Sleepy Time

I sit down at night and want to write all about my farm days, but I'm just too exhausted to make any coherent sense!

So here are the most important details as of late:

-I convinced Mark that the industrial Cornish Cross chickens we have right now are worthless and WAY more trouble than they're worth, and so we've ordered new, more sustainable, heritage chickens for our next batch in July! I feel very proud of this accomplishment.

-We rescued six industrially raised northern white pigs from a life in cages on concrete and brought them to a big fenced yard under a shade tree where they can rut in the dirt, eat fresh vegetables, run about and play, and they're so happy! Bill, Stu, Jenny and I just sat watching them frolic around for about an hour yesterday. They didn't even know what to do with dirt at first, 'cause they'd never been outside before! They're gonna make great use of our wilted veggies and chicken guts, and will eventually become bacon, but for now they're pretty darn cute.

-There are daily discomforts and victories, but overall I feel good about the work I'm doing here. It's hard and tiring, but I'm happy, and this weekend Dad and Maddie and Julia are coming to visit, and then all of us interns are going to have a Solstice party with a big bonfire on Sunday night, so I'm excited for that. Things are going well, and even though I miss home sometimes, I'm having increasingly more "this is where I'm supposed to be" type moments.

But now it's getting late, and I've gotta go to bed. I hope everyone's doing well! Comment and let me know what's up in your part of the world!

I Wanna Knit You A Sweater, Wanna Write You A Love Letter, Wanna Make You Feel Better, Wanna Make You Feel Free

Oh my gosh, Duluth is awesome! It's so full of trees and rocks and water and crashing waves and soft sand and big metal bridges and heavy log cabins and people who love music and good food. It's like visiting a whole different part of the country, and WHY on earth haven't I been there more often in my life?

Well anyway, above is a picture of Jenny (invisible in hood), Bill and Stu, as we walked downtown on the first afternoon. We worked at the farm until noon, then headed out and got to Bill's stepdad's house in Duluth about 5pm. Then a delicious dinner of chili (Bill's homemade recipe) and cornbread, then out to the sauna in the backyard (a tiny room made of cedar logs, heated by a big woodburning stove with stones on top) until we sweated out all of the week's work, and then we dove into Lake Superior to cool off. Run back to the sauna, have a drink of water, and repeat for about two hours. It was HEAVEN.

As Maddie and Julia if you want to know how the inflection sounds on that last sentence.

Then we went to a brewery and had a drink, and by that time it was midnight and I was exhausted, so I went back to the house and fell asleep under a down comforter on a very comfy carpeted floor. Slept for about ten hours (such a treat!) and woke up to the smell of french toast. Had a big breakfast of said toast and homemade maple syrup (have I mentioned how Bill and his family are into making everything from scratch?? So great.) and then went for a long walk on the beach by myself. It was the best morning I've had in a long time. Life was just perfect for those few hours, and I couldn't think of anywhere I'd rather be.

Then we visited Duluth's co-op and the Electric Fetus where I bought Blue by Joni Mitchell (yes, I know I could have gotten it from one of the many people I know who have it, but I really wanted my own hard copy. It's SUCH a good album.) and a vinyl version of Snow Patrol's album A Hundred Million Suns since Jenny was bringing her record player back from home. OH, and I saw a chocolate shop with a whole window full of covered apples!!

So we hung out on the beach for the rest of the day and then had a dinner of buffalo burgers and headed back to the farm, freshly laden with Bill's canoe, Jenny's record player, a twenty pound bag of wild rice, and a fresh sense of peace to carry into the new week. It was a superbly relaxing weekend.

But then of course the first thing I go and do this morning is get one of the Bluebird trucks stuck in the mud and have to have Mark pull it out with the tractor when he's already in a bad mood. It was a pretty terrible start to the day. But it got better! Today I harvested radishes, cleaned and bleached the packing shed to get it ready for the CSA veggies, washed lettuce, kale, spinach, cucumbers and onions, and spent the afternoon putting up fencing for the young chickens to keep them from running into the road (they'll run after any human that moves near them, even if they're in a car). I also helped turn an old horse trailer into a makeshift chicken coop, built some perches and fenced in a small area for the sick chickens to live in, since we have to move them out of the pig pen they're currently living in since the new pigs are coming on Wednesday! Poor sick chickens. At least they'll have a nice place to live while they're getting better!

Oh. And I ate rabbit today for the first time. I couldn't refuse, since Zach shot it and Ernest cooked it up with a Ghanan recipe and was so excited to have everyone try it. It would have made him really sad if I didn't have any. And you know, if I lived in the woods and needed meat I don't think I would mind having rabbit be part of my diet, but as it is I don't need the meat, and I just couldn't stop thinking about the cute little bunny it had been before it died. Rabbits are just special to me. I don't think I'll eat it again for a while, at least.

