Day 4 (6/18/12): Bachelorette Pad

I awoke this morning again at 6:20, before my alarm.  I went on a leisurely bike ride down Point RD, next to the farm and off of Rte. 27.  This rolling street is a jumble of farms, hidden houses in the trees, lakefront cottages, and a summer camp for kids.  I don't recommend talking on the phone while riding your bike on a highway, but I'm glad I got to talk to Mom and Dad as they were driving back up to Albany from dropping Abigail off in Charlottesville, VA.  Back in time to scarf down some peanut butter toast and write down my work list for the day, I was out the door by 8:02 (darn!).  While watering the plants in the lower hoop house, I searched for predator insects, as instructed.  When found, we're supposed to terminate them by squishing between our fingers.  There were a few bugs that resemble stink bugs, although I can't remember their name off the top of my head, although I do know that their insides smell like sour banana Laffy Taffy's.  Also on the cucumbers in the hoop house were Cucumber Beetles¹ and their eggs²; many of these I found mating, so this made it easier to ‘kill 2 bugs with one squish.’  I got a little too into this ‘I Spy’ game of spotting the bugs.  After rinsing my hands of the guts and stench, I was ready to plant for the rest of the day.  The sky was overcast all morning.  This was nice as I finished planting the cucumbers in Field #6 and started back up on the squash in Field #7.  One of the most time-consuming tasks in garden care here, I think, is transporting all of the tools across the farm wherever need be.  Katie joined me just past 10:30, after handing the shop off to a family friend of Mary’s to run for the day.  (The shop had been doing really well yesterday, being a day on the weekend and a holiday, but Monday proved less fruitful.)  Katy and I planted 2 rows of squash (Delicata, Sunshine Winter, Spaghetti, and Acorn) today, starting with cutting the black plastic and ending with covering the plants with Remay.  Our production line was a little different from Kenya and mine on Saturday; because today we cut the holes all at once, dug and composted the entire row, and watered and planted the entire row all at once, instead of digging, composting, watering, and planting all at once as Kenya and I had done.  We had a lunch break of grilled cheese sandwiches, thanks to Ellie, and rest, and were back in Field #7 to finish planting, this time in the sun.  Katie had to leave at 4:45, before we were finished, to take back over the shop and feed the animals.  I finished planting, put away my things, closed both hoop houses, and shadowed Katy as she fed the animals.  I told her of my ‘fear’ of birds, and we decided I should take baby steps to warm-up to the chickens and turkeys so that I’m not jumpy around them later (although not quite like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNgaBJ7V3cQ).  Therefore, I went with her to feed the chickens and the baby turkeys, and I even helped pick up and put some of the baby turkeys under their heat lamp to keep them from getting sick.  

Ellie went out to eat dinner with friends, so she left Katie and me some American Chop Suey (macaroni and hamburger) to heat up for dinner, and we watched another episode of The Walton’s and last week’s The Daily Show before getting ready for bed.  Goodnight!

¹ Cucumber beetles devastate the cucumber plant by chewing holes through their leaves.  

² Many of the Cucumber Beetle eggs are laid on the bottom part of the leaves or on the stem.  

Day 3 (6/17/12): All By Myself

This is only my third day on site but I had to be by myself today.  The family left today to go white water rafting.  They'll be gone through Wednesday, but Mary left Katie, Ellie, and me a to-do list that will keep us plenty busy.  I slept like a rock last night, but I woke up before y alarm this morning at 6:20 and immediately felt the soreness in my back and my stiffness all over.  I finished yesterday's blog post and called the family since it's Father's Day, of course, and Abigail is starting SEP camp at UVA today.  Then I was out the door after saying goodbye to everyone
I did everything today that Kenya and I did yesterday, simply put: water the hoop houses and plant more seeds.  However, I had a few things going against me, being a newbie and being only one person.  Things go twice as fast with 2 people, I soon learned.  Yesterda, Kenya and I planted 2 rows of pumpkins and squash and a half row of cuc's.  Today, I planted 1 row of squash and almost half a row of cucumbers.  Also, a proud moment of the day was when I used my knot tying skills from WOOLF leader training to retie a tomato plant string to the ceiling of the hoop house where it had fallen off, using a taut line hitch knot1.  However, having only been on the job for one day prior, I was rather proud of myself at the by 5:45pm when I'd finished everything and was headed inside for 'supper'.  My first week as an apprentice is a little abnormal not only because the family isn't here, but also because Ellie cooks and cleans for us and we get some more packaged foods than normal.  Ellie had prepared chicken and egg salad for lunch and made delicious cheeseburgers for dinner.  She even took us out for ice cream afterward where I had Peanut Butter Caramel Chocolate Cookie Dough ice cream - what a dream - and toured us around the greater Belgrade area.  There are 3 lakes nearby with tiny cottages and grand lakehouses lining each.  It's such a beautiful and quaint area out here, I can't wait to explore it on my bike.   The three of us settled down for an episode of The Walton's before tuckering down for the night.

¹ Taut line hitch how-to:

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.  

Day 1 (6/15/12): Travel

I guess this is Day 1 of an uncharted journey for me.  I'm going to miss being at home.  I know I'm in college now and everything, but I'd see my parents frequently there anyways because of track and cross country meets.  This is the longest time I'll have been away from home during the summer.  Although that's bittersweet and all, I'm psyched to be spending a couple of months on a farm.  

Day 1 had a bit of a rocky start. I set my alarm for 4:30am to catch my 6am bus from Albany.  That bus didn't arrive til 7:10am and departed close to 8am. We had to stop off at Worcester, MA and the bus driver did NOT know where the bus station was and refused to listen to the passengers saying that we'd passed it 3 times.  She insisted what they were referring to was a train station - it was both a bus AND a train station. Then we finally arrived in Boston at 12:30, missing my 12:15 connection to Augusta by a hair.  Fortunately, there was another bus leaving for Augusta at 1:15 and arriving there at the same ETA as Mary and I had communicated.  Now I'm sitting on a bus with wifi, electric outlets, and a family movie about dolphins playing.  I'm almost there!