So what's been going on at Everdale for the last few weeks...lots of harvesting and event prep! Harvesting has become more of a routine over the weeks as we've all become more familiar with the various crops and become more systematic about gathering and cleaning/hydrocooling the crops. Lettuce heads are probably the fastest both to harvest and process. Some people will pick and cut the lettuce heads, leaving them upside down in the beds for others to follow and collect. Before the day gets hot enough to wilt the lettuce (no later than 10 am usually), the lettuce heads are hydrocooled in tubs of cold water, then packed in bins, labelled, and stacked in the walk-in fridge. This allows the heads of lettuce to remain fresh for up to 2 weeks if necessary. But generally, most are sold at markets within days of harvest. At the other end of the labour spectrum, I would consider bean harvesting to be the most time consuming and backbreaking. The beans are handpicked, which requires crouching or bending over the low growing plants and making sure to pull the bean off the plant without breaking it. For me, this usually means that I pick with one hand while I hold onto the plant with the other. Some people can pick with both hands...though I can't figure out how they do it without pulling some of the plants right out of the ground when a bean doesn't want to come off the vine. I've pretty much decided that I won't be planting beans for sale on my own farm because the harvest labour required is so annoying. So don't flinch if the cost of green/yellow beans at the grocery store seems expensive...there's a reason for that cost if they're handpicked!
Last Saturday, I helped wi

The last set of lambs were born about 2

Other than the harvesting, event prep, and still to be written about events (which took a lot of time and preparation!), I've been stepping up my land search. It may seem ambitious, but I really hope that I can buy some farmland this year so that I can plan for crops next spring. Part of me thinks this will be impossible since land prices are so high, but another part of me is praying for a miracle. I feel that God has blessed me and opened so many doors ever since I left my job in April to pursue my farm dream and can't help but hope that the next step of getting some land is just around the corner. Otherwise, I'm really not sure what I'm going to be doing with myself this winter. It's scary to think that the season is almost over and that the interns and volunteers will be leaving Everdale at the end of October. I feel like the momentum I've gained over the past few months can't just come to an abrupt and crashing halt. So I will hope and pray that the land and the money will come together in some blessed fashion. So if any of you reading this blog are inclined to prayer, please pray that I'll find the right piece of land to steward!