I would have turned up sooner but my cousin is in town for the holiday (thanksgiving) and we had some quality hang out time before other family begins showing up. I drag my feet after getting fully ready to go early in the morning. I even call the farm to make sure someone is home. It is hard for Kristen or Fred to get away. Might be close to 2 o'clock when I finally make it out and Fred is there doing something in the kitchen. We spend my first hour cleaning out his garage. There is a lug full of radish that we sort for good ones and compost the rest. then the recycling is sorted and tools gathered for our first real project of the day.
The plan is to work on the heritage seed garden, placing steaks for the new garden sections and marking those off. Fred wants to plant the garlic that he brought home from Italy in the seed garden so that it doesn't get harvested and eaten. The numbers can be multiplied by this vegetative reproduction method. Each head has an average of six cloves and each of those when planted will turn into their own plant producing six more (theoretically).
I imagine a farm concept where you start with only one clove of garlic.
Luckily I am not bothered by heights because I am chosen to climb the ladder and cut the rope that is holding the sun shade on top of the greenhouse. Fred sends me up with his multi-tool the blade out. He doesn't have time for anything slower. There is a large field behind the greenhouses where we fold the shade cloth. It is then stuck in the greenhouse ,"that will never again be used for chickens.". Fred drives in the steaks while I drag out a large sign printed on a thick plastic tarp. The back side is black and is faced towards the sun. The sign will "solarize" the spot it is lying on, snuffing out all the weeds that germinate and stopping any more from doing so. I never find out exactly what is on the sign, but this is a creative reuse for something that was surely going to the landfill after one use. A new seed garden will be started in-between the next two greenhouses.
Fred is hungry -- too hungry to continue working without a break. So we head inside where he puts together a PB&J. Kristen is back from wherever she was. The farm is having house guests tonight and they are on their way. Kristen says they were about two hours away at 2:30 and it is 4:30 now. They should be pulling in any minute, and sure enough before Fred can finish his sandwich they do. Fred assumes because the guests have arrived that he will have to entertain them. Kristen assures him that it will be fine and that we should try and finish one last project before nightfall.
Off across the street the deer have been desiccating, dismantling, disregarding, disgracing the broccoli. I remember planting these poor plants, they never had a chance. We are to remove the row covers which have been trampled and torn up by deer. This upsets Fred, the row covers are very expensive. So was the loss of broccoli. Now that the growing season is over there is no reason for the covers to be out there and what can be salvaged will be used next year. We set out uncovering the edges buried in soil and unfurling the cloth. Fred decides he can remove the rest on his own, so he lends me a headlamp to collect what broccoli I can find. It is a measly amount, the deer don't leave much behind. These roving packs are veracious eaters and once they get a taste of the good stuff they never let it go.
The plan is to work on the heritage seed garden, placing steaks for the new garden sections and marking those off. Fred wants to plant the garlic that he brought home from Italy in the seed garden so that it doesn't get harvested and eaten. The numbers can be multiplied by this vegetative reproduction method. Each head has an average of six cloves and each of those when planted will turn into their own plant producing six more (theoretically).
I imagine a farm concept where you start with only one clove of garlic.
Luckily I am not bothered by heights because I am chosen to climb the ladder and cut the rope that is holding the sun shade on top of the greenhouse. Fred sends me up with his multi-tool the blade out. He doesn't have time for anything slower. There is a large field behind the greenhouses where we fold the shade cloth. It is then stuck in the greenhouse ,"that will never again be used for chickens.". Fred drives in the steaks while I drag out a large sign printed on a thick plastic tarp. The back side is black and is faced towards the sun. The sign will "solarize" the spot it is lying on, snuffing out all the weeds that germinate and stopping any more from doing so. I never find out exactly what is on the sign, but this is a creative reuse for something that was surely going to the landfill after one use. A new seed garden will be started in-between the next two greenhouses.
Fred is hungry -- too hungry to continue working without a break. So we head inside where he puts together a PB&J. Kristen is back from wherever she was. The farm is having house guests tonight and they are on their way. Kristen says they were about two hours away at 2:30 and it is 4:30 now. They should be pulling in any minute, and sure enough before Fred can finish his sandwich they do. Fred assumes because the guests have arrived that he will have to entertain them. Kristen assures him that it will be fine and that we should try and finish one last project before nightfall.
Off across the street the deer have been desiccating, dismantling, disregarding, disgracing the broccoli. I remember planting these poor plants, they never had a chance. We are to remove the row covers which have been trampled and torn up by deer. This upsets Fred, the row covers are very expensive. So was the loss of broccoli. Now that the growing season is over there is no reason for the covers to be out there and what can be salvaged will be used next year. We set out uncovering the edges buried in soil and unfurling the cloth. Fred decides he can remove the rest on his own, so he lends me a headlamp to collect what broccoli I can find. It is a measly amount, the deer don't leave much behind. These roving packs are veracious eaters and once they get a taste of the good stuff they never let it go.
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