In Which Alison Spends The Day On A Tractor

Hey everyone!

My first full day on the farm was spent mostly on the top of a red Farmall tractor, going back and forth over the northwestern fields. I tilled up five rows for pumpkins, tilled over the bok choi which had gone to seed, tilled up part of the field which had been messed up by a new irrigation line, tilled rows for radishes, and then got on another tractor which pulled something everyone calls a "reegi" (no idea what that stands for) that has someone sitting on top of it managing two prongs which till around the plants in a row.

So, in short, LOTS of tilling! But it was really fun, and I got really dirty!

After tilling, which took all morning and most of the afternoon, I headed to Fergus with Mark, Bill and Stu to put up the tent which our vegetable stand will be under. What a heck of a pain those tents are! All the pieces look the same, but only go ONE way in ONE spot. But we got it done, and the stand starts selling tomorrow.

Then, back home to the farm and dinner in the boy's house (the 7 boys live in a small, run-down house right next to the main house) where Bill and I made tortillas and venison with onions and peppers, and Ernest (who's from Ghana) made us a dish from home he called "rice balls and groundnut (aka peanut) soup." I was stuffed with deliciousness!

And now I suppose I'd better say something about the people I'm working here with. So far we have:
Jenny - My roommate, short, long hair, kind of awkward but knowledgeable and nice.
Stu - Rather punk-ish dude who's always smiling and being happy.
Bill - A bit quieter than Stu (they're cousins), more down to earth and knows about hunting and getting wild food.
Ernest - Tall, from Ghana, very cool accent, makes wicked rice balls.
Ramon - From Peru, pretty quiet so far but fun to speak Spanish with. For some reason Mark (boss-man) has trouble remembering Ramon's name, and tends to call him Raymond, to our great amusement.
Alejandro - From Ecuador, a bit louder and funny, loves to goof around with Ernest. And again, Mark has trouble with Alejandro's name and tends to call him Jackson. No one has any idea why.
Mike - VERY quiet and shy. I don't know much about him yet!
Zach - Lives in Fergus, so I haven't interacted with him as much, but he seems nice, despite his habit of spitting tobacco juice all over.

So there's everyone, for now. We're still expecting one more girl.

Things that I love about farming so far:
-Being outside ALL DAY!
-Getting dirty (and then getting clean at the end of the day)
-Feeling like I did something useful with my day
-Being tired, full and happy before bedtime
-Being around animals
-Seeing people being excited about organic produce
-Eating food that I helped grow (yeah, I know, it's only the second day, but this lettuce is great!)

Things about farming that I could live without:
-Getting sunburnt in strange places (my SHINS, for crying out loud!)
-Having a million mosquitoes in our basement
-Having chapped lips all day and not wanting to put on chapstick 'cause I'm filthy

Anyway, things are going great! I'm still learning and it feels like I'm going slower than everyone else, but I'll catch up. I suggested a new idea for getting the young chickens in at night and we're going to try it, so I'll let you know if it works out!