Farming can be beautiful, too

When the subject of art was suggested as our theme, I drew a blank.  I don’t consider myself to be a particularly artsy person.  I like things that are practical, tangible, down to earth.  I like climbing mountains, not trying to paint them or put them into words.  I associate art with being ambiguous, superfluous, or I just don’t get it.  But farming can be considered an art, and it is none of these things.  I like farm-art because it’s such physical work to provide a tangible and necessary, yet beautiful product.  Farming has purpose and meaning, because people need good food.  There are so many variables and challenges, and so many ways to creatively navigate around them. 

Farming is an art on many levels.  Throughout the season, my boss carefully plans the crop choices and planting dates to make sure we have produce to sell consistently throughout the seasons.  Weekly, she coordinates each harvest day (Tuesdays for Wednesday night market, and Friday for weekend markets) for what to harvest depending on what is ripe.  This is challenging because sometimes there's too much ready at once, or sometimes it goes to seed too soon, or gets hit with mould or eaten by rabbits and voles.  And for each harvest day, she has to account for the limited hours in a day and space in the cooler. 

Presentation at farmer's markets is also an important part of how we farm.  The way we harvest, pack, store, and present the produce influences the success of our sales more than I ever thought.  People like to buy beautiful produce, so we add edible flowers to the salad mix for vibrant colour, we keep the carrot tops on the carrots because they look fresher, and we put lots of effort into the display of the whole stall. 

My job is in the field, to make sure the beet bunches aren’t too big or too small, and that no wilted lettuce gets in the salad mix. 

Here is the art of what I do: a cart load o' carrots, just hauled in from the field waiting to be washed and packed.