Harvesting (at last!)

This coming week marks the end of the second month that Will, Josh and I have been at Frith. When we arrived there were still piles of snow on the ground and we could see our breath in the mornings in the kitchen when we were having breakfast. But no longer!

Now everywhere we look there's lilac in bloom and this past week saw us harvesting our own produce for the first time this season!

The rows above are four different kinds of kale, to the right is a row of collards. Add to that the radishes and turnips that are begging to be pulled from the soil and two rows of spinach below and we're up to our eyeballs in freshness!

We've actually got more than we know what to do with at this point...the CSA doesn't start up til June 11th and there's only so many greens we four can eat on any given day. 

This week we did sell a bit of everything to our local natural foods store, Lois' in Scarborough and for the Portland market on Wednesdays. So we got to harvest, wash and pack everything to learn the ropes of that process. 

We were all so starved for green things (after eating mostly eggs, bread and cheese for the past two months) that we all devoured a fair bit of kale, raw straight from the fields. It really is that good!

Next we learned how to set up the wash station at the barn and how to pack everything in bunches and into crates. 

I'm sure we'll all get sick of harvesting at some point this season, but this week at least it really was extremely gratifying to see the end product of all the hard work we've put in so far. In the midst of the daily grind of composting, seeding, transplanting, raking, weeding, watering and feeding animals, it sometimes slips my mind what exactly we're doing here at the farm and that the result of all this hard work really is worth to me, and to Will, Josh and Daniel as well. 

Then there are other valuable moments for all of us on the farm that come about just because we are always outside, close to nature and interacting with our environment on a daily basis. 

On Friday we were all kind of stunned to see a hawk chasing a smaller bird into the barn. 

Onza (our cat) quickly relieved the hawk of his prey and promptly ate the bird, which only added insult to injury because the hawk then couldn't figure out how to get out of the barn. 

Even though the hawk wasn't happy about its situation, for me it was one of those cool moments on the farm, to find myself watching a hawk at very close range and getting to see its beauty and power up close. 

And, yes, the hawk did eventually get out of the barn and hopefully trapped another bird for its supper.