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TL;DR

Today we harvested kale, beets, carrots, and tatsoi. I brought the last of the storage onions up to the garage for distribution in the last week of the CSA and in the general store, opening at the end of the week.

We also had first snowfall of the season, albeit just a few flakes but after a windy and cold day, it was like a deserved special moment.

Bunching Kale in the Cold

No matter how much I want and often try to like kale, I just don’t. I understand it’s a super-food, I know how well it produces almost all throughout the season (except for a few hot months), but I just can’t get past the extremely grassy flavor. I feel like a cow when I eat any kind of kale. I’ve baked it into chips, dehydrated it, stir-fried it. The only way I can tolerate it is to cover it in sausage soup.

Generally, harvesting it is pretty easy compared to other activities around the farm, but on an extremely cold and windy day such as today, it was not a great experience. At one point, I couldn’t feel anything in my fingers for real and it took a while to get my hands back to normal working order. This on the day that I couldn’t find one of my gloves before leaving, but later in the day I found it stuck to velcro in the jacket I was wearing.

The Right Gear for Four Seasons

New England farming requires the right gear, no matter how hardcore some go about it. When you’re relatively new to the work, you buy and/or bring the wrong stuff…or at least undershooting or over-shooting what gear was actually needed. I find that layers are important, duplicates help, and minimizing what you carry in your pockets is best. Every so often, an extra pair of gloves comes in so nice.

Pulling beets and carrots later in the day wasn’t as bad but still muddy. In the back of my car after lunch, I found an old pair of fingerless gloves that my wife knit for me many years ago. I put those on for carrot harvesting and it worked out better than I thought it would. Still, very cold, but manageable with blood flowing through most of the rest of my hands.

When someone else on the crew, staff or volunteer, brings some new piece of gear, it’s always good to watch how it works out for them. There have only been one or two times where not having the right gear for the conditions put me in a low mood, but even then, you just have to make it work and hopefully have backup pairs of clothes for when the time comes that they’re needed.

Don’t Resent the Special Snowflakes

It would feel wrong to resent the snowflakes falling at the end of the day today, after a long and very cold day of work. It’s a reminder that even in tough times, there is still beauty and wonder to be found. Despite my teenage resentment of snow and winter, I have come to appreciate the change of seasons and that which won’t last for very long.

Likewise, thinking back on various parts of my career, certain circumstances and colleagues, I think any resentment towards the less savory ones has faded over time. ‘Special snowflakes’, as I once overheard someone refer to an intern, is a worse indicator of the poor mentality of the person using the term than the subject of the ridicule. It demonstrates an inability to empathize while also maintaining a sense of control over the behaviors of the person being ridiculed.

People will be who they are, whether they chose personal growth and improvement or not. It’s up to you to choose how you respond to them. Their special rain gear or vocal concerns about disparaging comments in a corporate setting may just be where they are on a journey, and ridiculing this only shows how immature and unable to lead you are. Best to just get the work done, not get caught up in drama, and look to the bigger picture for what’s next.

AI Summary from Field Notes

There were a few things I had to work on today, namely the detailed budget spreadsheet for my Farm Business Planning class tonight, so I don’t have time to expound on some things I was thinking about related to these automated summaries.

However, this winter I plan to run the same voice note transcriptions through multiple LLMs and retroactively publish the differences per each blog to highlight some of the issues I’ve experienced in the past. Along with the source notes (personally checked for accuracy and privacy), this should help in training a custom model for organic farming as I’ve mentioned is on my roadmap for a while now. For today, the daily summary is as follows:

