported from another country and is often bleached? Stone Bank Farm’s organic garlic is the best there is, in my opinion, and we’ve just started harvesting it at the farm!
It’s not written into our job description as farmhands, but we take the part of our job very seriously that involves taste-testing our on-site baker, Alyssa’s, potential product ideas for the market. This amazing blueberry-zucchini bread got two enthusiastic thumbs-up from farm staff!
Thanks to Stone Bank Farm’s chef and baker, Alyssa, a delicious and nutritious farm lunch is often a much-appreciated part of our day.
The pigs, chickens and cows at SBF, while not a part of our daily responsibilities, are sure fun to watch!
