farm life issue no. 2

And so it begins: harvest 2014. I can't believe it's here again already! We were gone over the weekend, & the fields were just starting to turn dusky blue. When we returned, handfuls of blue awaited us. (I think I'll have to do farm life updates more than once a month this time of year--it's like a time warp if I don't! No in between ripening & gearing up.) I gorged myself already. I lovelovelove blueberries in the cool of the evening. Their firmness *pops* into tangy sweetness. Even the tiny seeds add a delightful texture. I'm hopelessly addicted. Dar laughs at my childish greediness when it comes to blueberries. I just grab handfuls & stuff them down! He is getting ready for full-blown harvest. They might be picking fresh market berries (which means they will be hand-picked as opposed to machine-picked) tomorrow if it doesn't rain. Then there's no more pretending harvest is still around the corner. It will be here.

 This year, I won't be out on the farm as much since I have a job. I'm a little torn--I love having a job, but I love the excitement & busyness of an Oregon berry farm in July. Especially when the whole family is involved. Harvest won't really be passing me by though, because Willamette Valley Pie is next door to a "cannery". (For all you Midwesterners, like me, a cannery is where the berries go, not to be canned per se, but to be processed into whatever their final product will be: jam, frozen blends, juice, etc.) They've been processing strawberries, so the air around work smells like a vat of jam. Much more delightful than the mushrooms of last month:). Dar will be bringing their blackberries there in a few weeks when they start picking those, so maybe I'll get to sneak some truck time in with him during my breaks:). The cannery will be buzzing with forklifts, trucks stacked up ten deep waiting to be unloaded, & piles & piles of berries for the next few months. So I'll be in the thick of it, even if I don't get to spend my days on the farm. And I do thoroughly enjoy my job. My hours have improved greatly (I'd been working the closing shift:/...) & Darwin has been getting dinner again (how do you working mothers do it?!). I've been promoted to be the exclusive chalkboard artist (yay!) & interior decorator. I can also make a pretty mean iced salted caramel mocha. My coworkers are mostly Christians & it's a decent work environment. All in all, I'm happy there & am grateful for a job I enjoy.

 Another sign summer & harvest have arrived: irrigation. I love the sound of the sprinklers going on a warm, sunny day. It makes a person feel so cool & refreshed just to hear the sh-sh-sh-ssssshhhh of the sprinklers. All over The Valley, the fields are arcs of water & rainbows. And of course, that means we are in a green, verdant Valley even though the days have been warm & rainless.

  The gardens are lush & growing. We've had lettuce, onions, & radishes. The raspberries are just ready. I bought one lonely, little tomato plant for our patio, for last minute salads & summer sandwiches. Mom & Dad S.'s garden will provide plenty for canning. And they so kindly let us mooch shamelessly. The sweet corn should be "knee-high by the 4th of July". I've got strawberries coming out my ears (a blog post will be dedicated to that later). My sad lemon tree that made the trek here from Illinois is not, in fact, dead, & has shot out a plethora of hardy looking shoots, narrowly avoiding being composted by Dar. I refuse to let him throw it out, even when it lost the majority of its leaves this winter. It has been a benchmark to my journey & I feel very sentimental towards it. Is that silly?

I'm sure the rest of the summer will fly by as fast as it has so far. I'll try to keep updated, but the life of a NW berry farmer is busy, so we will see:). Until next time.