Last year, Katie asked me, ​“Mom, when Joe and I are at school, what is your favorite day of the week?” (Her favorite day: PE-and-Music-with-Michael- and-Josie day.) I thought a little. ​“Wednes­day, defi­nitely, Wednes­day.” On Wednes­days, Maki Lou and I had been routinely catch­ing up on chores at the farm. We’d go down after drop­ping off the kids and dig up some beds, pull weeds, tangle with the black­ber­ries — what­ever needed doing. It might seem strange to pick a day of some­times hard manual labor as a favorite, but I love spend­ing time outdoors, working with a friend, talking, some­times not talking… the peace­ful cama­raderie can calm and soothe your soul. And there are so few things in the world that you can fix or make better, but in an hour or two, you can turn a weedy plot into something beautiful.

A few more parents (and grand­par­ents) started to join us, so this year we are making Wednes­day an offi­cial, open work day. From nine till around one, we’ll be at the farm — come on down if you like, for some fresh air, an upper body work out, and some free and highly effec­tive therapy. (Not to mention work hours!)

–Barbara Ayers, Waverly Organic Farm Coordinator