Week 3

  I didn't write about last friday in my week 2 post because we leave the farm at 6:30 so I can't write my post before the weekly deadline, but one funny thing that happened last Friday was that we had to plant more leeks. The day before we planted leeks in some really bad weather for a pretty long time, so hearing that we had to plant more was a bit of an unwelcome surprise. But to tell you the truth, it was fun on friday! I think that it is mostly because the weather was so much nicer. Thursday was cold and windy, but friday was beautiful and sunny. I am pretty sure we even spent the same amount of time planting on friday but the time went by extremely quickly. This really made me realize how much weather can make a difference. 

This week has been hot and sunny weather which actually has a pretty big impact on what we do. Because it gets so hot we have been doing some different jobs such as cleaning out a room in the barn and planting areas that have a bit more shade. On Wednesday I had to water a bunch of greenhouses before it got too hot in the day (Juvencio told me that sometimes if you water plants when it is too hot they will burn) and at 10:30 the greenhouses were already extremely hot to be in. Yesterday we were going to do some more work in the greenhouses but it got too hot so we did some planting outside (which was pretty hot still because it was in the direct sunlight). 

Weather is a pretty important factor when it comes to farming. I guess this seems pretty obvious because everything is outside and plants need sunlight and rain and bugs etc. but still I think that it has been interesting to experience how completely different weather can impact the things that you do. It also really impacts the ease at which you do certain jobs. Like I was saying before, planting the leeks last week in the cold wind was pretty hard, but in the sun and warm it was fun. I guess this just directly showed me how much of a difference weather can make. 

So far this week has been my favorite. I feel like I am getting used to the work and I am really starting to enjoy the time we are spending at the farms. I think that because I was in a completely new environment during the first two weeks I wasn't able to focus as much on enjoyment. I was focusing on learning how to do specific tasks and meeting new people. Obviously I am still learning a lot each day, but I think that because I have gotten used to some of the tasks that we consistently do every week I have been able to take a little step back and I have really started to have fun. Yesterday in the afternoon we filled a bunch of trays of soil and we did some seeding. We do this every Thursday afternoon to help prepare for the farmers markets. I feel like I just really enjoyed being there and talking with Lyn and Polly and I was maybe more able to do this because I wasn't as focused on learning how to to the job as we had already been doing it for two weeks prior. 

Here is what it looks like when we are preparing for the farmers market on Thursday afternoons. These are the massive bags of soil that we fill trays with. They just got two new ones yesterday. 

These are the filled trays that Tulip and I finished:

This is me filling a tray.

This is me transplanting some little thyme and rosemary plants into one of the trays:

Here are some pictures of the room that we cleaned out in the barn. This was one of the jobs we did when it was too hot to work outside in the sun.

Comments

  1. Mia BaneJune 7, 2021 at 4:34 PM

    The weather does make a huge difference and our little greenhouse almost BLEW OVER in the wind we had last weekend! I've noticed quite a few plants we have really love the hot sun and others seem to come out when the overcast clouds roll in. They all need water though - and I'm always much happier when it falls from the sky than when we have to lug it in pails. Gardening is not for the faint of heart or the weak of back! Have fun!

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    Replies
    1. MaureenJune 8, 2021 at 8:28 AM

      Over the past year or so we have all had to reckon with changing conceptions of time and how it passes. I appreciate how your post considers this in the context of work at the farm. Weather, it seems to me, also serves as a powerful example of forces beyond our control--we can't change it, but we can adapt to it.

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