Inspiration

I'll get onto my week in a moment!

Today while I showered an idea popped into my head... a very wholesome, very giving idea. I don't want to give away what the idea actually is on this public forum, simply because it's supposed to be a surprise for some people. But I now have a project for when I get back. A very big project. I'm thinking it may suck a lot of my life up.

Oddly, I'm a little afraid that I'll be too busy doing this whole living life thing to really focus on my college applications. Dammit colleges! Why can't you just know me, love me, and give me enough financial support to learn in your facilities! :p

I'll balance it i guess. I have to, so I will.

Last year I didn't apply because I was scared and not ready. This year I'm having trouble applying because I'm so damn busy with my actual passions, that applying to schools seems... horribly unimportant. Even though I'm 97% sure I want to begin school next fall.

meh meh meh.

So anyway, this week has been pretty uneventful.

and BAM! That did it...

Let me explain:

Thursday morning, Tess and I were continuing work on the garlic field, planting, haying, shaping the beds, and I was off in thought about what I was going to write for my blog this week. And I tried to recall my week... A horrible falling out with Parker, an awe-inspiring drive back to the farm Tues. morning, picking tomatoes, baking bread, CSA pick and process day where we made carmel popcorn balls for halloween, and then working on the garlic field... overall a pretty uneventful week.

And that's what did it. As soon as I thought that one measly sentence: "it's been a pretty uneventful week," the fates decided that that was simply unacceptable. And it started to sleet. And then snow. Remember, this whole sleetsnow thing is taking place on OCTOBER 27!

No one expected it. We had no warning and Tess and I even had our evenings mostly planned. We were going to have an early dinner, I was going to take a shower, and then go to bed and get lot's of sleep.

Of course, that didn't happen. Because of the snow we decided it may be a good idea to check the weather forecast and as we suspected, there was a hard freeze warning for that night.

It's a good thing I remembered 3 weeks earlier, when we had a hard frost scare, Jen said that we'd have to pull all the tomato plants. We tried calling Kai but couldn't get ahold of him immediately, and there wasn't time to waste, so we got to it, picking all the tomatoes in HT1. The snow started at 4 and by 5 the ground was already mostly covered. And by 6 the sun was down! Jen arrived home just as we finished picking in HT1, and we all immediately started pulling and picking all the tomatoes and peppers in the green house. We shined the truck lights on the greenhouse to give us some light, but even with that we mostly worked in the dark.

It was... cold. Freezing, actually. And miserable because of that. OR it should've been. My old Bowling Green self would've hated every minute of it, but this me realized the true importance of it, of the task, and was able to enjoy it because she was working towards a very important goal. Life or death, really. If those plants weren't harvested, we were going to lose everything they produced, and that wasn't fair to us and that wasn't fair to the plants.
So we worked tirelessly in the bitter wet cold until 8:30-driven by that fact.

The house was kind of destroyed in the process of saving everything from the frost. We left the door open in an effort to save time and the cats got in. They ate all the butter in the butter dish and left kitty prints on the kitchen table. Mud was tracked all through the house and the library and dining room were overtaken with pepper plants, herbs, and tomatoes.

But we did it. And then we had hot apple cider to celebrate while we watched Edward Scissorhands. Damn him…why did he decide to start with the ice sculptures so early!?

The next day we heard that there was going to be 6-12 in of snow on Sat. and our priorities immediately turned to finishing the garlic fields!! We spent all day planting, but we did get it done. Now all that's left to do down there is cover the entire field with hay. I'm glad we're almost through with that field-it's been a long and laboring task.

On Saturday morning we woke up to green grass. The fates decided to give us a little more time to prepare. So we harvested the potatoes and tot soy, made an agerbond cover for Joey in the hopes that it would keep the snow from crushing the seedlings and did a similar type cover for the suatee mix bed. And as we were wrapping up, the snow really began to fall. We were ready just in time.

I'll stop there for now. read on for our fun snow activities! And Halloween at Channery Hillgarlic field! under snow...

