Cart Appreciation

Yesterday, with all of the sun, I started to feel really behind.  This is a relatively big planting week, with all of the onions and shallots needing to get into the ground, and next week is big with the leeks going in. I had a slightly abbreviated day yesterday due to some meetings in the morning, so I headed back out to the farm today. Today was actually a more conducive work day with overcast skies, and not the intense sun we had yesterday.  I'm not complaining about the sun, not even a little, but it is easier to work without it pounding down on my neck. I managed to get fennel and parsley planted, and to reseed earlier carrot and arugula seedings that had failed in the cold wet of late March (probably due to slugs).

I've got to mention this cart, once again. I still haven't made time to make a decent deck for it, but even with just a piece of plywood sitting on the rails, it's incredibly useful, and super ergonomic. It's kind of like it was made just for me. That's a joke, actually it was made just for me, and designed by me, and that's why it works the way I want it to. It definitely made me think that more small farmers should be designing their own tools, and sharing those designs that work.

Among the things I appreciate about this cart are being able to easily haul every last tool I have out to the field, being able to roll over the beds easily, the plywood deck being at a comfortable height for loading and unloading, and even better it makes a great bench for sitting in the field at lunch time (although I need to work on the canopy for sunny days). The photo above is me moving a compost pile. That load is a little more than I could fit into a large wheel barrow, and with the big cart wheels it's much easier to move. With the flat bed is was also much easier to load and unload where I wanted it. If I had taken the time to make a simple deck for the cart I think I could have hauled three times that amount. It's such a joy to work with good tools.