3 weeks in, 2 weeks of newly-arrived-from-out-of-state quarantine over, 3 weeks of CSA bags packed and set out for pick up. Here’s what I’ve learned how to do so far:
Plant seeds with a rotary seeder
Transplant seedlings
Water three times into the little divot in the soil around the tiny seedlings, so as not to soak their leaves
Weed with a hula hoe
Weed with a taro hoe
Weed with an ordinary hoe
Weed with “the aerobicizer” – a wheelie plow-thing
Weed with my hands
Weed some more
Make a bonfire and burn giant piles of brush
Dig trenches
Pound rebar
Put up a hoophouse
Have the hoophouse rip in an electrical storm. Re-put up the hoophouse
Lug hoses across the fields
Lug tubs of water from the washing stand for the produce
Harvest heads of lettuce and Chinese cabbage by cutting the stem with a curved lettuce knife just under the soil surface so as not to lose any leaves, but not so deep as to pull up too many muddy roots (my favorite activity so far)
Pull up radishes
Cut rhubarb (lop off the leaves – they are toxic)
Pick tiny edible flowers for a couple local restaurants that are open
Search for asparagus stalks among the tall weeds. Eat the tiny ones when nobody is looking
Wash, drain, trim, weigh, and bundle veggies for restaurant and food service shipment or CSA pick up
Close up the farmstand at the end of the day
Eat fabulous, farm-fresh vegetarian meals every day
Here are some photos from the early spring, chilly weeks:
And here is how I spent my first paycheck:
For those who need interpretation, this photo features: 1) an insulated Carhart sweatshirt for farm work; 2) a bottle of Helena-based, Gulch Distillers Fernet; and 3) bear spray.
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