Grateful and more on garlic

Hey good folks.  It's rare that I post two blogs in one summer but I wanted to take the time tonight.

Grateful

I think I hit a point in each growing season of despair and exhaustion; and last week was a rough week and the tipping point.  We survived the heat but markets didn't go too well and sales were down.  At this point in the season if markets don't do well, I start to think about living through the fall!  Then I stumbled upon a problem with our well known garlic (more on that below...).  So during the Saturday market this weekend, after I assured myself again that this whole effort was not working I received the usual divinely sent encouragement that helps keep us going.  Several of our members and customers took the time to look me in the eyes and tell me that they are grateful for what we are growing and will support us unconditionally.  It really hit me this weekend that we are truly living the C(ommunity)S(upported)A(griculture) model of farming.  I bust my rump to provide for my community and family and in return the community supports us with participation through good times and bad.  It sounds so simple but I really feel so humbled to be part of this extremely important equation. So without getting mushy, THANK ALL OF YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND ENCOURAGEMENT.  Without it we'd all be less healthy.  I'd be stuck in a cubicle somewhere and you all would be eating chips and hot dogs all day (hehehehehe). 

Garlic

The previous comments were not written as a segue!  The garlic we have been so excited about was harvested during the hottest days on record and some of it was roasted either in the ground or while lying in the sun waiting to go to the barn for curing.  I've never seen anything like this.  Sun roasted garlic sounds good but it compromises the storage quality of the bulb.  So the whole family (yes, even Hope) went through what I estimate as about 200 lbs. of garlic and graded out the bulbs with soft cloves for processing.  We will look at all of these bulbs and separate out the soft cloves.  So expect to find a soft clove in an occasional bulb and also expect to see half pints of cloves, not bulbs, during your pick-ups.   

I hope all are enjoying our bounty and are doing well.  Keep an eye on the website as we are going to add some new photos soon!  Peace.

Michael