Update!

It was Oct. 27 and we got our first snow. None-a-that KY snow that are just little flurries, but enough to cover the ground. The next day it all melted.

Today. We have about 12 in of snow.
Today. It is Oct. 29.

Yes, folks. I am in Narnia.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

Well folks, ,it's been quite a week. We've had some pretty awesome ups, but some punch-you-in-the-gut downs.

Monday and Tuesday Jen went to her friends house to watch TV for hours on end. I don't blame her, I'd need a break too. And Sebastian went to the city with Kai for the week. SO it was an intern house for the first part of the week. We did smaller tasks like picking huckleberries while watching scrubs and digging Edgar potatoes, cutting wood, and watching more scrubs… Scrubs is awesome. I didn't realize how much I liked it until I started working here. Maybe it's just because it's my only form of TV (even though it's TV on DVD), but watching Scrubs seems like the best thing on earth. I take no shame..

Wednesday was pick and process day, however, it looked like the apocalypse outside. Dark, cold, extremely windy. So we decided not to process and keep ourselves inside as much as possible. We still had to harvest our greens, though. Mustard and chard. But a WHOLE LOT of mustard and chard. The CSA bags this week were full to the brim. We also chucked in some garlic, baby cabbages, broccoli, and/or cauliflower.

After we finished work for the day I went to my room and took a nap. It was the most glorious feeling EVER! I always crave sleep from the time I wake up to midday. And this time I was actually able to satisfy that craving! It was awesome.

Thursday Jen and Sebastian went to the city and as a nice gesture, Tess and I made dinner all by ourselves! I felt so accomplished! It ended up being a nacho dish. Tortilla chips, rice, beans, salsa, cheese, green peppers, olives. And it turned out amazingly well. I also made more bread that rose so much the top of it hit the top of the over and I couldn't get it out… Jen had to pull out the rack from under it while I held onto the bread. Tasted awesome though! And now I know to never put the bread on the top rack.


We wanted to have dinner actually ready by the time she got home, but unfortunately we were still working on it. But when she came home and asked what we were making and we answered with "dinner" she got really excited. She later said that on the way home she was trying to think of what to make for dinner but kept drawing blanks. I was glad to help out. I knew she'd like to have someone else cook for once since on the way back from NYC that first week I worked at the farm, she said that what was really exciting was that her mother was making dinner, so she didn't have to!

Friday Jen, Kai, and Sebastian went to Connecticut for Jen's dad's birthday so Tess and I again had the house to ourselves…for a little while. That evening Jen's friend Deb, and her friend, Sue, came to the farm. It was interesting hosting these guests that I didn't know in this home that wasn't really mine. I guess it truly shows me how my age doesn't matter…i mean, here I am, taking care of a whole entire farm and playing host to 40 something yr olds. And doing both successfully. I'm 18, remember.

We chatted about college and application essays since Sue was an english major. I've been going through one of my many "All my friends are amazing therefor, I suck" phases. And this translates into: I will not be able to write a good app. essay.Which is stressful, because I'm pretty sure my app. essay will make or break my acceptance into most of the schools I'm applying. GAH. college. I don't know how I would've been able to apply last year when I had no desire to go.

Saturday was the day. It was when Teddy and Katie came to the farm, when Deb and Sue left, when everyone went down to work on the garlic field, when the tractor got stuck, and when Didjeriedoo died. Yes, folks, one of our beloved kittens–my favorite, actually–died mysteriously.

I'll break it down from when the tractor got stuck…
Kai was bringing down a hay bale to the lower lower garlic field and got stuck in the mud, but in trying to get out ended up sliding farther down hill and being stuck IN the part of the garlic field that we had just finished readying to plant. Damn you, fate. After about an hour of trying to get it unstuck, Kai was thoroughly frustrated and obviously felt horrible so we finally called the hallorans and had them bring their tractor down and tow it out. A small bit of the field was ruined but there wasn't any serious damage. Everyone was safe and the tractor made it back up to the garage safely.

