Friday Before Market

Written April 13th

Friday was spent getting ready for market for most of the day. Robyn and I harvested a medley of kale, broccoli and collard greens to make a fantastic looking braising mix. We also bunched kale, broccoli raab, garlic greens, and collard greens. Hamilton spent the morning cleaning off potatoes that have been stored since last fall, there were about five different varieties. We spent some time washing, bagging and bunching everything to be ready to sell at the first farmers market of the year. The afternoon was spent weeding, pruning grapes (it never ends!) and practicing driving the horses around Betsey's farm. 

We are trying to start a weekly tradition with all of the farmers in the area by having community dinners every friday night. Fridays are going to be one of the longest days, and we all have to be up and ready early on Saturday mornings. So after work Hamilton and I worked to prepare fish tacos with some halibut that betsey had laying around. It was such a perfect evening with an amazing sunset over the mountains. We got the bonfire going and had a great time getting to know each other some more. 

Pictures from our first market! 

Driving Horses

On Wednesday Betsey took us on a field trip to Sequim, WA to visit her horse trainer. We had been hearing about John since we have arrived. Descriptions about how good he is with horses, Betsey talking about him when working with her horses saying that John would never allow this, or the horses would never think to cross him like that. Brian has a little dog bo-bo who travels around with him during the week, he got a hair cut and they forgot to do his face, and since then they have been calling the dog John because he looks like he has a large mustache. From all of these stories we were all not quite sure what to expect when we would actually meet him. 

We arrived at the farm in the late afternoon. It was about a one and a half hour drive through the mountains after a morning of pruning grapes and weeding garlic. The day was cloudy, rainy and cold. When we got there John was busy meeting with two gentleman about a horse (no that is not a reference for a bathroom visit). One of the guys was wearing a 10 gallon hat and looked like he looked like a stereotypical cowboy who said things like howdy, dandy, ma'am, etc. They stood around for a bit and talked about the upcoming horse drafting auction, the four of us  stood there kind of in awe not sure what to think or what we would be getting into. Eventually Betsey broke off and introduced us to a foal who was tied up not too far away from us. He was stuck standing in a stall with his halter attached to the wall and a rope hooked on to his bound tail. He was antsy, small with soft hair and a small mane. He kept trying to swing around to check us out with his small beady eyes, so cute! Eventually the two other gentleman left and John came over to meet us. We all introduced ourselves and shook his very calloused, rough, strong hand. He began by introducing us to the small foal whose composure immediately changed when he walked over, standing still as a statue. He explained that the reason he was tied up by not only his head but his tail was to teach him patience, and to teach him to stand. His tail was bound to keep it from growing too long as a safety precaution. By binding up the tail it would keep it short and help prevent the horse from being able to clamp up their tail catching reins or other parts of the harness removing the control from the driver. 

From there we took a tour of the farm, checking out his large garlic patch, listening to Betsey scold him for not weeding enough. We then got to what we drove there for which was learning how to drive draft horses. Betsey split off and got to weeding the garlic (they were doing a work trade- him teaching us, her weeding). He walked around introducing us to his horses which there were 10 or 15. First we met his stallion. He was a huge black horse with a mane that completely covered his face so he looked like a rocker from the 80's. Since we had been there he hadn't moved a muscle, probably sleeping. But as John approached his ears perked up. John showed us how he ground trains his horses by demonstrating different commands such as coming when he motioned, stopping abruptly, turning to the right or left, backing up, all by following only small flicking motions from Johns hand. It was so amazing to watch John, who is probably in his sixties, about 5'10" with a soft teasing voice command this 1,500 pound huge majestic horse. We walked out to the pasture and met the other horses, each of them with a distinct personality which was so interesting to see. John explained how he could identify each of their personalities when they were fowls based on their facial structure and eyes. If the top of their eyes was nice and round they were smart, flat and crooked meant dumb. A bump on their nose was also a sign of stupidity, but a flat forehead and flat nose was a sign of high intelligence. Other features that I can't remember right now were signs of a potentially stubborn horse, obedient, easy to teach, moody, strong, etc. 

