Dear Farm Journal,

My Labor Day wasn’t labor free, but it was indeed happy and lucky, as I had my brother’s pleasant company and generous help. Even if he hadn’t lifted a finger, I just love having him around. I am amazed at how quickly and easily we check off tasks that usually take me twice or three times as long when I’m alone on a Monday or Tuesday harvest day. For the first time this season, possibly ever, we finish the entire CSA pack out by 5:00 PM on a Monday. My dad also came by and gave us a hand in the afternoon, which really sped things along. It makes me daydream and envision what would be possible if we just had two more full time farmers. After putting in a solid day’s work, we share a family meal of pork roast, baby red potatoes, sweetcorn, pan seared trout, fresh salsa, and berry smoothies. The full enjoyable day was followed by an ironic night. We had spent a good portion of the day dragging hoses and sprinklers across the farm to dry cracking gardens. The weather report wasn’t calling for rain, but it came just the same, dumping buckets of water on our recently soaked fields. It fell fast and hard, mocking our labor done in vain, on Labor Day, of all days, a day held in honor of working people. Mother Nature proves over again that she is able to do a job exponentially surpassing human labor, even if she comes in late because at the end of the day, She’s the boss.

~Joy