Day Three

After two days of rain, I was beyond stoked to see the sun radiating beyond the eastern hills when I awoke at 7.  I trundled down the stairs, stuck the scones in the oven, downed a glass of water and went for a run.  It had been a while since I'd been running, but my ankles and knees were feeling like happy little springs and I ran about two miles (estimate) before turning back for the slow run/walk back to the farm.

Following breakfast, the sun still shining, we spent some time pruning the two apple trees.  It's a difficult task murdering baby apples, but one has to remember that it is for the good of the survivors and eventually, our tastebuds.  Then the kiddies showed up, the second class of preschoolers came to plant their pumpkins.  One in particular, a 3-year-old named Will, was especially juiced on all the animals and insisted I take him around and introduce him to all our lovely livestock (which include chickens, ducks, bees and the garder snakes that preside over the compost heap).  He held my hand and told me I was "a good person".  Thanks Will.

This afternoon a fellow named Nick came to the farm from OSU to teach us all about soil health and saving money on fertilizers.  We took samples from different parts of the farm that are currently cover-cropped for him to test the levels of nitrogen.  A lot of what he said went right over my head, but I listened anyway, hoping that the lingo would somehow soak in and begin to make sense.  In a way it did. He has developed a calculator program which is available online for free. His goal is to help people manage what fertilizers they need in order to maintain the correct balance of NPK (that's nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) as well as other trace elements in the soil, while reducing the amount of money spent on these products (such as feather meal or bone meal).  This adds up to healthy soil and minimal overhead cost, excellent!

After a hot late-afternoon cup of coffee (it's still on the chilly side here at the moment), my fellow workers and I planted beets and fennel and discussed relationships and trust.  It's great being able to have deep intellectual conversations with individuals who have a wide variety of backgrounds.  Now I'm settling into a post-work beer, thinking of making something involving kale and duck eggs for dinner.  Who knows what tomorrow holds?  Probably more hard work and a long-ass swim.

Love and asparagus,
the plucky peasant