Sweet Corn Season

August 4th - Today was a challenge right from 6 am. This is the first time we have ever had to perform mechanics, swap the whole load from one van to another and still take off by 8 am to make the delivery to 12 stops throughout the city. Yesterday we had a dilemma, do we fix the big brown van's alternator and fan belt or fix the white van's wheel bearing and be confident enough to drive to NYC without much of a test drive? We chose the big brown van even though the load was smaller than usual and gave it a test drive around the farm roads but I guess the drive was not far enough. This morning by 6:15 Alan and Colin were in the van all packed up and ready to go! After a few miles they decided to turn around and not risk the journey. They got here, made a phone call to the NAPA parts store (who opened early for them) and Colin dashed off to get the wheel bearing repair kit. In the meantime Alan and I took off all the boxes, bags, eggs, route sheets, lunches and beverages for the day and packed them back in the white van, hoping that the repair would go smoothly. Miraculously, Colin pulled it off without any bashed knuckles in a very short time. They were off by 8:30 when they intended to leave by 6:30.

Once they were off, then I finally could focus on the day's activities here. The herd check went smoothly with Lawrence the calf finally drinking a bottle this morning. For the last 3 feedings he was not hungry and I was thrilled to think that a sympathetic cow had taken him on besides her own calf and was letting him drink. This morning seeing him be thirsty makes me wonder but we'll just keep checking on him with bottles to spare twice daily and see what happens next.
Without our farm help this week, I am here holding down the fort. This letter will be short today so I can head out to feed the pigs, check the herd in their new pasture and find Lawrence again. Hope you are enjoying the nice weather between the storms and hoping for a real windup to the summer.

Take care, Nancy