He walked us through grooming and harnessing a horse. Then we got a lesson on how to drive a horse using rope reins. He liked to talk, and would go on for quite awhile about specific factors of horse training which is amazing to listen to, especially since he himself has never had any formal training. All that he knows has come from experience, and much of the basis of what he does comes from his experience training great danes; I guess horses are the next step up right? Eventually he hooked up Samantha to a sled that had stacks of hay for seats and let us take the reins. At first we all had some difficulty, its so odd to get used to what it takes to drive a horse. I had some trouble at first getting the horse to go because I was nervous and holding tight to the reins. To get the horse to move he told us to "give her a kiss." This meant making a kissing noise to get her to start moving, to get her to stop you had to yell out "woah." It was so cold and windy at first that often the reins were shaking from us shivering from the cold, rain and wind. 

We each took turns driving, getting the hang of steering a huge horse around a variety of obstacles. We then loaded up the sled with a large amount of hay and drove out to the pasture to feed the horses. We would just cut the large strings off of the bales and throw out sections of the bale enough for them to eat. It was a little unnerving when we first got into the pasture because all of a sudden you were not only driving a horse but had 10 more following you close behind anxious for dinner. 

We finally finished around 8pm (5 hours outside in the cold!) and headed home. It was such a learning experience, and I am so grateful to continue to meet some amazingly talented people. 

Sorry!

I haven't had much time this week to post, but will be working on that tomorrow! Hope you are all weathering the storms this weekend alright!

More to come, but here is a picture of me driving Betsey's horse Red!

Happy Easter!

(Written April 9th)

I hope everyone had a great easter! On Sunday, Betsey took all of the interns out to brunch at an "Underground Cafe" event. Robyn- who works for Betsey as a regular employee invited us to have brunch that her mother in law puts on once every couple of weeks. She basically cooks brunch at this gorgeous house not too far from here and runs it like a cafe. 

There were several delicious things on the menu and we all tried to get something different to try. One of the favorites were these rabbit empanadas. I don't know if I have had rabbit before, but it was really good. There is a woman that raises and sells rabbit right across the street from where we were eating and so she brought some 4 day old rabbits over. They were so cute and small! Although it was a little bit weird to be holding them and then go back to eating rabbit... I ordered a waffle that had chocolate shavings in it with a tangerine whip creme, again, so good! 

After we got back, Liz and her friend that drove up with her from Florida, Morgan and I went on a walk to a park about two miles away called Fay Bainbridge. I guess it used to be a state park, but the state could no longer afford to maintain it. It was great to walk there since the weather was so nice, sunny and almost 70 degrees! We got there and walked around on the beach looking for sea glass (I was collecting shells as well, but they are both from florida so they were not as interested). I finally got to (kind of) see Mt. Renier! It is so crazy, because you can see mountains in the distance most of the time, and they all seem to be a part of a range. Mt. Renier is different since it seemingly pops up out of nowhere. 

(liz- far right, Morgan- behind her) 

(Picture of a weird bug I found)

Today (Monday), we worked with Brian again transplanting a ton of lettuce and bok choy since the weather has been cooperating. He kept saying how this is perfect timing since it hasn't rained for a couple of days, but there is rain in the forecast for Wednesday so the plants will make the transition easier. Much of the lettuce that we planted will actually be ready to start harvesting in about two weeks which is cool. Because the sun was out in full force today I actually got a sunburn. Great way to start off the farmers tan :)

I am excited because tomorrow we get to meet with John Garfunkle for the first time. He is the one who is in charge of the education program that they work with on and around the farm. This is what really made me want to come to this particular farm, so I am anxious to actually be introduced to some of the programs he runs with the schools around here. 

I hope everyone covered their plants (I heard that it is supposed to frost all of a sudden in Iowa), funny how its finally warmer here than back at home! 

