Hello lovely blogworld folks, so sorry to have been completely MIA for several weeks? months? I have no good excuses this time, just good old fashioned busy-ness/laziness? Since the last time we have "talked", I've road-tripped up the eastern seaboard and am currently living in a barn in western Mass. Wait, let me explain. I moved back up here to work as an apprentice under farmer Jarrett, owner and manager of Stone Soup Farm, and I'll be here all season - from mid April til Halloween! I am one of 3 budding young farmers to be sharing this awesome experience, and so far, the job has been going exceedingly well. The weather has generally been holding up quite well, with the exception of nearly 2 weeks of nonstop rain. (The sun has since come back out to play - whew!) I have developed a strange yet beautiful affinity for driving tractors, more specifically the John Deere 1050 --
which I will get into at a later date. My biceps are growing by the day and no amount of handwashing is able to remove the dirt from underneath my nails, and I like it that way. Life is good, I can't complain. A bounty of organic veggies at my fingertips, most still in their seedling stage, but the potential for deliciousness is huge! At the moment, we've been munching on mostly green things - leeks leftover from last fall, early chives and scallions, spinach galore, and finally salad mix - yes, summer is here! The tomatoes have been transplanted from the greenhouse into the field and we await with abated breath as those tiny yellow flowers will eventually turn into luscious pomodoros - can't wait!
So that's a quick recap on my life at the farm, and hopefully there will be plenty more news updates to come. Stay tuned, and make sure to sow your seeds for summer!
Nice!
ReplyDeleteBTW - Finally been to the S. Miami market, and had an interesting and long talk with a gentleman who is trying to set up an urban marketing "business", taking advantage of the cheap property in Liberty City and Little Haiti. In addition to setting up a small farm in Coconut Grove, he has property in Liberty City which he rents out, but uses the yard for farming. He also works with the neighbors, paying them for the fruit growing on their trees, and selling it at the market. He had some interesting observations about what the locals grow and eat and what local yuppies will buy. :-)