wet days

a rainy couple days, just in time to screw ya.  there’s tradeoffs, for everything, of course.  while rainy days mean the fields are too wet to work, rainy days also means our cow pasture is greening up a little quicker, getting ready to receive the herd a little sooner.  but at this moment, as thousands of fragile baby plants are arriving from the nursery, a rainy couple days feels like a hindrance.

this weekend is the georgia organics conference in savannah, and we are trying to get these plants in the ground before we head down south.  yet another reminder of what has happened this year.  when I moved down here in February of last year, the georgia organics conference was one of the first things I experienced.  a total greenhorn.  the rook.  and now, here I am, heading down to the georgia organics conference with farmer root, my co-manager of our very own vegetable farm.  I need to remind myself of these things to help calm my sometimes-debilitating confusion.  you know what j, you’ve never done this before, maybe you should be confused.  there you go, hush now little farmer—hushhh.

there’s been a ton happening, and a ton yet to happen.  somewhere in between those two is me, sorting it out best I can.  our spinach seeds all germinated well, but the tiny seedlings all died by a process called damping off, which is associated with you guessed it—being just a little too damp.  a bit of a rookie maneuver, but we’ll survive. 

carrot seedlings are just starting to snake their little blades through the sandy soil, the radishes and beets look strong.  a few beds of lettuce mix were planted too deeply due to my inexperience with using a seeder, so farmer root replanted those beds by hand.  everything has tradeoffs—remember—the seeder is quick and efficient when used properly (but a waste when used wrong).  root’s hand seeding method is a pretty painful backbreaker, and the possibility of wasting seed (in comparison to the machine) is higher.  however, farmer root’s hand to seed, seed to earth technique is one we can feel and trust with our hands and our eyes, and take confidence that the seeds are planted properly.

the baby chicks are growing by the minute.  where once lay only small puffy down hairs to keep the chicks warm now full colored feathers are beginning to bud.  their size and strength and abilities change by the day.  and soon, they will be out on the pasture, living the good life.