Unfortunately, while we waited for the Hallorans to arrive, we all went up and began chores. While Tess, Teddy, and Katie put away the tools I headed to the chicken house and in my path I saw a lifeless kitten…. It was more shocking than anything else. I can't quite explain the feeling I had when I found him. It was just… finding something that shouldn't be. I ran back to the milkhouse and told tees that a cat was dead and all of us ran to the spot where I found him. He had blood from his mouth and nose and his left eye was almost popped out of his skull. We all tried to figure out what could've happened but came to no conclusions since there were no other visible injuries. Teddy went and told Jen and Kai who were just as shocked as everyone else. And eventually Tess and I continued with the chores while Teddy, Jen, and Katie laid him under a dead apple tree in the pasture.

It was a solemn rest of the evening. I told Jimmy about the events of the day and his response was spot on: That's a sad day. People always try to romanticize farming, but neglect to highlight the potential emotional drain that goes along with it.

Very very true. Working on a farm hardens you. It's impossible to raise chickens from their baby chick phase and then soon after turn em over for slaughter and NOT form some sort of emotional shield. Or plant 5 rows of a crop and only 1 row actually survives… there are many different things.

So R.I.P Didj. You had a short life, but you touched mine greatly.

The next day was hard and slow getting started. I was still trudging through my grief of Didj when we began working at 9:30. And it was a missing Parker day. Our whole day was made up of remaking the part of the field that was wrecked by the tractor and haying and shaping the rows. It was a long tiring day. At the end of it Tess and I began salivating at the thought of waffles with strawberries and whipped cream and then jumped up on a couple hay bales and tried willing them to fly us back to the house (the walk from the garlic field to the house is a long steep hill…go figure). So that was a lot of fun. And then that night Katie and Teddy made tacos!! OHMIGOD they were so delicious. Just thinking about them makes me swoon. After dinner, Tess and I stayed up and chatted with the guests while Teddy made a portrait of Jen's "ancestor aunt Flo."

I'll get a pic of that and put it up here when I get back to the farm. Basically Jen wants anyone who visits the farm and wants to-to paint a portrait of some fake ancestor so that we can add a bit of history to the farm. Such as, oh aunt Flo, she would always hunt out chickens…that's why the family couldn't actually have any chickens for 20 years… ya know, weird stories like that.

Somehow I also ended up driving Katie and Teddy back to the city this morning, since I was heading there and they needed a ride and vuala! They're really cool. Teddy is going to begin traveling this Feb. in India and on my journeys I may even meet up with him if I decide to go to India. who knows!?

And there it is again, the other my-age-really-doesn't-matter thing. I would say that these two folks that I gave a ride to could possibly be considered friends. Or at least, they would've been if there was more time for us to actually hang out. And these two folks are in their late 20s? Katie is married. And Teddy seems to have had enough time to spend four years in school and then a good amount of time traveling since he's been to thailand, laos, and India. I'm 8.5 years younger than my sister, but I hang out with people that are her age. weird.

So all of us went to breakfast and then we parted ways, I traveled the city for the first time by myself–took the uptown train from 103 to 145 so I could get back to Kate's appt. And now I'm in the city just getting some of my much needed R&R, watching the kids play ball and readying to go shopping for making candy apples. I'll spend the night, wake up at 6 and head back home tomorrow morning…with just a short stop at dunkin donuts! I'm excited about the rest of the day. And ya know what? I have less than 4 weeks left of working on the farm! That thought is bizarre. And kind of scary, because then I'll have to enter the rest of my life which is ALL completely unplanned.

Next time I post there'll be 3 weeks left, then 2, then 1… so I guess that means there's only 3 more blog posts! man. Time sure does fly...

