What my typical week looks like at this time of the year

CSA days: Mondays and Thursdays

6:15        Wake up

6:30        Have coffee

6:45        Get pails and other things ready for milking

7:30        Milk Opal

8:00        Cool and store milk. Clean up milking pails. Eat breakfast.

8:30        Go outside to start harvesting / preparing vegetables for the CSA. I often work with one or both kids.

11:30     Cook for lunch, unless Sena does, in which case I just continue working outside.

12:00     Eat lunch as a family

12:30     Finish preparing vegetables for sale. Set up the sale/display area.

3:00       CSA begins. Help customers, keep display area restocked, keep everything running.

5-ish      Grab a quick bite (by this time I usually feel like I am ready to pass out from hunger).

5:30       Leave the CSA with Ed or the kids to go and put Olive in her pen for the night, give the cows water and treats (chard, kale, carrots, cucumbers or whatever other seconds we have around, plus some grain for Opal). Close the greenhouse. If Ed does this, then I stay at the CSA.

7:00      CSA ends. We close the sales area and start cleaning / putting away stuff.

8:15      Eat. Do tick check on Sena and Aiyana. Put them to bed.

9:00      Crash into bed and read if I have any energy left.

9:15      Done.

Non-CSA days: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays

6:15        Wake up

6:30        Coffee

6:45        Get treats for Opal and supplies ready for milking

7:30        Milk Opal

8:00        Cool and store milk. Eat breakfast.

8:30        Clean kitchen. Talk to Sena and Aiyana about their plans for the day, and any chores they have.

9:00       Farm work. Computer work – crop data; CSA planning and emails; Once in a while I drive the kids to activities or playdates.

11:00     Cook

12:00     Eat Lunch

12:30     Farm work. Cook / food preservation. Some combination of the following: Talk about outstanding farm issues with Ed. Drive kids to activities or playdates.

5-ish       Dinner

5:30        Put Olive in her pen for the night, bring water and treats to the cows. Close the greenhouse. Sometimes if Ed is at karate with Sena and Aiayana, I take a little time to write in my blog, sit with the cows, or just sit on the porch and look at the field and the trees. Just to be alone, in silence.

6:00        Clean up after dinner.

7:00        Family tick check. Read or do something relaxing with the kids.

8:15        Put Sena and Aiyana to bed.

8:30        Read in bed

9:30        Out.

Sunday is our “family day”, which means that we try to just be together and do fun/relaxing things as a family. There’s still cooking, and some farm work, but we really try to keep that in check so that it does not take over the whole day.

This is a typical week for me at this time of the year. Ed, Sena or Aiyana’s week would not look the same, as we all have our individual, different  tasks. Also, things would look quite different at another time of year, like in the winter, when homeschooling becomes a big time commitment, and the CSA is not operating.

As you see, I don’t get out much. I spend less than one hour per week in the car, and I like it that way. I have plenty to entertain myself with right here. Ten years ago, my week looked very different. Ten years from now, who knows?

Peace