Post ID: 14130

Josephine’s favorite carrot recipe

First, I just want to remind you that your carrots will stay much crisper if you remove the tops before storage.  Every year I make this spiced carrot and chickpea salad!  It’s one of my favorite things.  And it uses a whole pound of carrots.  I use golden raisins instead of currents, and red onion in the place of shallots and garlic.

staying cool as a cucumber

“How do you work in this heat?”  It’s a question I get asked often at the farmers market.  And since it has been an exceptionally hot week this week – especially since it’s still only June – I thought it would be a good time to talk about how we cope with this weather.

We work early so we can quit early.  My day starts at 5:30.  Our employees start at 7:00.  We try to structure the day so that anything physically demanding is first on the list.  Mulching, pounding t-post, and harvesting heavy crates of vegetables gives way to trellising tomatoes and picking blueberries.  On really hot days we try to get everyone out of the field and into the wash pack by 11:00 for washing vegetables, sorting tomatoes, or weighing produce for shares.  The day is often done at noon.  Randy or I might do more work in the evening, but in general the window for field work is short.

We give all our employees a 32-ounce insulated water bottle, and have cold electrolyte drinks on hand in the wash pack.  I wear loose fitting, light colored clothes and encourage others to do the same.   We have people work in teams so that we can look out for each other and make sure everyone is holding up well.  It’s mostly common sense stuff, but we try to stack lots of strategies together.

Of course our bodies need time to adjust to the heat.  Working out in it every day does mean you get used to it, but we still have to be careful.  Stress and lack of sleep make us more susceptible, so our ability to cope may be different from one day to the next.  Sometimes it is unpleasant, but we really do want people to enjoy being here.

Let it go.

The most important thing we do to deal with the heat is learn to let it go.  Sometimes we just have to accept the fact that we wont get everything done that we want to.  Although the days surrounding the solstice are the longest of the year, the heat can make the working hours short.  Take a deep breath and try not to stress.  It’ll just make me hotter.

Small shares

• pepper(s)
• kale or eggplant
• harlequin gold potato
• bolero carrots
• tomatoes

Full share

• squash or zucchini
• cucumber
• tomatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• harlequin potatoes
• bolero carrots