Just life

The rest of the week was slow, too. At least, slower than usual. Or perhaps slow isn't even the right word, maybe less packed would be more fitting…I'm not sure. Anyway, because we didn't have a CSA last week we put a ton of stuff in this week. Though, nothing that needed to be refrigerated and nothing that had to be picked since we had so much stuff left over from the frost.
We packed:
tomatoes
potatoes
tomatillos
carrots
radishes
garlic
peppers

So lot's of goodies! And it was nice because we could just sit in the living room and sort–so we ended up watching Scrubs all day. And it was AWESOME!
I had forgotten how much I loved Scrubs. And it reminded me of home…

Thursday was one big surprise.
Normally Jen and Sebastian wake up at 6, head to the city, make the dropoffs, and come home around 6 or 7. Never in the history of this farm have only interns gone. But today? This was the day that changed. I woke up, went to the chickens, and immediately asked Tess why the jeep was still here and she said that Jen was sick. So I thought-ah, another day here with Jen. But then Tess also said, and she wants us to do the dropoffs. And at the moment my jaw fell and I couldn't stop repeating: "what?!"
For some reason that was so beyond the realm of possibility to me, but lo and behold, within an hour I was driving the jeep straight to NYC–the institute for integrative nutrition to be exact. And it all went pretty smoothly. Tess and I even stopped at dunkin donuts on the way back. Oh! and to make it more interesting we had a cat delivery that day since a couple of Jen's friends are going on a vacation and so we're watching their cats. They dropped them off at ATC, our second dropoff point, and we lugged em back to the farm with us.

Woo!! so that was one fine day. At least I now have a grasp on the grid system. I'm feeling more and more like a native city person.

Friday was cold and wet. So we cleaned out a bit of the barn and moved the temporary cats in there, Tess and I cleaned the chicken coup and I made more bread! This time I mad War Bread, which is a blended grains dough with a bit of wheat flour, molasses, and rolled oats. It's pretty tasty! The dough is a whole lot harder to knead, but I think it's worth it since it makes more bread and it tastes better, in my opinion.

And Saturday was awesome. Everything about it just felt like I was at home. Not BG home, but a new yet just as comfortable home. We made green tomato pie, some sugar cookies with leftover pie dough, and everyone went out to the old cow pasture and we picked apples! Or rather, Kai climbed the tree, shook it, and everyone else gathered the fallen fruit. It was awesome.

And After lunch we went to a slow food event where we made apple cider out of our apples! It involves a couple big machines to produce as much as we did, but it's essentially pulverizing the apples into a pulp, and then putting a ton of pressure on that pulp to push out the juice. It tastes amazing. Best apple cider I've ever had. And we brought home 4 gallons of it so that'll probably last us 3 days. It made me really excited for the christmas season when I can have hot apple cider made by my dad. It's really yummy! The whole day actually reminded me of christmas. It was awesome. But did make me anxious to go to home home.

As soon as we got back from the slow food event I hopped in the car and drove to Princeton to visit with Alison. I must say, Princeton is beautiful. Best architecture I've seen on any campus. Last night we saw Drive with Ryan Gossling. It was really entertaining…I couldn't peg it as any one style of movie. I suppose it was action–but it was just…different. Anyway, now I have a celebrity crush on Ryan Gossling. He's perfectly hunky. :)

oh yeah, and the movie, soda, and popcorn were free. So that was awesome.

We also went to Hoagie Haven, which is apparently quite famous, and split a Sanchez, extra dirty. It was a sub with cheese sticks, chicken, and french fries…and lots of special sauce. It was crazy. I regretted eating it afterwards-but it was altogether a good experience.

And now I'm chillin in her dorm, having my daily argument with Parker, eating cookies on her bed. Ahh, real life–not good, not bad. Just life.
All day we've just been sitting in her room basically, but it's all good since I need some just sitting. It's my favorite activity! :p

and Brunch here? amazing! They have chocolate fountains!

the end. Tune in next week for next weeks update!

Plowing plowing plowing BREAD!

Beauty. True beauty. It exists.

This evening I looked across the valley at the neighboring hillside and couldn't comprehend how such an amazing sight could really be so close to me. Now I understand what inspired artists such as Monet. And until tonight I had to look at a picture to see even a glimpse of the magnificence that nature can conjure.

