Farm Happenings at Pleasant Hill Produce
Back to Farm Happenings at Pleasant Hill Produce

What does farmer Ben do in the winter?

Posted on December 30th, 2019 by Ben Sayler

Happy New Year!

Ben is always asked what he does during the winter. As you know, this year he continues farming and grows crops for your CSA share! This involves maintaining temperatures by removing and adding covers to crops as the weather fluctuates, watering, weeding, and harvesting and packing your share. Two of our helpers, Brady and Hannah work with Ben to harvest and pack for CSA day. Taking care of the chickens is a daily chore. We let them out of the coop in the morning, collect, wash, and pack eggs, make sure they have a constant supply of fresh water and food, and lock them back into the coop at dusk. Winter is also a time to plan and prepare for next year. The farm is ever-evolving and it takes about 2 weeks to plan for our next season. 

Off of the farm, Farmer Ben has been busy with home improvements and spending time with family. During the busy season, there is very little time to do anything but work. This month he has painted several rooms, pressure washed the porch, house, and chicken coop, installed new light fixtures, door and cabinet hardwood, kitchen faucet, repaired furnace (twice!), set up a fish tank, and lots of tidying up! As a family, we have time for hiking, playing, and enjoying almost every meal with each other. He has time to cook, clean, and help with chores that Heather mostly handles during the main growing season. Our kids love having Dad around more in the winter.