Summary

Okay, I need to take the provided document and create a consolidated summary of the main themes, activities, new things, questions, and suggestions. Let me start by going through the original text carefully. First, the main themes. The user mentioned cold weather, harvesting and storage, bin cleaning and sorting, teamwork, preparation for distribution, and observations of plant growth. I should check if these are all covered in the original document. Yes, the cold weather is definitely a main theme, as well as the activities related to harvesting, storage, and teamwork. The observation of plant growth and the role of nature as an outdoor refrigerator are also there. Next, the activities performed by the intern. The original lists washing bins, sorting produce, harvesting various vegetables, storage, preparation for distribution, team tasks like pulling beads, and observations. I need to make sure all these are included in the summary. The activities seem to be well covered. New things not yet encountered include beads, the new tatsoi harvesting method, and cold soil dynamics. The original mentions these, so that's covered. Questions and future research areas are about the purpose of beads, cold weather's impact on soil and plants, the reason for the new tatsoi method, soil type in cold weather, and sunlight's effect. These are all there. Suggestions include clarifying beads, monitoring soil, documenting harvesting methods, collaborating with Essex, and weather planning. The original has these points. Now, I need to make sure that the summary is concise but includes all the key points without redundancy. Let me check if any of the themes, activities, etc., are missing or if there's overlap. For example, the cold weather is part of both themes and the activities. But in the summary, it's better to have them as separate sections. Also, the new things are distinct from the activities, so that's okay. I should ensure that each section is clearly labeled and that the information is accurate. The user wants a final, consolidated summary, so I need to avoid repetition and present the information in a structured way. Let me check each section again to make sure nothing is missed. The original document's summary is quite detailed, so I need to condense it into a clear, organized summary without losing any essential points.

Consolidated Summary

Main Themes

Cold Weather Impact: The day was cold (mid-30s) with limited sunlight, affecting work efficiency and soil conditions.
Harvesting & Storage: Harvesting kale, carrots, onions, and tatsoi, followed by sorting, storing, and preparing produce for distribution.
Bin Cleaning & Sorting: Cleaning bins, organizing produce (peppers, onions, tatsoi), and consolidating storage.
Teamwork: Collaborating with others (e.g., “other person,” group pulling beads) and coordinating with the Essex distribution team.
Preparation for Distribution: Packaging peppers and loading the van for the Essex store.
Plant Observations: Noting slowed plant growth, soil characteristics (mucky clay loam), and the role of cold weather as a “natural refrigerator.”

Key Activities

Washed and organized bins for storage.
Harvested and sorted various crops (kale, carrots, onions, tatsoi).
Prepared produce for distribution to the Essex store.
Participated in group tasks (e.g., “beads” activity) and observed soil conditions.

New Things Identified

Beads: Unclear purpose of the group activity involving beads.
Tatsoi Harvesting Method: New approach of harvesting whole tatsoi plants instead of traditional loose-leaf method.
Soil Dynamics: Clay loam soil’s response to cold weather (e.g., mucky but not soaking).

Key Questions

What is the purpose of the “beads” activity?
How does cold weather affect soil moisture, plant growth, and clay loam conditions?
Why is the new tatsoi harvesting method being used?
How does limited sunlight impact farm operations and plant growth?

Suggested Actions

Clarify Beads Task: Investigate the role of the beads activity in the farm’s workflow.
Monitor Soil Conditions: Track soil moisture and temperature in clay loam under cold conditions.
Document Harvesting Methods: Record the rationale for the new tatsoi harvesting method.
Collaborate with Essex Team: Clarify distribution processes and the store’s role in the supply chain.
Weather-Resilience Planning: Develop strategies to mitigate cold weather impacts (e.g., crop protection, schedule adjustments).

This summary integrates the original document’s insights into a structured, concise format, highlighting critical themes, activities, and actionable next steps.