There was a big full moon right above a mountain rich with the colors of fall. Never in your life have you seen autumn's splendor at such a scale, I can almost guarantee.

And then I turned around, looked up our hillside, and saw the sky painted a deep pink. I've seen plenty of sunsets, but none like this; none of such radiant color and texture.

I couldn't take it all in. It's similar to when I went with Duncan to see Gabriel Iglesias and I felt as though I couldn't possibly express how funny I actually thought something was…like even though I'd be laughing as hard as I could, it didn't feel like enough.

That is why, at some point, I want to take some time to learn how to take it all in. Just be with nature. I know that sounds very cliche' and hippie-like…but it's the only way I know to describe it. Just be with nature. No cell phones, no music, no school, no farming. Simple. Time, Space, Earth. That's it.
I believe that would be the only way I could learn to deeply inhale such sights.



… so, on to my week since, yes, a week has passed since I began writing this entry.

I already explained the majority of my Yale visit, the only things I didn't mention were that Michelle and I did have dinner with Bernardo and later I met one of Michelle's friends, Kimo. He's my favorite of everyone I met there. Genuinely interested in me as a person, didn't seem at all stuck up, and very sweet. He also didn't try to recruit me, which was a bonus.

And dinner with Bernardo? Well that was really fun! Bernardo's a really neat person and it still seems strange to me that we haven't seen each other in 4 years or so, because it honestly feels like we've been good friends for my whole life. I know this isn't true though since he definitely didn't like Michelle or I in elementary school! He crossed our faces out of the yearbook.

I got home late that night, around 11:30 and I was exhausted! So exhausted that my subconscious conjured a dream in which Tess texted me: "Jen said you could sleep in since you got home so late." Because of that dream I ended up sleeping past when I normally do and actually getting up at 8. With another intern around I feel especially horrible when I do that because then she has to start the chores alone and I look lazy in comparison.
I'm just not a morning person!

It was a slow morning anyway–a good one though. Kai was home because of Columbus day and so he made some super delicious pancakes and all of us sat in the kitchen and chatted. Have I mentioned how much I like the people I work for and with? They're very intelligent, very fun to talk to, extremely patient, and don't treat me like I'm a child, even though I'm the youngest in the household, besides Sebastian.

After Breakfast Kai and Jen both had to run a couple errands so Tess and I journeyed up our hillside. I hadn't been up there since my first day working here, so it was quite a sight to behold. It's amazing how much something can change in such a short amount of time. The view which was just a month and a half ago a sea of green was now a mix of oranges, reds, and yellows.

Seasons. Oh how I enjoy them.

At the very top of the hill there was a drop off, and at the bottom of that drop off was tons and tons of trash. It was disheartening to see so many glass bottles that could've been recycled, however, it was interesting to see all the different brands from various different years. There were some really recent things like Sobe and other very not-so-recent ones. Kai later told us that this was the old trash dump and that every farm has one..

The rest of the day we plowed and moved rocks and plowed… always my fav. activity! :p

And the next day? We plowed! Even though Kai wasn't there, Tess and I got on our big girl boots and plowed away. It wasn't easy. But a lot less agonizingly horrendous as I had remembered. In any case, I don't like that machine. It frustrates me to no end. Which is funny because for Tess? She could deal with it, but she hates the chainsaw–I however, love those spinning teeth of death!

We were almost finished, only about 10 more passes to go, but we checked the blades and they were worn down so much that we were hesitant to continue. So we brought it up to the house, looked at it, determined we couldn't fix it, and then proceeded to move it to the barn garage. But as I was moving it, the plower attachment just fell off! So after putting the rest of the tractor back in the garage and hauling the plower to the side of the driveway, we were tired of machines.



So, I made bread! It was called: the first loaf, and it was a simple yeast rising white bread, but I was so damn proud of it! When it came out of the oven and I cut that first slice…it was amazing! And shocking…I don't really understand how the crust can just end up as the crust and the middle is so soft. Anyway, I MADE BREAD!

