We move a LOT of produce around, and use a lot of infrastructure to do so, everything from harvest crates (which come in different sizes), to different types of boxes (different sizes and materials), and different types of delivery trucks. Picking, packing, and delivering all these boxes of delicious produce and buckets of bouquets require a lot of lifting, but we do what we can to help protect people’s backs and overall be more efficient. 

First, we use tractors, trucks, golf carts, and utility vehicles (gas or electric) to move produce from the field to our wash/pack area, the Shop, to get washed (when applicable), sorted, and packed. 

Once at the Shop, we’re using carts, hand trucks, and pallet jacks to move things around. The photo above captures most of our tools: carts, hand trucks, and pallet jacks. 

The carts are mostly used for flowers. Much, much easier than moving around individual buckets of flowers and much less likely to spill water.

We use hand trucks for moving around stacks of boxes. We call them “diablitos,” not “carretillas” like many Spanish/English dictionaries will tell you. A key tool for using the diablitos are our wooden “palletitas” (little pallets), handmade here at the farm, seen in the photo on the left. They fit the footprint of most of our boxes and provide the perfect amount of space between the ground and the boxes to slide the nose of the hand truck under; the stack of boxes that Chiho is moving in the photo on the right are on a palletita.

Lastly, we use pallets, the standard 40” by 48” wooden pallets used in all sorts of industries. Almost all produce leaving the farm ends up on a pallet, masterfully stacked by our truck-loading team. These pallets get heavy and we’ve got electric and manual pallet jacks, plus forklifts, to move full pallets into coolers or on trucks. CSA pallets are fairly easy – stacks of green boxes, eight boxes per layer, with the grey boxes, flowers, and special orders on top. Other pallets are more complicated with different box sizes and types that need to be arranged, keeping in mind that heavy items should go on the bottom and wet and dry items need to be separated. We use cardboard corners, straps, and plastic wrap to keep things from falling over. The farmers market pallets end up with the biggest array of box sizes and it’s truly an art to getting it all in the truck!

All year long, folks are zipping around with pallet jacks (electric and manual), forklifts, and diablitos, but during the summer, the pace really ramps up. Palletitas can be in short supply and sometimes you have to hunt a bit to find a diablito. It’s hard to describe the scene at the end of the day, but it’s a hub of activity, a lot of people with a lot of tools to help them get everything in the right place. 

Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager