Day 81-87

Hard Labor Blueberry Farm!

Bluebells Blueberries

Howdy! What a sizzling week, my car temp showed 110. I like the sun more often than not; if nothing else it reminds you you're alive...burning, but still alive and not in a cubicle. The week started out with lots of adventure! We piled in the van and went to a neighbor blueberry farm called hard labor (hard labor on you, not them). It's a "you pick" farm so you grab a basket and charge, and then get charged later. Our blueberries are still babies, so we came here and conquered for our CSA members to enjoy. Take bucket with liner/Best rows today info/Bring buckets with liner to garage for checkout/Avoid touching sticky balls.

You pick instructions!

Avoid touching sticky
balls, good advice always

They have organic practices, the sticky balls are to attract insects, which seemed to be working quite well. When we checked out they sold different blueberry products, including blueberry jam, salsa, and even mustard.

Oh my melons!

This just in...melons! Whoohoo! Arava melons are the cantaloupe looking dudes. This green-fleshed tropical melon is deliriously aromatic, sweet and crisp (get on it Bath & Body Works). Arava melons were developed by crossing a honeydew to a cantaloupe, resulting in a perfectly round (well most) melon with smooth, netted skin that turns yellow when ripe.

CSA box this week was a high-five success.

In The Box

-2# Heirloom Tomatoes

-1 pint Cheery Tomatoes

-1 pint Blueberries (Hard Labor Creek Blueberry Farm)

-1# Potatoes

-1# Okra OR 1# fresh Dragon Tongue Beans

-1 bunch Baby Arugula

-3 ears Sweet Corn

-1/2 # Baby Onions

-1# Cucumbers OR Summer Squash 

Elderberry trees

Elderberries

Around lunchy time Ricky showed us some more about local plant life specifically elder berries. These berries are super tasty and so sweet!  But beware, thunderwood grows next door with similar berries but with a small difference, they're poisonous. Apparently our fearless leader picked some and ate them, then was about to sell them before he thought better of it and asked Ricky. Tip: never eat unknown berries. Second Tip: if they burn your mouth that's a bad sign. Thunderwood has thorns on it's bark and the berries sprout out the top, that's the main difference but if you're ever unsure, see Tip 1.

Thunder wood

There was also a jewel weed which grows around the pond, the leaves aren't affected by water. You can crush them up and they produce a sticky substance with medicinal properties similar to aloe. Another beneficial plant he told us about was the bark from white willow trees. People used it for aspirin, before well, aspirin. 

White Willows

He also showed us how to make a basket out of bullweed, but you can use the technique with wisteria or just about any vine. You start by crossing them to form a star and then weaving a reed in and out. Just keep building on it incorporating new reeds until you have the base and then you can bend the sides up. The braid can be for the basket handle...or a new hippy bracelet. 

Ricky basket weaving

Most of the week we spent harvesting, and most of that was tomatoes. Yeah tomatoes, you may look cool but harvesting you is the pits. 500lbs in one day :( That's a lot of tomatoes, and it's a lot of smelling the gooey nasties and having them duce in your hand. Hours of my week, at least two half days. So appreciate your tomatoes peoples, or I will throw one at you (my aim has improved from throwing the rotties out in the trees).

Over your charms matoes

Yoga Studio

Now we were going to have a yoga teacher come to the farm, but she rescheduled a bunch and never came, so I came to her! Well, her studio that is, and paid her in heirloom tomatoes. It was great, I felt all relaxed and stretched. It was hard too. Hard. Some poses were difficult and if this girl hadn't been farming I would've bitten the dust like the woman next to me. I loved it though, good times.

Intern J working the mister!

 We went to market yesterday and it was a scorcher. So Cory bought a mister, that is used for veggies, and hung it around the tent. It was solar powered and he brought a cooler of water for the hose to suck up. I was skeptical at first because I always am thank you very much, but this worked! People liked the mist, so did our flowers, and me for that matter. Mistacular.

Hay used for orchard and tomatoes growing untrellised in lower field

Erica catching a snooze and being a farmgirl