We also made homemade pizzas again, which were just as delicious. And I made most of the sauce and sauteed the peppers! Ahh cooking. How I love it now. And right before college too–so it's gunna blow not having a kitchen.

Oh yeah, and Tess decided to "powder" her face with my leftover flour...

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. The last part!

Saturday was AWESOME!

In the morning we cut up the rotten potatoes and got them ready to become french fries! Which we would do for lunch.

But before we could actually make the fries, we had to cut some wood so we could get the wood stove going. At first I was really excited about that, but then I learned we'd have to use the chainsaw, and that scared me just a wee bit.

But I'm not going to say, "no! I will not learn how to use a chainsaw!" So I learned, and it was AWESOME! I feel so accomplished now that I can use it! And I'm still definitely a beginner, but I'm surprised by how well that machine and I got along.

Sometimes it wouldn't start for Tess and I'd go over and yank it-and for some reason it would start up right away. Who knows….

I also got over my fear of using the chainsaw. They're certainly dangerous, but as long as you're really careful and pay attention, you'll be fine.

So the whole morning was spent cutting wood. It was exhausting and we got filthy from the wood chips, but I really enjoyed it. I think we may cut even more wood on Monday, so I'm excited about that.

I really just feel like a total badass now that I can use the chainsaw.

Badass.



Jen told me to do this one. "Do a sexy chainsaw pose!" Best boss ever.



The rest of the day was spent making french fries from the rotten potatoes we had cut, and chatting with a photographer from Germany that was part of a workshop in Sullivan county sent on an assignment to capture "transitions" with the camera. I didn't get a lot of time to chat with him, but what he said was very interesting. He talked about the protests on wall street and said it was odd that the American people are so afraid of their government. He doesn't think it should be that way. I agree. He seemed to be saying that the protests gave him some hope about America. I wish it could give me the same hope. Maybe in time it will, but right now I still feel like there's no way to save...everything.

And now, I'm caught up!

I've told you a little about Yale already. It's buildings are beautiful. And seeing Michelle is wonderful. Frat parties are gross. And I'm so 100% in love with the dining hall buffets. AHG SO MUCH AWESOME FOOD!

Soon I will go with Michelle to have dinner with Bernardo. And then get back home so I can begin another busy week of farm work. yippee!!!

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 6

I'm so close to catching up on my blogging! woohoo for Michelle having to study!
I mean, I'd certainly rather be spending time with her since it's super awesome being able to visit her. But we both have some much to get done that I think this is working out well. And in an hour we will be heading out on the town for some food and we may even meet up with Bernardo!! Which is absolutely crazy since he moved away so long ago and I haven't seen him in years. It doesn't feel like that though. For some reason it feels like Bernardo never really left…idk.

So this week was filled with less chaos but still lot's of fun!

On Monday we picked another 250 lbs of tomatoes, so those pups are really are their prime. It's awesome! CSAers are going to get a hell of a lot of tomatoes next week.
The contrast between last week's picking and this week's picking was odd though, since last week we were all freaking out, "257 lbs! Oh my god!" Now we just take it in stride, "Oh yeah, that's a lot."

Also on Monday I achieved a good Zen(n). It no longer felt like work, instead it just felt like…life. And that was amazing. And liberating.

Tues. morning we found out that there was supposed to be a frost on Wed. night, so for the next two days, we prepared. We picked all the corn, carrots, and radishes and washed and stored all of them. We put hay around the greenhouse and pulled a lot of our herbs and potted them. We also potted some rice plants! And our final task was to put the agerbond over Fergie, which was much easier than the first time we put it up for the frost we had 2 weeks ago.

The really weird thing about this week is that there was no CSA! An Italian couple came by the farm to drop off some wood on Tues., and the wife told us that it was supposed to get down to 25 Thursday night! So Jen made the decision to stay home on Thursday and help us ready for the hard frost. It didn't help that the jeep is having problems and we're not quite sure when that can get fixed. So there was no picking and processing! Just readying for frosts.

