A day in the life for real.

So what exactly do our days look like here at One Step at a Time Gardens?

They have a real rhythm and routine to them, which is pretty great when one really looks forward to and enjoys the tasks that repeatedly fill the days. It's also helpful that the rhythm and routine includes quite a bit of quiet down time at the beginning and ending of the work day, since we don't have TV, internet, or even phone service in our little house. And, since the mosquitoes have been so swarming and hellaciously bothersome this week, I've had even more quiet down time since I'm not willing to brave the outdoors after work. It is such.a.nice.change. from the pace of life I was keeping in Portland with two jobs and an active social life. The active social life part I could stand a little more of here in north central Iowa, but I'm perfectly content with a single job.

But, back to the day-to-day routine. We're woken in the morning (usually about 5:30) by the singing and chirping of dozens of varieties of birds. The combination of the 500 acre wetland reserve across the road and the diversity of the landscape and crops at the farm makes it a lovely place to be bird in the summertime. It's pretty astounding how loud they all are.

We're up by six or so, and coffee gets made and stretching happens. Lots of stretching. I've gotten back into running a few days a week, and on those days I try to be out the door by 6:15. I've got a couple of different routes measured for distance, and depending on energy level, humidity percentage, and how good the chapter of my book was the night before, I try to run between 2 and 4 miles. Another round of stretching and a quick rinse off shower before breakfast about 7:15. Dishes get done, we check the weather, shoelaces tied, pockets get packed with snot rag, earplugs and watch, sunblock is applied, and water bottles get filled for the morning.

8:00 starts the work day, and we gather in the pack-out shed to run through the priorities for the day. Our crew is a little different each day, and we range anywhere from 5 to 11 present for work.
The priorities are a little different each day as well, depending on where we are in the CSA delivery schedule, but there are a few chores that get done every day. The greenhouse gets watered, the wash station sinks filled, and the electric fences turned off by one person. Another two people head out to move the chicken tractors to fresh pasture and refill the chicken feed. Someone else wipes down the pack-out counters and may fold CSA boxes.

There is a wholesale delivery on Tuesday, and a CSA delivery on Wednesday and Thursday each. We try to harvest for those deliveries the day before, so we spend Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning harvesting, processing, and portioning produce. We usually go out in a couple of different groups - one group harvesting broccoli, lettuce, spinach, and chard and the other group going after peas, raspberries, and green beans, just as an example. Freshly picked food is brought back to the wash station and dumped in cold water, swished and swirled around to remove as much dirt and bugs as possible, and put into large tupperware containers in a large walk in cooler.

It's 10:30 or 11 by this point, and the cook of the day heads off to start making lunch. The rest of us work on portioning what we've just harvested and processed - 65 bags each of: 1 lb lettuce, 1/2 lb spinach, 1 lb. snow peas, 1/2 pint raspberries, 1 head broccoli, and whatever else it getting put into the box that week.

About 12 or 12:30 we break for lunch, heading to the kitchen to find out what the cook concocted using whatever veggies and pantry staples are on hand. We've been eating lots of salad and lots of stir fry so far. No complaints here. =)

Afternoons are spent either finishing up last bits of harvest that we didn't get to in the morning or working on general farm and crop maintenance projects. This translates to weeding. We are spending lots and lots of afternoons weeding these weeks, but Jan and Tim keep saying this is when the weed pressure is the highest. If we can yank the weeds that have already germinated before they go to seed then we'll reduce the seed bank for later in the year and next year. It is tedious work, but satisfying when you look back at a row that was not recognizable and see hundreds of perky little beet leaves waving in the wind.

We head in from the field about 4:30 to take care of end of the day chores; tying up chicken feed, watering the greenhouse again, wiping down harvest totes, cleaning the wash station, and generally end the day right about 5:00.

That's also right about when a beer gets opened and consumed on the shady front steps of the little house, boots and socks stripped off an lying on the grass a few yards away. This is generally when something mindless like Facebook surfing happens, and maybe a conversation about what should be for dinner. Showers ensue and by 7 I'm putting something together for dinner and trying to decide if I should read for education or for entertainment that evening. Sometimes a Netflix movie gets put on, but rarely does it get finished. 4 nights out of 7 I'm asleep by 10.

So there it is. That's the daily routine, more or less. I gotta tell you it feels a lot more exciting than it sounds! We do a lot of laughing and talking throughout the day, ask a lot of questions, walk a lot, do a lot of quick counting and calculating, and just generally pay attention to the world immediately surrounding ourselves. Did you see the beets germinated already?! Those bean plants really need to get harvested. Another couple of days before we can harvest a good crop of raspberries again - there's a good amount yet but they need to ripen a bit more. How many eggs did the hens lay this morning?

There is much changing detail to discuss within the generally structured framework of the week. Some of it is obvious and in your face (did you see how big the squash got?!) and some of it is more subtle. I'm really appreciating the variety of scope there is in this work, even within the predictability of the day to day tasks. Now for some more visitors......anyone?