Today was a 1,000-pound day. My harvest was around 320 pounds, and I hauled it from the gardens to the truck, from the truck to the washing station, from the washing station to the cooler, with plenty of lifting and shuffling in between.

Earlier in the week, Jason was recruited to help with the CSA harvest, but he had a long week of late meetings for his off-farm job, and not enough time in the gardens. My goal was to complete the harvest to free up his evening on the farm.

Today was one of the more tiring kinds of days, but … I took breaks when I needed. Came into the house to get a drink when I wanted. Took as much time for lunch as I felt like. No one told me what to do. I only took orders from myself. I was safe. If I felt like sitting down and feeding the bunny greens, I did. At some point in the afternoon, Grandma showed up on the golf cart and sped away with Silas, giving me an opportunity to work without a child in tow.

If you’ve ever read about conditions on many huge farms, and what the workers go through, than you know I should be grateful for just one long day with so much good fortune.

My original plan was to join Jason on the farm tonight, weed the kale and put down straw. But, I’m 5 feet tall, and half a ton is a lot. After taking off my wet farm clothes that stink like green onions, I remembered that I needed to pick spinach tonight. Dammit! was my first thought. Well, I can handle one more pound or two.

~ Stella