Rock & Roll Farm

renee renee renee renee

Saturday! Sep 25 2004 // 3:47 pm // permalink

parties


Today was the best day yet. Market was super-awesome. I love being a farmer.

We have a variety of huge warty French heirloom squash that everyone looks at as if it were from outer-space. We made it our mission to sell this 25 pounder today, and after four hours, I finally sold it to this guy who just wanted it to put out for Halloween. Oh well. Everytime anyone would ask about it, Reid - one of the other interns - told people the wrong name intentionally. He was saying the name of some awful disease instead, just to see if anyone would catch it. One lady did, and it kind of pissed her off, but I thought it was hilarious. She wasn’t going to buy a $12 squash anyway, so whatever. The other day I sold a smaller one to a 12yr. old and it just made my day. Man, I love being a farmer.

Tonight we’re having a barn dance party. We’re all busying around getting things cleaned and cooked and wired. It’s rare that we see our friends and family, and even more rare that they see the farm. We have a lot of pot lucks, but never anything this big. We’re going to have a dj and everything.

Tomorrow we’re having a Harvest Party. Hopefully some people will come out. The Harvest Party is when members come help on the farm for a few hours, more than the usual hodge-podge of weeding or tomato picking. The focus of the day will be boxing squash that’s already been picked and grouped in the fields. I’m looking forward to it - some of our members are really fun.

My giant hogweed burns are finally looking better. Giant hogweed is this non-native, invasive plant that is starting to appear all over Michigan. It’s kind of like poison ivy, in that you get a rash when you come in contact with it. The difference is that it’s photosensitive, so you have to go in the sun first. Then, you get these awful puss-filled blisters. It’s essentially a chemical burn. I had a blister on my right shin that was the size of a fifty cent piece, and 3/8 of an inch high. It was painful, and disgusting. I have pictures, if you want to see them. I think they’re too gross to post here. I’m told giant hogweed leaves permanent scars, too. I totally love being a farmer.



Wednesday! Sep 22 2004 // 9:24 pm // permalink

intense harvest


This week at the farm we are focused on getting the squash out of the fields. There are probably 8 tons or so, and it all needs to be out by the frost. We’re growing several varieties, and some are heirloom. Kabocha, Celebration, Butternut, Hubbard, Red Curry, Spaghetti, Sweet Dumpling, and a few more. We’ve spent most of every afternoon this week clipping and grouping, and this weekend we’ll go out and box it all up and put it in the barn for storage.

The weather has been incredibly hot in Michigan over the past few weeks, which makes the long afternoons in the field physically taxing. Generally, harvest days are made up of a lot of separate activities in different fields, so you end up in and out of the sun, and have more opportunities for short breaks. With the onset of the heavy harvest, I’m starting to feel the cumulation of these weeks of work. I’m tired, and starting to get a little cranky. Hopefully I won’t start to resent the other interns. It’s 8:30 p.m., and when I finish this post I’m going straight to bed.

Aside from the squash harvest, there’s the regular CSA program to maintain. There are 150 members in the program who pick up once a week. The pickups are spread over two days, and members can come to the farm or meet us at the market in Ann Arbor or Chelsea on market days.

Other crops currently being harvested on the farm:
brussels sprouts
broccoli
totsoi
carrots
beets
swiss chard
spinach
radishes
potatoes
tomatoes
peppers
and some herbs and flowers



Saturday! Sep 18 2004 // 4:35 pm // permalink

The first two weeks.


Today was my fourth Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market experience as a vendor. I’m exhausted from two weeks of work, and a little play. Tonight I may get to attend a party at a friend of a friend’s house in Ypsi, but I’m not sure yet. I sure could use a little outside socialization besides the market days.

My day-to-day work is a lot of vegetable picking and loading or unloading various vehicles. Wednesday I worked about 18 hours, with an hour’s worth of canoeing thrown in around dinner time. That morning I’d gone to market at 4 a.m., then returned at 3 p.m. to help pick 2150 lbs. of squash. After the canoe trip, we loaded the squash for delivery.

Thursday I received my first knife. It’s small, and has a wooden sheath. There’s a friend of the farm, Ben, who has made knives for other interns here, and made one for me after he noticed me admiring his other works. I’ve been using it to harvest and cut slices of melon for people to sample at market. You are all so jealous.

I live in a loft space in a timber barn with one other intern. We sleep on futon matresses, and use old dressers for our belongings. It’s very cozy up there, and it feels kind of like sleep-away camp all the time. The other night my roommate got up to use the bathroom (which is really just the weeds outside - this is a farm, you know) and cut her leg on a wooden crate that was near the door. She ended up going to the emergency room at 2 a.m. and got 20 stitches. So far that ‘s been the only emergency here. I imagined there would be some big crisis happening all the time, like a cow in the lower fields or deer eating all the squash. But really it’s been sort of the same thing day after day.

I did get Giant Hogweed, though, and I’ll tell you about that tomorrow.



Thursday! Sep 16 2004 // 8:58 pm // permalink

nettle hands


I’ve been at the farm for nearly two weeks, and I’ve been too tired or busy to write until now. Maybe tomorrow I’ll write more.

xo



Wednesday! Sep 01 2004 // 11:55 pm // permalink

Picking up supplies


My mother and I just returned from a lengthy shopping trip to get me ready for my farm adventure. I needed some pants fit for field work, toiletries, and other various items. My knee is like that of someone much older than I, so we purchased a fancy neoprene support and a big bottle of Ibuprofen. I’m hopeful that this will do the trick to keep me out of the emergency room as well as allowing me to be useful to the farm. Other necessary items on our list were a headlamp, shower caddy, nail clippers and file, spf lip balm, ear plugs, and batteries. The headlamp was definitely the coolest thing on my list. It screams “specialized.” Only a few things left to buy now, like a pocket knife and one of those sporty glasses-keeper-onner things.

Tomorrow I’m going to start packing, but first I need to locate my dad’s hockey bag. The faded black canvas bag could hold me inside comfortably, plus a couple of cinder blocks in case I was on bad terms with the mob. In our family, my dad’s hockey bag is the bag you use when you have to get a lot of stuff from A to B. My brother and I would alternate using it year to year when we attended summer camp. The off years you’d have to use his Navy duffel, which was much smaller. Not only is the bag cool and full of legend, it is featured in one of my favorite photographs of all time. The black and white photo shows my grandfather on his back amidst all my dad’s hockey gear, which was laid out on the lawn to be disinfected by the sun. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may need to put the bag out in the sun for a while before packing. It’s probably stuffed in a dark corner of the basement collecting spiders and basement smell.



Wednesday! Sep 01 2004 // 10:27 am // permalink

Farm livin’


This weekend I’m moving to an organic farm to work the rest of the season. My goal is to write at least once a week about the farm, and what I’m learning about organics, food and sustainable agriculture. For the rest of this week, I’ll be writing about my preparations, and how I made the decision to take the job.

 



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