I was still lying in bed when I heard Fred and Kristen shuffling around. Evelyn had been making a little fuss earlier which is not a usual occurrence. Fred has a meeting down at Pitt University, not sure what it was about in the end. He has a trip out to Philly directly after Pitt. We talked about it the day before over corn chowder that he made with farm goods. Corn and milk being the main ingredients. Last night after shuffling everything around in the barn for today's CSA pick up, we came back to Fred finishing the soup. He will be talking on a panel about getting food to the hungry, focused on people who "miss meals" during the week. Essentially the only way to help these people Fred believes is to teach them how to grow their own food. We look at a calorie table in a book he has. I suggest avocados as a joke, it turned out nuts have even more calories and sunflower seeds even more. I support sunflowers in the city.
Lynn was in high tunnel #2 when I got there to water it. I watered the hell out of it. They needed it too.
I am sure there was some harvesting to do and some work in the barn but now I forget what we did. There is a point that this farm work starts to all blur together. A strange occurrence, but I am sure as hell that I recognize a tomato that I have picked in the field, later on down in the barn. Like a face you've seen in a crowd, a stranger that you recognize months later. With the striped Germans anyhow, each one really does have its own character.
Meg was sent to market, and Kristen was in the barn all day. Cathy her mother is having knee surgery, and usually takes a shift at the barn. She will be out for a few months at least, and she will be missed. Bridget and I are tasked with pulling up plastic from the melon patch. One of, if not my least favorite job on the farm. The dust is enough to give a man a coughing fit. It's a long and arduous task. After only one hard fought row we break for lunch. Bridget breaks open a liter bottle of nut brown ale which I had bottled and put in the fridge last night. "irresponsible", but I'm game. Now after secondary fermentation with carbonation it tastes much better, I might even say I like it, although I have never had a brown beer that tasted this light. It is the perfect thing to quench thirst and raise spirits.
As the day winds down Kristen sends word that I should come down and get some produce. I strongly oblige, and gather four grocery bags. There is plenty to go around. I am somewhat less frustrated with the money situation. I wish all Wednesdays I got to clean up in the barn like this.
I am nearly packed and sitting at my computer finishing my last PASA CD rip, when Kristen drops off some money on my dresser, the $10 she promised I assume, I usually say thank you immediately but I was distracted and still sore in more way than one. When I finally go to grab it on my way out I see there is a twenty dollar bill, and another inside of it. I am flabbergasted. All this time I had thought Kristen just didn't think I was worth it or that I was getting enough by just being here. What an ungrateful ass I was. I had to at least thank her. With my bag slung over my shoulder I found Meg in the kitchen told her to have a good night. Meg was hoping to hang out with just-the-girls so I think my departure was perfect timing. She did tell me that Kristen was out putting the animals away.
I found Kristen just leaving the cow barn on the golf cart and called out to her. During a short conversation I found out that Abby had told Kristen about me saying that it was my last day, no doubt this had an impact on her decision to pay me, but still. If she truly thought I was leaving then she could have just kept her money I suppose, but this and a bonus ten I think she has seen me in action, in the barn as she was left to watch it all day herself. I want to give Kristen some credit here because she saw that withholding a small amount of money might have taken a perfectly good farm hand out of the equation. I don't want to say that things wouldn't have gotten done without me, but it would have been just that much more of a burden. I leave content with all intention to return next week.
Lynn was in high tunnel #2 when I got there to water it. I watered the hell out of it. They needed it too.
I am sure there was some harvesting to do and some work in the barn but now I forget what we did. There is a point that this farm work starts to all blur together. A strange occurrence, but I am sure as hell that I recognize a tomato that I have picked in the field, later on down in the barn. Like a face you've seen in a crowd, a stranger that you recognize months later. With the striped Germans anyhow, each one really does have its own character.
Meg was sent to market, and Kristen was in the barn all day. Cathy her mother is having knee surgery, and usually takes a shift at the barn. She will be out for a few months at least, and she will be missed. Bridget and I are tasked with pulling up plastic from the melon patch. One of, if not my least favorite job on the farm. The dust is enough to give a man a coughing fit. It's a long and arduous task. After only one hard fought row we break for lunch. Bridget breaks open a liter bottle of nut brown ale which I had bottled and put in the fridge last night. "irresponsible", but I'm game. Now after secondary fermentation with carbonation it tastes much better, I might even say I like it, although I have never had a brown beer that tasted this light. It is the perfect thing to quench thirst and raise spirits.
As the day winds down Kristen sends word that I should come down and get some produce. I strongly oblige, and gather four grocery bags. There is plenty to go around. I am somewhat less frustrated with the money situation. I wish all Wednesdays I got to clean up in the barn like this.
I am nearly packed and sitting at my computer finishing my last PASA CD rip, when Kristen drops off some money on my dresser, the $10 she promised I assume, I usually say thank you immediately but I was distracted and still sore in more way than one. When I finally go to grab it on my way out I see there is a twenty dollar bill, and another inside of it. I am flabbergasted. All this time I had thought Kristen just didn't think I was worth it or that I was getting enough by just being here. What an ungrateful ass I was. I had to at least thank her. With my bag slung over my shoulder I found Meg in the kitchen told her to have a good night. Meg was hoping to hang out with just-the-girls so I think my departure was perfect timing. She did tell me that Kristen was out putting the animals away.
I found Kristen just leaving the cow barn on the golf cart and called out to her. During a short conversation I found out that Abby had told Kristen about me saying that it was my last day, no doubt this had an impact on her decision to pay me, but still. If she truly thought I was leaving then she could have just kept her money I suppose, but this and a bonus ten I think she has seen me in action, in the barn as she was left to watch it all day herself. I want to give Kristen some credit here because she saw that withholding a small amount of money might have taken a perfectly good farm hand out of the equation. I don't want to say that things wouldn't have gotten done without me, but it would have been just that much more of a burden. I leave content with all intention to return next week.
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