Farm Updates

(Written April 5th)

Mouse Update: Captured and killed two mice! (I am not sure that it is a good thing that there were multiple, but I am choosing to not think about it). We saw the mouse running around again and decided it was time to get serious, so out came not only my favorite food, but theirs; peanut butter. We put a little dollop on the end of the trap and within 20 minutes we had our first victory. It was late so Hamilton had gone to bed, but I was up putting dishes away or something, that was when I heard the snap. At first I was excited that we actually caught it, but then came the realization that there was now a dead mouse in the kitchen... so up the stairs I went to fetch Hamilton. Yes, yes, I know, what a girl. But I just don't think I can handle discarding dead rodents... the thought made me cringe. He threw it outside, set the trap again, and in the morning we were welcomed by another full trap. I am glad to have not seen anymore little mice running around the kitchen, and hope that the trap will ward them off. After talking to a fellow farmer, she mentioned a more humane way of capturing unwanted house guests in a box type contraption- I would definitely prefer this, but don't look forward to the long walk away from our house holding a box that has a mouse (or mice!) in it... though that I might be able to handle a bit better. We are looking into the possibility of maybe getting a cat, we will see...

In other news, it has been a fantastic week! I have learned so much already, and have enjoyed every minute of it. Yesterday we were working with Brian transplanting a couple hundred tomato plants from their starting seedling pods to larger trays to give them some room. Once they grow out of that they will be headed to a different greenhouse where they will stay until the end of the season. There were so many varieties! Most that I have never heard of. We went from there to another field where we got to plant our first crop in the ground! We planted a couple hundred pea plants using string as a guide to get straight lines. 

Today we were with Betsey who had us start the long and demanding task of planting onions. Betsey mostly specializes in potatoes and garlic, but also has the most onions from the farmers that we have seen. We loaded up the trays of seedlings and headed to the field. At first the field didn't really seem that big, and I thought we would be there for only a couple hours considering it was about the same size as where we planted the peas which only took us an hour, maybe two. Little did I realize just how small those onion plants were... We started by outlining rows using a large rake looking thing that we dragged down the rows. This was followed by one of us spreading a natural fertilizer mix where the onions would go. Then it was to the most difficult part, actually planting the onions. You see the onion plants are very small, picture a green onion plant with the green part only being as long as your pinky, and small as a piece of cheap (thin) yarn. Yep, pretty small. On top of it, most of the varieties that we were planting needed to only be placed 4 inches a part. So now when you look at the field, that is a lot of onions! We paired up, one person pulling a part the seedlings and spacing them correctly, while another person came behind and actually planted them in the ground. This is all done while bending over, crawling or kneeling. While it all sounds tedious, it wasn't that bad once you learned the correct way of bending over at the hips, instead of bending your back. Plus spacing was really important. If you place them too far apart you are potentially loosing the produce which equals loosing money. However, if you plant them too close they will not produce as well which again equals loosing money. It was an interesting balance. 

Even though it was a lot of hard work, that feeling that you get when you are done can't be beat. We took a break in the middle of the day to stand upright, and headed into town for a quick coffee break which was fun. You know you are with farmers when the barista makes a leaf shape on the top of your coffee and they end up talking about what type of plant it comes from and what its scientific name is... 

We finished the day out by learning how to use the horses for cultivating! After grooming Red first, Betsey attached the harness and multiple leather straps that I will know the names of by the end of the summer (I hope!), and attached the cultivator to the back. She steered them while we got the hang of directing the cultivator in a straight line. It was good to practice because the horse walks a bit faster than I do, and managing to keep a straight line was a bit difficult at first. But, it was fun! 

Since it was such a beautiful day, at five o'clock I was not ready to go home yet. So we joined Betsey on a delivery of potatoes to a local restaurant. After dropping off the potatoes we happened to run into a gallery where they were doing their monthly gallery walk. We stopped in, had some free wine and looked at some fantastic paintings. We got to meet one of the artists, Don Tiller, who was probably my favorite (check out his website).

We traveled around to a couple more galleries, drank some more wine, and headed back. Now we are cooking some dinner, and cleaning since another intern is going to be arriving tonight having driven all the way from Florida! Thanks to Liz for providing a nice welcome to our house snack of cake batter puppy chow!!! I have great friends :) 

I am so looking forward to the rest of the season, and hope that the excitement and joy from this work does not wear off- although I don't foresee that happening any time soon! I have decided that I am going to start carrying my camera around with me to snap some pictures so you can really see what I have been talking about. I wish I had it with me today!! 

Miss you all, Happy Spring and Easter!