Redland Rambles

Ever wonder how the food in your CSA share box actually gets into the box? Or how many people it takes to do it? Many steps and many hands are involved. Here’s a picture of the packing line set up in the Bee Heaven Farm barn on Friday.

Q: How many people are packing shares? See the answer below. Click on picture for larger view.

First, the items are weighed, bunched or bagged and placed in the large plastic boxes or totes. Tables are set up in a long line, with rollers along one length and totes of veggies along the other. The person on one end — in the case of this picture, on the right — takes an empty box and puts a certain amount of some particular veggie into the share box, and slides it down the line to the next person, who puts their item/s in and slides the box, and so on. The last person — in this case, all the way on the left of this picture — closes the flaps and stacks the filled boxes. One person stacks the boxes inside the reefer truck. Another person is the designated runner, and scurries around supplying empty boxes to the first packer, and replenishes totes of produce from the cooler to the packing line.

A: If you said ten, you’re wrong. The correct answer is seven. From L to R: Kenna, Jamie, Lindsey, Margie, Andrew, Muriel. Jesus is inside the truck.