Thursday morning, Jen came out the greenhouse to check on things and told us that the weather was saying it was only supposed to get down to 34 that night, so we could spend our day doing other projects which turned out to be haying the front yard: project kill the grass!

That was actually pretty fun. I really like having Jen come out and work with us. It just feels right. And taking a break from the field is always nice. Plus, this was the idyllic farm scenario. Pitchforks in hand, we filled the wagon with hay. It was what you imagine when you think of farms.

Eventually though, we got tired of the wagon and just began rolling the giant hay bales down the hill. That was a good bit of excitement. We ran into a tree and a rose bush…
And no, you don't need machines to roll hay bales. Yes, they are huge. Don't underestimate human strength.

We finished that job and went in to eat lunch. But after lunch we stayed inside-away from the hay that was making us wheeze, and made Pizza. FROM SCRATCH!



Tess's shaped pizza

My shaped pizza

It was really fun! Tess and I made the dough. It really wasn't that difficult. I'm not sure why making your own pizzas doesn't happen more often. The only difficult part was kneading it, and that's because it never got elasticy like the directions said it would. So even though the cookbook said to knead the dough for 8 minutes, we ended up kneading it for at least half an hour.

It was all good though since we had Twilight to listen to! haha. Jen goes to the library and gets books on CD, and last week she got Twilight. Listening to that with Tess and Jen is probably one of my favorite things to do. It really is a brilliant comedy. :p I mean, come on. Bella + Edward = BEDWARD. Clever. Oh Stephanie Myer, how you astound me. Jen has said on multiple occasions now, "I just wanna punch Stephanie. I really do."
Teen Erotica at it's worst. That is Twilight.

The pizzas turned out wonderfully! The sauce was made from our tomatoes, basil, arregeno, thyme, garlic, onion, etc… and the green pepper topping was also from our farm. I'm pretty sure that was the best pizza I've ever had. And while we were eating it, Horse even came up on the porch and looked into the living room, as if to say, "can I have some?" It was hysterical.

On Friday Kai came back from the city and so we were planning to rotary plow the whole day (HELL), but other things got in the way. For instance, Sophie, our cow, got out of her pen somehow. So her and her calf, Horse, were chilling in the hay we just put down. It was about time we returned Sophie to the Hallorans, so we figured we would just walk her back to their farm then and there. (The Hallorans let Channery Hill borrow Sophie for the summer, but it's time for the cows to go home.)
It was really fun walking the two cows down the road. Similar to walking a dog, but…on a larger scale. haha

We were all sad when we finally had to say bye to Sophie, though. I almost teared up myself and I never even milked her!

Thank you for being such a good cow, Soph.

The rest of the day we went back to purgatory and continued moving the endless amount of rocks from the newly plowed lower lower field. Tess and I were going to give Kai a break from plowing and do a row, but Tess went first and when she got to the end of the row and I was about to take over she said, "DON'T DO THAT. IT's HORRIBLE. Just don't do it." So, I took her advice and continued throwing rocks.
By about 6:30 it had deteriorated to us just trying to throw rocks as far as we could. We were practicing our baseball pitches. :)

Friday night was also the night we finished Twilight while fishing out rotten potatoes from the potato bin. We're ready for the next part of the saga!

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 5

I'm currently sitting in the Timothy Dwight Yale library. It's a great place. Too quiet for my sniffly nose, but altogether pretty neat. I think my favorite library of all the colleges I've seen. Though they all have different strong points.

Moving on so I can catch up and actually write about my Yale visit.

It was Tess's first visit to the city so we had to brainstorm what to do. We settled on the Natural History Museum after eating at Fred's, a nice brunch place named after a black lab. Brunch is becoming my favorite meal, now. And my biggest meal, when I can get it.

James went shopping while we museumed because he was making a really cool dinner that night…unfortunately I don't remember what it's called. It's similar to chinese dumplings though.

