Harvesting Life at Restoration Farm

The morning dawns through silver mist at Restoration Farm.   Before the sun has burned through and stretched into the sky, human hands are already harvesting cabbage and kale, and counting sweet potatoes and butternut squash to divided among members.  It is the final spurt of growth.  Shortly, the 2012 growing season will draw to a close.  

The annual growing season passes all too quickly.   While the fields burst with life, the season feels timeless.  And then, it is done.   At the end, we fondly remember the meals, the beauty and flavor of freshly picked vegetables, the friendships, the conversations, the successes, the mishaps and the life that happened along the way.  

As is my custom on this day, I set out into the fields for a final look.   Steam rises off manure that sits in wait to nourish the soil. 

Some of those hills of “fertilizer” are already sprouting new life.

Up above Williams Field, I encounter Jay Mussman and George Garbarini doing clean up chores.     George has discovered dozens of overlooked flat beans still growing on the vines.  Even though the calendar says the growing season has concluded, there is still plenty of life to be harvested in the fields.  

Jay calls down to Dan Holmes to bring baskets for harvesting the beans.  We snack on handfuls right in the field.  The fresh, crisp taste is incredibly sweet.   Somehow that brief moment – sharing fresh beans in the dew-soaked field – stays in my memory more vividly than most of the events of the past week.  

At the distribution tent, Leslie Steinman places an overstuffed bucket of emerald green kale on the table.  

Even as the farm anticipates a brief time of slumber, the bounty is staggering.   There are rows of butternut squash and Long Island cheese pumpkins.

And, for the first time, gorgeous full heads of broccoli.  

My friend Maria weighs out five pounds of sweet potatoes.

Hearty root vegetables abound.  

And as always, there is crisp, lively lettuce to delight the palate. 

The distribution tent is always a hub of activity and conversation. 

Saturday distribution manager Susan Salem is braiding garlic with Ada.

Glenn Aldridge is gearing up to head into the fields.   He’s trying out a new pair of rubber boots to keep the feet dry.

I linger to drink it all in.  Farming, food and friendships.  That is the stuff of life at Restoration Farm.

It even seems that the dahlias are drenched in color to celebrate another successful season.  

Just for the moment, the cycle of life at Restoration Farm is complete.  

We look forward to the harvest celebrations to come, and then – after a brief rest – the time to sow seeds again, creating new life.  

 (Note:  The final pickup at the farm for the season occurred before the arrival of Hurricane Sandy.  Reliable sources tell me the farm successfully weathered the storm.)

©2012 T.W. Barritt All Rights Reserved