Today however was all about helping a wonderful young family who has worked hard to provide fresh, organic food to the Indianapolis and Bloomington communities. The 40 plus ‘farmers’ that I worked with were only the first shift from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. A second shift was scheduled to do more back breaking and sweaty work from 2-5 p.m. Such labor generates a deep respect for the hard work it takes to bring good food to our tables. The work shifts were managed by Todd Jameson of Balanced Harvest Farm and Valentine Hill’s Maria Smietana and Bill Swanson.

For most crops, there’s a short window for harvest, and the abundant rains haven’t helped growers getting into their fields. There’s no way to postpone or speed up readiness…farmers are “on call” and schedule their lives around the weather and the crops. And farmers like Kelly and John who use traditional organic methods do a lot of mulching as we did today, spreading straw between rows to keep weeds down rather than spraying chemicals that end up in our food and waterways. It’s much more labor intensive, but it’s the right way to grow our food. Let’s remember to thank and support every local farmer who cares so much about the earth and us!

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