Skip to main content

Harvest

I am pleased to report that both the sweet potato harvest from a backyard garden in Woodland, California and the rice harvest on Pleasant Grove Farms have both reached their successful conclusion. The latter involved over a month of four combines working into the night 7 days a week cutting over a thousand acres of rice. The former entailed three people digging through 12 ft garden beds for a hour in search of delicious sweet potato tubers. Both mark the end of two very different agricultural adventures (described in previous posts). I walk away from this harvest with the satisfaction of having been part of the production of food: a milk crate's worth of sweet potatoes and well over fifty 55,000 lb truck loads of rice.

Sweet potato patch before harvest


The fruits of our labor


Peppers still going strong

With harvest completed, my farming job will begin to look more like a regular 8-hour office job. I have rice samples to sort, weigh and analyze, data to enter, yield monitor maps to manipulate. It will mean lots of time in front of the computer and less time driving around South Sutter County in a white Ford Ranger pickup listening to 97.9 lunes sin commerciales. If the weather permits, I may spend a few more afternoons working with the crew removing roots from the almond orchard, as I did this past Friday afternoon. At Pleasant Grove there are few times when numbers of people work together and I really appreciated the camaraderie, the conversation and the delicious snack of boiled peanuts soaked in hot sauce. I am lucky to work with such great people on the farm, and to find beauty in the changing of seasons in the Valley.
Labels:

Comments

Sacha said…
This is great, Reed. I love how you weave together your rice and sweet potato experiences! I hope you don't mind that I shared your blog on my facebook page... Sacha
PS we ate a meal of sweet potatoes from our earlier test harvest and they were the sweetest and most delicious I have ever tasted!
November 21, 2011 at 7:53 PM
Reed said…
Sacha,

Thanks, I was hoping you and Maris and Sasha wouldn't mind being included in the blog. Glad to hear the sweet potatoes turned out well, I am going to cook some for Thanksgiving.

-Reed
November 22, 2011 at 6:18 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spring Time

It's a sunny afternoon here in Santa Cruz, and again I am here in the laundry room not far from the farm. I think I should rename my blog 'Notes from the Laundry Room' or something in that vein. Anyhow, though it is Monday, today is a day off at the farm because Saturday and Sunday we had our big plant sale and all of us were working during at least part of that time. The plant sale was a success, but that's not so much what I want to write about today. I must admit, I wish I were a little more clear-headed as I sit to collect my thoughts. It's a hot afternoon, and I am feeling a bit dehydrated still from my bike ride up the long hill back to the UCSC campus a few hours ago. After running errands, which included a trip to a mall to get my glasses fixed, I appreciate being able to return to my wonderful, green, secluded home, full of verdant life and good people. On the farm there is always work, always something to do. This is less of a burden and more o...
Post a Comment
Read more

Down on the Farm

Hi Folks, It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Santa Cruz, the sun is shining and a nice ocean breeze blowing up the hill. I am doing some laundry though, trying to expel layers of dust, manure, flour and dishwashing grime out of my farm clothes. I don't mind missing a little sunshine time though since I am outside a lot working, eating, hanging out and brushing my teeth even. So far, things on the farm are great. Time seems to operate on two levels here. On one hand, it seems to be speeding past, the two weeks I've been here feel like a blink. But on the other hand, life is so full of new people and experiences that hilling leeks, which I did on Friday, seems like ages ago. The farm is also quickly becoming its' own little world. I rarely leave, especially during the week, and since I am without a car, everything feels that much farther away. It's really a wonderful experience being able to live, eat, work, shower, sleep and socialize all in the same p...
1 comment
Read more

Support the Lagartillo School Garden Initiative

As I spend a quiet Saturday reading, writing and cooking beans, my mind drifts back to the month I spent in Nicaragua. I've lost track of how much time it's been since I returned from Central America, but I know I've been back for well over a month. At work, people are counting down the weeks before our spring break--four more to go. I am thinking ahead of projects to do in the school garden where I work once spring arrives, which here in the Bay Area will be soon. I am also thinking of another school garden project--the one in Lagartillo, the community in Nicaragua where I spent a month studying Spanish this past winter vacation. When I was in Lagartillo, some of the community elders spoke of starting a garden project at the school. A nonprofit organization that supports initiatives for women and children in Nicaragua, Project Sonrisas (http://www.projectsonrisas.org/) is working with the community in Lagartillo to help make the project a reality. To quote the Pro...
3 comments
Read more