Alex and Frederick raking the almonds into a central line, ready for the sweeper (shown below) to pick them up.
An Ode to Thank the Capay Valley Farm Shop for the Use of Their Awesome Forklift
It was late on a summer’s night
Many hands had not been on deck
Projects were piling up
bellies were growling
Worry wrinkles were deepening
The big almond harvest had only two Belly harvest hands
The Bellies were dancing
One step forward
Two steps back…
A call came in from a full and finicky overheating truck
The Bellies gathered and planned
Down to Esparto, limp the truck home,
unload,
reload another truck that doesn’t overheat…
drive back to Esparto in two trucks
leave the loaded one there…
Oh, the weary Belly brains
Oh, the growling Belly bellies
“But doesn’t the Farm Shop in Esparto have a forklift?”
said one of the worried growling Bellies
But it is probably only authorized for their staff
They probably have inspectors and inspections
They are probably all happy somewhere without phones
The forklift is probably hidden and locked up…
“Let’s just try” said another Belly
And soon the Bellies were using the awesome Farm Shop forklift
Making quick work transferring
Carefully picked pallets
Gently packed pallets
Seriously organized pallets
Pallets with homes to go to and schedules to attend to
Zipping them out, zipping them in
Anticipations of dinner, a shower and a cosy evening…
How nice it is to have friends
Who will lend a forklift in a pinch
So that the growling Bellies get their supper
and the Worry Wrinkling Bellies get their rest
How nice it is to have forklift friends in a pinch!
—Judith Redmond
Our almond harvest is proceeding slowly using machinery like this knocker and sweeper, both at least circa 40 years old.
