what we're actually up to

Over the past couple of days I've gotten multiple phone calls, emails, and g-chat messages beginning with inquiries into whether I am all sore and blistered/toned and tan from spending all day in the fields tending vegetables and reciting Wendell Berry poetry with my sisterfriends. As I began to compose this post in my head yesterday, I decided to set the record straight. We've actually spent most of our time on our computers or in meetings getting the CSA going and plotting our farmers' market debut. Yesterday I had not yet pulled a weed or lifted a hoe, shovel or trowel. I thought this post would be an account of a typical day spent emailing, perusing CSA sites, and reading how-to books on subscription farming.

The moral of the story is, don't start writing your blog post before it is your day to blog.

After spending the last two weeks on very important but less than typical farming activities, we interns made a break for the outside this afternoon. While the corn, radishes, beans etc. on the 10 acres are not yet mature enough to receive our ministrations, we do have a wonderful experimental patch planted by our extern Kyle in the avocado orchard. This afternoon we decided that, having harvested our fair share of zucchini and cucumber from his garden, we should do a little something to help with its upkeep.

Problem is, other than Kat, we have minimal gardening experience. So it was time for a lesson. Here is the result:

Kyle gives a lesson. Kat says she already knows all this, can we start farming now?


Hard at work. For a little while at least.

After an hour or two, we were a) done planting salad mix and b) in the possession of some very large (and therefore marginally edible) zucchini...

Uh oh.





Moral of that story: if you want to get your zucchini across the road, throwing underhand is best.