Part 1

Okay, let's tackle this query. The user provided a transcript of field notes from a farm intern and wants me to identify main themes, list activities, new things, questions, and suggestions. First, I need to parse the text carefully. The intern is describing their day on a farm, starting with the weather, then the tasks they did. Let me break it down. Main themes: The day is cold, the intern worked on cleaning bins, sorting produce, harvesting onions, carrots, and tatsoi, storing onions, and preparing for distribution. Also, there's mention of teamwork and some new things like beads. Activities: The intern sorted bins, washed and cleaned bins, sorted onions, stored onions, harvested carrots, sorted peppers, harvested tatsoi, delivered peppers, loaded the van, and took pictures for the store. New things: Beads, which the intern mentions they pulled together as a group, and the new method of harvesting tatsoi by taking whole plants. Also, the cold weather affecting work, and the storage of onions. Questions: The intern might be wondering why the sun wasn't out, how the cold affects soil, or why the tatsoi is being harvested this way. Also, the mention of beads could be a new thing they need to research. Suggestions: The intern might need to check on the beads, maybe how they are used or their purpose. Also, the cold weather's impact on soil and plants could be a future area to research. I need to make sure I didn't miss any details. Let me check again. The intern also mentions the cold weather affecting their hands, the storage of onions, the harvesting methods for different vegetables, and the distribution to Essex. The new things are beads and the tatsoi harvesting method. The questions are about the cold weather's effect, the beads, and the tatsoi method. Suggestions would be to investigate the beads and the cold's impact on the soil and plants.

Main Themes

Cold Weather Conditions: The day was extremely cold (mid to low 30s), with limited sunlight, affecting work and the farm’s operations.
Harvesting and Storage: Harvesting of kale, carrots, and onions, followed by storage and sorting of produce.
Bin Cleaning and Sorting: Cleaning bins, sorting produce (peppers, onions, tatsoi), and consolidating storage.
Teamwork and Collaboration: Working with others (e.g., the “other person,” the group pulling beads) and coordinating with the Essex distribution team.
Preparation for Distribution: Preparing peppers for the Essex store, including packaging and loading.
Observations of Plant Growth: Noting the slowdown in plant growth (e.g., kale, brassica greens) and the role of “nature” as an outdoor refrigerator.

Activities Performed by the Intern

Washing and Cleaning Bins: Assisted in cleaning bins for storage, with help from another person.
Sorting Produce: Sorted onions, peppers, and tatsoi, ensuring only high-quality produce was used.
Harvesting: Collected kale, carrots, and tatsoi. Harvested onions from the previous day.
Storage: Stored 13,500 onion transplants and harvested onions in the garage.
Preparation for Distribution: Delivered peppers and loaded the van.
Team Tasks: Helped a group “pull beads” (purpose unclear) and consolidated bins.
Observations: Noted the cold weather’s impact on soil (mucky, clay loam), plant growth, and the sun’s limited visibility.

New Things Not Yet Encountered

Beads: The intern mentions pulling “beads” as a group, but the purpose or context is unclear.
Tatsoi Harvesting Method: A new approach of harvesting whole tatsoi plants (with roots and leaves) instead of loose leaves.
Cold Soil Dynamics: The intern observed how cold soil (clay loam) retains moisture but doesn’t soak through, which may be a new or less understood phenomenon.

Questions and Future Areas of Research

Purpose of “Beads”: What are the beads, and what is their role in the farm’s operations?
Cold Weather Impact: How does the cold weather affect soil moisture and plant growth (e.g., why is the soil “mucky” but not soaking)?
Tatsoi Harvesting Method: Why is the new method of harvesting whole tatsoi plants being used instead of traditional loose-leaf harvesting?
Soil Type and Cold Weather: How does the clay loam soil respond to cold temperatures, and what are the implications for future farming?
Sunlight and Plant Growth: Why is the sun’s visibility limited, and how does this affect plant growth and farm operations?

Suggestions for Further Action

Clarify the “Beads” Task: Investigate the purpose of the group activity involving beads to understand its role in the farm’s workflow.
Monitor Soil Conditions: Track soil moisture and temperature in clay loam under cold conditions to assess long-term effects on crops.
Document Harvesting Methods: Record the rationale for the new tatsoi harvesting method to ensure consistency and optimize yield.
Collaborate with Essex Team: Clarify the distribution process and the role of the store in the farm’s supply chain.
Weather-Related Planning: Develop strategies to mitigate the effects of cold weather on farm operations, such as protecting crops or adjusting work schedules.

November 11th - Don't Resent the Special Snowflakes