News from the Farm | October 28, 2024

closeup of chard bunches

This week’s Beet – a short video showing how the many bunches of beautiful, delicious chard last week got from the field to your CSA boxes. Those of you who didn’t get a box missed out!

This is the process for all of the bunched leafy greens (kale, chard, broccoli rabe, collards, spigarello, mizuna, arugula, bok choi). All the bunched greens get picked by Alfonso and his team. They’re also the group that picked all of your heirloom tomatoes this summer! I picked a few bunches with the team and definitely didn’t keep their pace; while I’ve got a few years of experience, it pales in comparison to theirs! Alfonso has been working at Full Belly Farm since 1998 and has been picking greens since he started. Not everyone on his team has been here as long, but picking (literally) hundreds of bunches per day will quickly make you a speedy harvester.

One note – that loud noise you hear when Alfonso arrives at the shop is the sound of our walnut sheller! After harvesting the walnuts, we send them off to get hulled and dried and then they come back to the farm to get shelled and then sorted. It’s a very loud, very vintage, but effective machine!

Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager

Chard harvest team in the field
Chard harvest team in the field