So tomorrow is another CSA day, so it'll be an early morning, and it looks like it'll probably rain for most of the day. Thankfully I finally broke and bought a pair of big rubber work boots at Fleet Farm today (adult boots cost 25 bucks, but the same boots in the kids section in size 8 only cost 15! Bet you can't guess which ones I bought...). So for now I shall finish up my cup of peppermint tea and maybe try to do some yoga before I go to bed (there's no big, clean floor space to do it here, so I've been slacking off lately).

I hope all is well with you, dear reader.

Some Thoughts

I'd like to write a more structured post, but right now I'm just so tired I think I'll just bullet point some things I've been thinking lately.

- I'm beginning to understand why so many farmers became enamored of technology! There's so much work to do, and it's all a pain in the knees, back, feet, neck, arms and legs. I've become constantly physically exhausted and sore, and even though that sounds terrible it actually isn't that bad when you look back down the rows in the field and see what you've done. The work is worth it, but it's really HARD work, and I've been learning sympathy for farmers who've taken the easy way out with herbicides and pesticides, even though I wouldn't do those things myself.

-Our last crew member showed up tonight, her name is Samantha, and I took an immediate dislike to her that I can't figure out. It's strange how you can have a connection with someone, or have the instinct to steer clear of someone, even without talking to them much. For instance, I feel like Ramon and I share some kind of secret language even without talking. We always smile at the same things and seem to communicate more when we're not faced with a language barrier. On the other hand, Sam just exudes something that I don't really like, and I can't put my finger on it. I'm trying to get over it and just act normal, but she puts my shields up at full force for some reason, which is strange because she's very friendly and outgoing and generally cheerful. It's a mystery.
And if ANYONE can tell you about mystery, it's Hugh Laurie.

-I saw my first bluebird at Bluebird Gardens the other day! It was really pretty! I also saw another bird this morning that I remember seeing in the bird book when I was younger. I think it was called a "ruby-throated" something or other, but it isn't a humming bird. It had a seed eater beak and a splotch of bright red on it's throat.

-In other animal news, we're getting pigs next week! I know, mom, it's not cool. But they'll be cute little piglets for a while! Just like Wilbur! I'm going to be the female version of Lurvey the hired man! Now if only we could get a goose to come live next to them and say "probably-abably-abably!"

-The Bluebird Gang (me included) is heading to Duluth this weekend! Bill's family lives there, and Jenny's house is on the way, so we're gonna take a nice little road trip through northern Minnesota. It'll be fun, I think! We're leaving around noon tomorrow and coming back Sunday night.

-I have despaired of ever getting clean again. My hands are now permanently stained earth colors.

-I think I've come to realize (yes, it's only been a week, so this might change) that I'm an animal farmer. I just don't have the enthusiasm for vegetables and plants. I realized yesterday as we were piled on one of the fourwheelers coming back from the beets, that I was so excited about the long grass in the ditches that could be turned into hay, but not really at all interested in the beets. I would much rather work with the frustrating chickens than tie up tomato plants. For now, that's just the way it is. But I think this is a valuable insight! We'll see how I feel after we have to butcher the pigs and chickens.

-You know a plant that IS great, though?? Clover. Clover can be used as a cover crop, putting nitrogen back in the soil, or you can plow it under for green fertilizer, or you can cut it for hay or mulch, or you can let chickens into it to eat, or you can just leave it out there to grow and the honey bees will love you forever! We were working out in a field that has clover in it as a cover crop and the honey bees were thick as flies! It was great to see so many bees going about life despite Colony Collapse Disorder, and knowing that they're all going back to a hive out in the woods to make honey. I love bees. And clover.


Well, I'd better head off to bed. We're starting at 6am every day now, and that means a twelve hour work day. But not tomorrow, 'cause we're getting off at noon to head to Duluth! Yay!!

Uffda.

Today was a tough-y, as grandpa Milt would say.

We got up at 5:30 and started work at 6 so we could get the truck with the CSA orders out before 9, which we successfully did despite having to harvest a bunch more mixed lettuce and romaine at the last minute. Compared to last Tuesday (the first day of the CSA, which was total chaos) today ran like clockwork, but it still meant lots of being wet all day, heaving through ankle-deep mud in the fields, and lifting and loading and dumping various heavy boxes of produce. I am exhausted. I actually fell asleep on the couch in the boy's house waiting for dinner (which was a Peruvian dish made by Ramon! Delicious!).

