Three weekends done, three to go
Oct. 13th, 2025 08:56 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
unicorndukeThe time says halfway done, the difficulty is not yet done. The busiest and hardest weekend is next. The last two are a breeze in comparison. But all the workers are now trained up, we got all of our systems down. We have ten group outings on Saturday. Also this week, lots of daytime outings. I want to get all the pumpkins harvested this week. We had a 27 degree frost last week and most of the pumpkins survived in the field, we hadn't covered it like fools. I know it's a five degree swing from predicted but we hadn't had those large swings in the past few weeks. I suspect it has to do with the dew point.
We did get all the sensitive things harvested and out of the field and under cover at least. Including this absurd thing we grew:
That's a bushel gourd we planted and then stopped watering during one of the dry periods because it hadn't set any fruit at that point. And then we found this a few weeks ago. It is at least 100lbs since they aren't hollow like pumpkins and I sent my two workers to fetch it and they could barely get it rolled onto the pallet. I picked up the little one to move it under the tarp the other night and it was easy 50 lbs. We only have these two, not a single clue what to do with them. Sell them I guess, but who can get this thing out of their vehicle!
It is raining today, which is a minor blessing. I definitely can't harvest pumpkins in the rain, the bins will get wet :) I'm sore all over anyway, even my hands. Although now that I think about it, I was cutting cornstalks yesterday morning and that's hard on the body (my pace was 30 bundles in 30 mins, I'd be faster if there wasn't multiple tillers on the corn and we had actual nice cornstalk cutters). There was several points yesterday where I gave up on finding things for my employees to work on and just told them to carve a pumpkin and stop following me around like little ducklings asking for tasks. It was quieter than we would have liked for a busy weekend, but better than a rainy day, so I was happy enough. There was a couple points where I just put my head in my hands and contemplated why I was doing this, but I suspect that was due to the headache I was developing. By the time the very last group left around 9:30, I was relying heavily on my automatic reflexes to make change although at one point, I failed to remember how much a cider actually cost which I have super memorized.
I slept until 8 this morning and am definitely still tired. Taking over means my parents get a lot more breaks. My aunt hosted a little gathering at her place last night, my dad said, definitely go over, I'll cover for you, and then was pinging me within 20 minutes about stuff so I had to leave. My grandpa and his partner wanted to talk to me about some things they want to give me and I was not at my best for that conversation. My dad had gone over for an hour earlier in the day. My mom spent all afternoon there. I know that's why I'm doing this in part, so they can step back but also I need to hire someone full time. This isn't possible without another person at least. I can barely remember to make the facebook posts each day. I am writing many lists in my phone, one of all the things we are harvesting, one of all the things to change and improve for next year, one for things I want to hire someone to do.
I'm going to take a nap today. Before we got too busy, I actually got very close to the end of the warp I'm weaving. I now need to think if I'll put a new one on before it would need to move into the house in December or if I think I can warp and weave quickly enough to get it off before that since I need to partially disassemble the loom to move it. I want to try something new with the end of the current warp and the start of a new one, tying it on so I don't need to re-thread the loom. That is a lot to contemplate right now. I need to run and pick up a prescription from town, so I
guess i should do that. maybe get a little treat from the grocery store.
We did get all the sensitive things harvested and out of the field and under cover at least. Including this absurd thing we grew:
That's a bushel gourd we planted and then stopped watering during one of the dry periods because it hadn't set any fruit at that point. And then we found this a few weeks ago. It is at least 100lbs since they aren't hollow like pumpkins and I sent my two workers to fetch it and they could barely get it rolled onto the pallet. I picked up the little one to move it under the tarp the other night and it was easy 50 lbs. We only have these two, not a single clue what to do with them. Sell them I guess, but who can get this thing out of their vehicle!
It is raining today, which is a minor blessing. I definitely can't harvest pumpkins in the rain, the bins will get wet :) I'm sore all over anyway, even my hands. Although now that I think about it, I was cutting cornstalks yesterday morning and that's hard on the body (my pace was 30 bundles in 30 mins, I'd be faster if there wasn't multiple tillers on the corn and we had actual nice cornstalk cutters). There was several points yesterday where I gave up on finding things for my employees to work on and just told them to carve a pumpkin and stop following me around like little ducklings asking for tasks. It was quieter than we would have liked for a busy weekend, but better than a rainy day, so I was happy enough. There was a couple points where I just put my head in my hands and contemplated why I was doing this, but I suspect that was due to the headache I was developing. By the time the very last group left around 9:30, I was relying heavily on my automatic reflexes to make change although at one point, I failed to remember how much a cider actually cost which I have super memorized.
I slept until 8 this morning and am definitely still tired. Taking over means my parents get a lot more breaks. My aunt hosted a little gathering at her place last night, my dad said, definitely go over, I'll cover for you, and then was pinging me within 20 minutes about stuff so I had to leave. My grandpa and his partner wanted to talk to me about some things they want to give me and I was not at my best for that conversation. My dad had gone over for an hour earlier in the day. My mom spent all afternoon there. I know that's why I'm doing this in part, so they can step back but also I need to hire someone full time. This isn't possible without another person at least. I can barely remember to make the facebook posts each day. I am writing many lists in my phone, one of all the things we are harvesting, one of all the things to change and improve for next year, one for things I want to hire someone to do.
I'm going to take a nap today. Before we got too busy, I actually got very close to the end of the warp I'm weaving. I now need to think if I'll put a new one on before it would need to move into the house in December or if I think I can warp and weave quickly enough to get it off before that since I need to partially disassemble the loom to move it. I want to try something new with the end of the current warp and the start of a new one, tying it on so I don't need to re-thread the loom. That is a lot to contemplate right now. I need to run and pick up a prescription from town, so I
guess i should do that. maybe get a little treat from the grocery store.
no subject
Date: 2025-10-13 11:26 pm (UTC)Bushel gourds, so far as I understand it, get put somewhere to dry and if they don't explode you can make something basket-y out of them. I suspect they're both much lighter and more valuable when dry.
Not surprised you're sore and yay! naps. (Also absolute best of luck in finding a full-timer.)