September 8th, 2020
What’s in your share?
Lacinato or Curly Kale
Bok Choy
Head Lettuce
Slicing Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Sweet Italian Peppers
Shishitos (mild frying pepper)
Beets or Radishes
So, recently we have been starting to experience what many farmers go through, usually sometime beginning in August; it’s called the burnout. I was talking to another farmer friend of mine a couple weeks ago and she couldn’t even believe I had called her in August. It’s usually that crazy. You’re still deep in the season, yet the end is just in sight. By this time, we’ve been harvesting hundreds of pounds of produce every week, digging potatoes, installing drains, continuing to prepare beds for planting and seeding all while hustling our produce at two farmers markets on the weekends.
For most of my farm life I had convinced myself that farm work was driven by the seasons and necessity, rather than our will. And in many ways this is still true. I also felt that the amount of work in some way proved my worth. That working 15 hours a day further attested to the sacrifice and endurance involved. Some years are admittedly harder than others, especially those first years, those rainy years, and those dry years. Honestly, they’re all hard, in different ways, yet as we navigate the seasons, we evolve as a farm and as a crew.
After years of working within this severe work ethic, it’s clear that us thriving here is as important (or even more so) as the health of the soil and the crops we grow. If our lives are completely unbalanced, if our hearts and minds are not fed by something beyond our daily work, then this life is no longer sustainable. Farming is a labor of love, and the work could so easily be endless, but there’s still a choice in there somewhere.
At the beginning of this season we agreed that we all got two days off a month. Some of us split this into half days here and there; others take an extra hour each day to themselves. And I’ll admit, sometimes we don’t take this time that we promised ourselves, because there is arguably always something that could be done. We also agreed on five days in a row at some point in the season. This is actually going to happen, real soon here. We have paddling and bike adventures planned and trips into the woods. As we start to experience the August burnout, we check in more with each other and support each other in getting the time away that we need.
This year is different in so many ways, but most importantly we are stronger as a crew. There’s an unspoken knowing between us; we know each other’s strengths, our likes and dislikes, our variations in moods, our struggles. Focusing on communication, delegation and personal needs has shifted our overall farming experience; it’s no longer the same struggle it once was. There’s less we have to worry about as individuals, as we each take responsibility for certain tasks throughout the season, whether it’s irrigating the field, greenhouse management or communicating with our lovely CSA members. The support from housemates, family and friends has also been fundamental in the restructuring of our days. Who knew that one day we’d be able to stop mid-harvest on a Friday morning and have bloody marys with our mamas? If we don’t love this life, if we don’t still find time for joy within our workdays, is it still worth it?
So yeah, there’s still the August burnout, but we’re definitely getting through it, with each season better than the one before, not only in the health of our soil and field production, but in the quality of our lives.