EMERGENCY RISK REDUCTION

It has taken a while to arrive, but the days are now sunny and warm. A far cry from 16 inches of snow during late winter. It seems like the melt was only a couple of days ago. Where do the days go!

As you know, the further north one travels, the longer is the daylight in summer….and conversely, less daylight in winter.  Very soon this month, we will hit the summer solstice – the longest day of sunshine. It’s light from 4:30PMish until after 10PM.  This results in not only glorious mornings and evenings, but crops that are drenched in the sun’s rays.  The fruit and vegetables are feeling the heat…growing…and ripening. I pick a row of berries in the morning, and in the evening, seems it’s time to pick again.  And we have 17 rows averaging over 100 feet long. Yes, I need back adjustment daily and maybe surgery by season’s end!

Ours is a U-pick farm, meaning that the customer does the picking. The penny has finally dropped as to why almost all area farms have stopped U-pick and now pick and market their own. The waste! The expense!

As I am writing this, we have berries ready to pick. I would go into the rows…but what if someone drives up in 30 minutes? The berries are in the refrigerator. But if we wait too long to pick, the strawberries become overripe, especially in this week’s sun.  And even if a picker comes, s/he may get a couple of pints, like what happened two days ago. And others just ‘graze’ through several rows, only picking a few, usually the large ones.  So I must go in and ‘clean’ the rows anyway. All this is to say that it is actually easier, quicker, and more profitable to forget the U-pick, and harvest them ourselves. It is more predictable and less wasteful.

Of course, the U-pick offers more interaction with the public.  Last weekend three cars arrived and ten strapping young adults came pouring out. A fun group, and I asked if they were a volleyball team. No…most were part of the Canadian national rowing team, which is located on nearby Elk Lake.  And these athletic kids were flexible enough to bend down to the strawberries. I was envious.

The owner, Norrie, and I also attempt to keep the farm family-friendly. We have picnic tables, a walking trail, a small lake with fountains and a bridge, hammock, trampoline, etc. It’s set up for families to enjoy. It’s terrific to see the small children have such fun, and enjoy this little piece of the outdoors. Hopefully they will remember this day-trip experience. Who knows where it might lead some of them.

So these are the long and lazy days of summer. Except that laziness doesn’t go far. It is work! Planting is only the start. Watering, weeding, and picking are part of every day. But I will rest in this glaring afternoon sun, and hope for strawberry pickers to come soon through the gate. If not, it will be a long evening of picking. But instead of complaining, I will just pick up the hoe or the pail and plod along…all the time considering myself blessed for the opportunity to live in such an idyllic setting.

Thanks for reading.

Monty