Last night was my night to cook and I made spinach lasagna with fresh spinach and from-scratch noodles thanks to my pasta machine! It was a big hit with everyone, and I'm proud that I got the recipe, which I got from Dita, right on my own, having never made it without her before. For my next meal I'm gonna try making Mom's stroganoff recipe if I can call her sometime this week to ask for it. Having communal meals is so much fun because you try things you might never have tried before, and we bring together diverse recipes from our different families. It's challenging me to look back into my memory and find the dishes that I always loved so I can make them for other people.

Bummer news of the day - something (probably a mosquito) bit me right above my eye below my eyebrow, and it's swelled up so that I feel like Quasimodo, even though it's hardly noticeable to other people. Ow.

Good news of the day - I bought bug spray that I actually like! It's called OFF Smooth and Dry, and it isn't oily, and it smells like flowers! I have no idea how it can smell so good and still work, but work it does, and I didn't get eaten as bad today.

Really, things are good right now, and there are only a few things that would make it perfect:
-Seeing my mommy (I miss you, mama!)
-Getting a bit more sleep
-Having time and space to do yoga

But I'm not dwelling on that stuff too much. Overall I love my job, I'm working with cool people, I'm eating well and working hard. And I'm reading a lot, as we interns generally shun TV and such things here. I've already finished two books in the last few days! Life is simple and good.

Pictures From The Farm

Here's the farm house! Jenny and I live in the basement.



This is the old farm house on the property, which is pretty rundown but still livable. Aka: The boy's house.


This is Maddie, our farm dog, such as she is! She actually has a lot more personality than any other small dog I've ever met, and she looks like a little fox when she gets all wet.


This is part of the kitchen in the boy's house where we all make dinner. Bill and Alejandro and I were making guacamole!


Here are some of the northwestern fields! Mark's out doing something with one of the tractors... Oh! And that's our wind turbine! It pumps all the water for irrigation from the wells.


Here's the youngest flock of chickens. For some reason Mark chose to get the general "feed them 'till they can't stand up" breed, and they're the stupidest little things I've ever seen. But I kind of like them anyway :-). Can't get too attached, though, 'cause we have to butcher them eventually...


Some of the pretty lettuce mix we've been selling! I love looking at our fields and seeing all of the different colors!

That's all for now! More pictures to come eventually!

The Day I First Ate Radishes

I realized today, mid-cream-cheese-lettuce-and-radish-sandwich, that I don't remember ever eating radishes before! They're great! We've got tons of them here just now, and I'm beginning to enjoy the delights and challenges of seasonal food. For instance, what the heck do you make when your main produce for the week is radishes, kolrabi or kale? You get inventive, that's what. I'll keep you posted on what we come up with.

So here's a quick update, as I probably won't be updating tomorrow because Sunday is our one day off per week, and that means Saturday night is the one night we get to stay up and party. Which means (I gather from the other interns) sitting around in the boy's house drinking, singing, painting, writing and playing cards and then spending Sunday down at the swimming hole. Such is the country life.

One of the things I love the most about being here is the communal atmosphere. We're all working together in small groups during the day (almost never with the same people two days in a row) and then when we get done working for the day between 6 and 7 we all gather at the boy's house to make one or two main meals which we all share. I've volunteered to use my wonderful pasta maker to make some sort of pasta on Monday night (possibly lasagna, as we have a lot of spinach). Then, after dinner we have about two hours or an hour and a half with nothing to do, so we cycle through the showers, do our laundry, go for runs or bike rides if we have the energy, read a book, or just sit in the living room and talk. Some days we're too tired for much of anything, and we all sit around with our respective drinks, staring into space until someone realizes that nothing's been said for about fifteen minutes and tries to start up a conversation which ultimately lapses back into quiet sitting after a while. But it's a comfortable feeling; sitting and just BEING with other humans. Thinking our own thoughts and dreaming our own dreams, but living together.

AND I love that we're bringing back the art of conversation and the desire to read. When there's not much to do, and only an hour or two for free time before bed, we all tend to revert to basic interaction for fun, and it's fulfilling in a way that watching TV with people or sitting on computers just isn't.

So, before I sign off for the night, here's a funny story and a quote.

Funny story - Today, while putting up tents for one of the Fergus Falls stands, I cut my finger on a bit of metal. Having no bandaids, and not wanting to make a fuss, the only thing I could think to do to stop the bleeding was to rub dirt in the cut. Surely not the most hygenic thing to do, but it stopped the bleeding and I soldiered on! My hands are all ready getting tougher. (And yes, mom, I did put Neosporin and a bandaid on it when I finally got home :-))

Quote for the day -
"But when you have your eye on some prize, possessions begin to weigh heavily, junk food slows the steps. Surrender, at that point, is a natural process; it's what we do to attain the vision we have come to long for."
- From "The Barn At The End Of The World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd" by Mary Rose O'Reilley

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!