It may not quite be Summer yet but the way things heated up this past week, everyone here on the farm certainly got a taste of what is to come. Luckily, this coming week though warm will surely be a relief from the temps we had. Despite the hot weather we kept on moving along in expert fashion, starting the week off with the often exciting sometimes frightening task of recovering a high tunnel. Though we did promise pics, the fear we would jinx ourselves by recording the process won the day and you will have to settle for an written account. As one can imagine we start the process with removing the old plastic, easy enough, next you take positions. The new plastic is placed on a large metal bar and positioned on one of the end wall or shorter sides of the tunnels, supported so it can be unrolled. Two people grab the sides of the plastic to pull it the length of the house, one person(usually Joel) is on a ladder at the peak to push the plastic over the top as it is pulled, two more help to unroll the plastic smoothly and one more person to walk through the tunnel and using a long tool keep the plastic from getting caught as it crosses the peak of each hoop. Sounds simply enough and it can in fact be. But a few things like how actually heavy the plastic is and potentially strong gusts of wind can turn and easy task into a gut wrenching affair. On this particular day things did in fact go quite smoothly and we were able to pull the plastic over the span of the tunnel easily. A few adjustments to make sure the plastic was square and it was time to begin wiggle wiring the plastic to the structure. Then came the wind and quite a few large gusts at that. So just imagine, six people, two on ladders holding onto a 100 by 40 foot piece of heavy plastic draped over a high tunnel and the wind begins to blow. At that point there isn’t much else you can do but hold on and hope. And you better believe that is what we did. As a fierce wind blew for probably minutes that seemed like hours we desperately clung to our individual portions of the plastic, dreading that any second the whole thing would go flying and the day would be lost. Alas it was not and we stood strong, the wind calmed down, we were able to secure the plastic and not even one piece of patch tape was needed. We’ll mark this down as an exciting and successful day.
Speaking of exciting and successful yesterday was the opening day for our last market of the season to begin, the Chester Sunday Market. This is the newest market for us here at SLG and we are in fact one of the newest vendors there. Over the past few years we have been getting to know the Good Food People of this market and we are proud to say they have been getting to know us and our food too. This was very apparent about 20 minutes before the opening of the market as fans of food and flowers began to line up at our tent just waiting for J and J to be all set up and begin to sell. From the moment we opened it was a whirlwind of bouquets, fresh produce and friendly faces for the first couple hours, so busy in fact that Joel wasn’t able to get a coffee until sometime after 12:00 something nearly unheard of. Despite the lack of caffeine it was a tremendous day and we felt welcomed back with open arms and hearts.
If you know SLG gardens chances are it is from a market and chances are you know how much we love doing them. Don’t get us wrong it is a lot especially at the end of a long week. We load, unload, set up and repeat 3 days in a row, but it is also a unique opportunity to connect with people and communities over the power of Good Food. With Market Season now in full swing you have 3 days a week where you can find Star Light at a Market. Fridays you can come see us on the farm in Middlefield or at the Madison Farmer’s Market from 3-6pm. Saturdays(12 months a year) we are in New Haven every morning from 9-1. And now we are back at the Chester Sunday Market from 10-1 every Sunday running through early October. If you hadn’t had a chance to get out to one of these markets with the Summer about to officially start there isn’t a better time than now and the coming months. Heck maybe even make it a point to explore each market and discover the unique Good Food happenings each one has to offer.
Have a Great Week