September is right around the corner, so that means we’re just about ready for our third annual Harvest Sundays! If you haven’t had a chance to come out in previous years, here’s a little background, and some details about these little work parties.
Three years ago, one of our key, full-time staff members decided to quit on us, and move back to Manitoba at the end of August. While we understood that he was homesick (he was, after all, only 20 years old, and away from home for the very first time), his timing couldn’t have been worse. The company has grown a lot in the last few years, and we’d be much better able to absorb the loss of one staff member today, but back in 2011, there we were, staring at a field of vegetables needing to be harvested before heavy frost, and really wondering how we were going to get it done.
That was my first summer out at the farm, and several of my buddies from the city had been saying that they really wanted to visit, to come check out what I was doing, and where I was living, so we put the word out on social media and invited people out to help with the harvest on three consecutive Sundays. We really had no idea how many helping hands would show up, but figured that it was worth a shot!
As the old adage goes, “Many hands make light work”, and sure enough, we had around ten people (friends and family) come out on each of the three Harvest Sundays that year. Last year, we were at it again, and the number of volunteers stayed around the same; we’ve had return visitors out to help as well as several new, and having people out to harvest has been something we look forward to all year.
It’s amazing how much work can get done with enough people around to help out. The “work” day starts around 10am, and we generally have things wrapped up by 4pm, with a leisurely lunch break mid-day. Dawn, the kitchen-witch, always whips up an absolutely delicious soup or stew, and we bring in some delicious buns from our favorite bakers at market.
While we’re not able to pay this big work force, we always make sure to send you home with arm loads of freshly picked food, and the feedback on the event has been fantastic! This year, we’ll only be doing two weeks – Sunday, September 7th we’ll be tackling the Winter Squash patch (pumpkins, buttercup, and spaghetti squash), and September 14th we’ll be pulling the carrots and beets and clipping off the tops, which is a little easier on the body.
Feel free to bring your kids out – there’s plenty of room for them to run around and play, and help us spread the word! If you could please send us a quick email (sunrise-gardens@hotmail.com) to let us know that you’re coming, that’d be great – it just helps us to plan the day and make sure we’re prepping enough food to feed you well. Google maps is incorrect, so please don’t follow it – I will send you directions via email. If you are on Facebook, I will be setting up an event page, and we’ll have directions to the farm there as well. Here’s a picture of the map on the back of our business card:
We hope to see you on the 7th or the 14th! It should be a lot of fun.
~ Kate
Fiona says
September 1, 2014 at 3:38 AMLogan and I will be there on the 14th. We can hardly wait! Directions and a map would definitely help 🙂