Yesterday I broke the kickstand on my neighbor’s trailer I borrowed. You know, that thing attached to the tongue that lifts and lowers it? I dunno, I call it a kickstand. Anyway, when I was carting out squash with the tractor, I saw that an absolutely huge pile of grass was all jammed under the trailer. Then I realized that I never put up the kickstand at all and had now bent it beyond help. So I spent a half hour pulling apart a wet haystack lodged under the trailer in the rain. The whole episode got me thinking.
I thought about the time I sideswiped the packing shed with a quackdigger, ripping off some siding. I had another tractor roll down a hill and slam into the barn wall – that one was memorable! I’ve jackknifed a plow, flail mower, and multiple trailers. Greenhouses have blown away, hydraulic hoses have shot fluid all over…well, you get the picture.
Haven’t I been doing this like 20 years? Shouldn’t these accidents and mishaps be a thing of the past? Granted, I can think of many more escapades at the begining of my farm career, but, here I am, still doing stupid things.
Reflecting on this today, I’m thinking that it doesn’t really matter. If everything were perfect, we wouldn’t have any good stories. And farm mishaps make for good stories. When we get together with other farm operators, these memories are the ones we share.
In the box:
- Satina Yellow Potatoes
- Little Red Saladnova Lettuces
- Sunshine Kabocha Squash
- Acorn Squash: I searched around this morning to find a recipe that used fresh sage to make stuffed acorn. Obviously make you own stuffing – add sausage if you’re an omnivore – but stuffed acorn really compliment the cold weather we’re heading into.
- Butternut Squash
- Fresh Sage
- Anaheim Peppers: Yes, these are hot, but not too hot.
- Shallots
- Cippolini Onions: This is my favorite onion, not just because it’s this fun flat shape, but I find that it has a really good, complex flavor.
- A Single Tomato: Yes, this is the bitter end. There was a ‘secret reserve’ row of tomatoes hidden deep in the weeds and I amazingly found 70 of them, so they made a last appearance in the boxes.
- Haralred Apples: These are a good multi-purpose apple that could be used in baking or eaten fresh.
Lida Farm 