Bins and Modules.

You know harvest is approaching when you see the bins:

• Fresh wooden container bins are stacked on a flatbed semi. You know they are headed towards the table grape vineyards in the southern San Joaquin Valley because of the long, unpronounceable, Armenian name hand-stenciled on the side.
• Dull-red, grape bins sitting alongside a wine grape vineyard with a “harvest bins for rent” sign.

And then, there are the white marshmallow cream puffs anchored with tarps are this year’s cotton modules that line a farm to market road.

Another year is over. Good, bad, or indifferent – the growers must now account to their bankers, packers, retailers, and customers. Then, they start lining up their credit and resources for a new year. For some, they will celebrate and the cycle will continue. For others, it will not.

For many, they will question why they go on – but, they can’t help themselves. They must farm like an artist must paint. It is inherent. It is who they are.