The Farm Tool that Gets a lot Done

When you think of farm tools, what comes to mind? Hand hoes? Planters? Maybe red or green tractors? Yes, we use all those things and more at Lida Farm to raise a vegetable crop. Many farm tools and implements have a set season such as the transplanter, which gets its use in May and June and just patiently awaits next year for another round of action. However, one tool is used daily and is probably the most useful tool is one you would never think about: the iPod.

Manual laborers the world over use music to keep the day moving along. It's fairly universal. I've heard radios blasting on Manhatten construction sites and in Tijuana auto body shops alike. Some workers like my dad like the constant background annoyance of AM news. My dad might be on vacation for two weeks and you could still probably hear Sid Hartman on the radio in the garage.

Myself, I change up my music based on the needs of the day. Many a morning when I go out to do some easy chores, I listen to something chill and etherial like Gregory Alan Isakov or Jason Isbell (whom  I saw this week at Bluestem - thanks, Kelsey Wulf, for watching kids for our annual date night). General work throughout the day calls for some Grateful Dead and Ryan Adams numbers, but I have times when I really need some juice to get things done. In these instances-picture me pulling in 3,000 onions by myself or quickly cutting greens in the last 10 minutes before we have to rush off to the farmers market-I bring out some adrenaline-inducing noise: fast-paced electro-pop like Sylvan Esso, MGMT, and LCD Soundsystem or 3-chord rock n' roll like Faces and The Rolling Stones.

So, we ought to thank the soil and sunshine for good produce, but every now and then we should also give a nod to role Mick Jagger played in getting in the crop.

In the box:

1. Roma Tomatoes: Not great for fresh eating, but certainly good cooked down in a sauce
2. Cherry Tomatoes: Very good for fresh eating!
3. Watermelon: Luck of the draw variety
4. Canteloupe
5. Cippolini Onion: This is my favorite onion..has lots of flavor. It's the flat one. 
6. Sweet Onion
7. Norland Red Potatoes
8. A mix of sweet colored peppers
9. Fresh Rosemary
10. Black Spanish Radishes: You would peel the black outside of these radishes but use however you like any radish. It's cool looking. 
11. A Couple Summer Turnips: You have two types, Scarlet Queet and Harurai (white). These are great fresh with just a little salt or salt plus a vinegar. You can also add to a salad to give it some crunch.