Reported by Adora Xiao
On July 19 and 23, AYLUS Greater Temecula Valley members Adora Xiao (6 hrs) and Jessica Lu (6 1/2 hrs) lent a hand to a local farm.
They started with zucchini, as per usual, quickly clearing the rows before hauling them back to the station. Since the summer months were winding down, members found that the season was passing and the plants were dying. They then moved to weed the onions, which seemed to have less weeds than usual. However, the weeds ran wild in the carrots, and members pulled weeds next to the crops and raked the ones in the pathways. After weeding, they returned to the station to make boxes, which would be used to store the harvested produce. They ended the day by weeding the watermelon area, moving the plants so the walkway would not be overgrown.
On Saturday, members cleared the zucchini quickly, before moving to help out with the watermelons. The watermelons were plentiful, and members loaded them onto trucks for transport. After, they started on the weeding. They saw weeds had grown more over in the onion rows so they spent more time there. Some weeds had grown right next to the onions so they had to use their hands to put the whole thing out (including the roots so they won’t grow back). Then, the members picked cucumbers and had to use 2-3 buckets for each row! The cucumbers looked really ripe and were pretty big. They carried the buckets down to the main station after and took a quick water break since it was getting hot. Then, members started with packing boxes and making bags. The best produce was selected to go into them, and boxes and bags were stacked to be delivered or sold to the community.
