Rachel Covault, Packing Shed
Rachel Covault was born and raised in Waukesha, WI, and attended the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. Since February 2013 she has been the packing shed assistant at Nash’s Organic Produce. She keeps the packing shed organized and running smoothly. This means making sure the correct produce gets to the people who ordered it, i.e., Nash’s Farm Store, the farmers markets, other grocery stores, restaurants, and wholesalers. She also makes sure the marketeers have what they need for their farmers markets, maintains the cleanliness of the packing shed, organizes the cooler, and does lots of special projects, like managing the Recipe Blog on the Farm’s website or jumping in on the harvest crew for big orders.
“I sort of think of myself as the traffic cop in the packing shed,” Rachel laughs. “Someone has to make sure the orders go to the correct places, and that the shed is organized so that there is a definite flow.” A good example of that is the shed cooler. “There’s a very limited amount of space in there,” she explains. “Sometimes we joke that on Fridays, when all the markets and special orders have to be ready and in the cooler in a specific order, it’s our own game of Cooler Tetrus!”
Rachel is also helping the farm to mill flour and has become pretty adept operating the new grain mill that the farm purchased from the now-closed Bell Street Bakery. When needed, she joins the harvest crew, and twice a month she helps at farmers markets. “I like markets because they are the best place to find out how our customers are feeling, what they want, and how best to market to their needs.”
In her spare time, Rachel likes to hike and is a member and volunteer with the Washington Trails Association to help maintain our local hiking trails in the Olympics. If she’s not at a farmers market, you can find her high up in the Olympic Mountains, taking beautiful photos!