Day 2 (6/16/12): Field #7

Today was a big day for me.  It had a rough start, similar to yesterday.  I woke up to the rooster at 4:15am, but got a quick nap in until my alarm at 6.  At that time, I tiptoed down from my room on the 3^rd floor as best as I could (it’s a squeaky, old house) and out to the barn.  I was planning on going for a leisurely bike ride to explore the area.  First I had to reassemble the bike that my dad and I had disassembled for the bus ride.  After everything was out of the box, it took me about an hour to piece everything together properly.  Although the bike still isn’t working properly, it’s functional enough for me to have gone for a 5-minute ride down the road.  I was back at 7:40 in time to eat breakfast, grab my stuff, and head out for work.  The plan for the day was for Kenya (see below) to teach me how to transplant seedlings.  We first watered the plants in the hoop house¹ then went to the barn to pack all our supplies for the day into the  homemade bike-tire cart.  We wheelbarrowed down the hill to field #7 to spend the better part of the day transplanting pumpking and squash seedlings.  The rows (each row being 100-200m long) were covered in black plastic, so we first used scissors to cut holes about 7 in. wide and 2 ft apart.  We had seedlings lined up for each hole, so we set about loosening the, digging a pit (~6 in. deep), throwing in a handful of compost², flooding the pit with water from our watering cans, sliding the seedling out of its pot, placing the seedling in the puddle, and covering everything up with dirt and mud, making sure that the seedling stands up straight.  After the entire row was planted, Kenya and I stuck metal hoops along the row (~5 ft apart) and covered the entire row with Remay³, making sure to weigh down the edges with dirt as to prevent the Remay from blowing away or allowing animals inside.  At about 1:30, we headed inside for some lunch of salad and warmed up homemade pizza from last night.  At 2:30 we were out in the field again, this time in field #6 transplanting cucumber ('cucs') seedlings until 5:30 when I was officially and thoroughly pooped.  We pulled everything up the hill to the barn to put stuff away and head inside.  Ellie (see below) was taking care of dinner tonight so we didn't have to help make the food or set the table.  We had a nice roasted chicken (one of their own from last year) cooked carrots, and salad.  Tonight I am stuffed, tired, and happy to relax - I will sleep very well tonight.

¹ A hoop house, very similar to a greenhouse, houses seedlings, tomatoes, and other plants on Winterberry farm.  Its distinguishing feature from greenhouses is that you can roll up or down the hoop house walls.  We roll them up during summer days and down at night or during a storm.  

² The compost Winteberry Farm uses is local and organic.  They get it from a neighbor and it’s rich in nutrients that the plant needs while growing.  Winterberry farm, too, makes compost out of manure from its animals, but this compost is used later on along the line when the plants are more grown since it doesn’t provide proper nutrients in their beginning stage. 

³ Remay (aka ‘agrifabric’) is a white fabric that covers plants to protect them from insects primarily, and other environmental factors that can damage the plants.  

Allow me to introduce you to the residents of Winterberry Farm:

The family includes Mary, Kenya, Gil, and Sage, along with Grammy (Ellie) and Katie, the other apprentice.  

Mary:  She is a florist who put together this beautiful and successful farm.  A single mother, Mary runs the farm, works the farmstand, bakes, home schools 3 children, and more.  I don’t know how she does it all!  Every summer, Mary hires a couple of apprentices like me to help with the labor, and she also uses the WWOOF program, among others, for help.

Kenya: Kenya has taught me the ways of the farm.  She’s an independent, competent, lively, and determined 16-year-old who has taken me under her wing to teach me everything I need to know.  I guess I’d call her Mary’s right-hand man.  A committed swimmer, Kenya is starting cross country for the first time in the fall, so I’ll have a running buddy this summer!  I can teach her all I know about running, and she can teach me everything about swimming and farming, although I know we’ll get so much more out of each other.

Gil(bert): Lobsterman.  Prize steer shower.  Prize turkey shower.  Barefoot wanderer.  All of these describe 12-year-old Gil.  Along with working in the garden, Gil has a couple of steers and a couple of turkeys that he trains for shows at carnivals.  It’s comforting to have Gil around since he’s the same age as my sister, Abigail, and coincidentally has a similar aura about him that I love about Abigail, they’re both so pleasant and patient.

Sage:  Little Sage, 6 years old, is all around the farm.  Even though the trays of seedlings seem as big as she, Sage is eager to help out in whichever way she can.  Otherwise, she provides good company while working out in the sun.  Again, I find Sage’s presence not only entertaining, but comforting.  Despite being here for just over a day, Sage has written me 2 ‘letters’ where she draws pictures of both of us – much like Abigail did at this stage of her life for me.  

Grammy/Ellie:  Ellie was kind enough to pick me up from the bus station on the first day while Mary was at market.  It’s a treat to have her around the house because she cooks and cleans for the family, and always brings special store-bought treats (i.e. Honey Nut Cheerios, brand-name salad dressing, bagged lettuce, Ritz crackers) for the kids when she visits, about once-a-month.  Ellie herself had a farm of horses, so she’s no stranger to this lifestyle.

Katie:  I’m so glad there’s another apprentice, my age even.  Katy is a pleasant and joyful girl.  She’s a rising sophomore at University of Maine at Orno, and seems as eager to learn about sustainable agriculture as I.