We had to pay to get into the museum, or rather, make a suggested donation, which I thought was lame! But it was worth it. We spent most of our time in the dinosaur exhibits since Tess is super interested in that. And near the end of the day we went to the ocean room and saw the BIG BLUE WHALE! It was huge.
Even if we had spent the whole day there it still would've been impossible to see everything, but I think we spent our time wisely. It was all very cool and interesting. Though I think I learned that I'm a little more interested in the oceans than I am about dinosaurs–though I enjoy learning about both.

there'll be more pics from this visit later. I just have to get them from Tess

Tess kept trying to persuade me to go into archeology or something of that realm, but to no avail. I'm pretty set on my passions for healthy food and a healthy world.

Tess would also exclaim, "that would be so fun to ride!" when she saw the skeleton of a dinosaur…. Oh Tess. haha! I feel as though we're really becoming friends. I thoroughly enjoy her company and we never seem to run out of things to talk about.
She also keeps me sane when I have my "bad Parker" days. I bounce my feelings off of her and usually end up with more insights about my own emotions at the end of the day because of that.

After the museum we made a stop at whole foods and picked up, I think, 4 things. It was almost $50!
I know why good organic food is so expensive, believe me, I do. I work on an organic farm and it's not easy. But $50 for 4 items?! That's impossible. If we really want a food revolution, that must change.

Soon after we got back to the apartment Darren arrived and although I'm positive I'd met him before, I couldn't quite place when or where. But it was awesome getting to chat with him! Kate has really awesome friends, I like all of them. It makes me nervous and excited about going to college and making my own friends. I can only hope they're half as awesome. So far, though, most of the ppl I meet at colleges seem pretty bland. Though that's probably because they really don't care to show me much of their personality since I'm not part of their world.

One thing I've noticed when visiting colleges is that I'm introduced to someone, and then they start acting as though I don't exist and chat with other people about things I couldn't possibly understand because I don't go to that school. I think it's just a freshman thing…the whole new college-new life selfishness. I believe most people grow out of that. But it's annoying.
Don't get me wrong, not everyone is like that. But enough to get to me a little bit.

And a mildly related personal note, lately I've been feeling somewhat left behind, since now my friends are settling in with their new lives and they're making new friends. I wouldn't change anything, because I still love where I am, it's just...it is what it is, gap years ARE hard sometimes, especially if you go down my path and don't join a program with a bunch of other kids your age. 
I'm just not able to "settle" into anything long-term and I'm not in a place to make new friends, really, so I still feel like my only friends are my old friends–but they're all moving on. 

Luckily, it's easy to work the pain away here. That sounds harsh, but it's actually really nice.

Back to NYC…
The dinner James made was delicious. And after we ate Tess and I took off for home. It was a long, fun day.

And driving to and from the city is nothing to me now. I'm very happy with my new confidence as a driver.

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 4

And ahh, we're now to Thursday.

This begins chaos. haha

Tess and I only had time to move the squash to the barn before Kate, James, the kids, and the photographer came to the farm. We then scrambled around looking for a small table and tablecloth, but ended up just using a stump from Jen's workshop.

Soon after we got everything set up, though, it started pouring. And I do mean literally pouring. I was outside for about 2 seconds and I was drenched. Within 5 minutes a small creek had formed in the yard, and I ran around trying to make sure everything was okay including the high tunnels, which were beginning to fill with water and tug at the plastic. It's a good thing I checked them!

By the way, everything we planted is coming up! It's astonishing, really, to think that just a tiny seed pod could produce such amazing plants. Nothing's big yet, but the peas came up very quickly. Sooner than it said they would on the package. So I'm very very proud. Kinda like a proud mamma. hah
Recently, though, we've noticed that something has begun eating our peas!! It may be a vole, but we're unsure. I really hope some of them survive.

Anyway, after a long while a break came in the rain, so everyone ran out to the set and the photoshoot began. It turned out splendidly. It wasn't sunny, but I honestly thought it was better that way, with the clouds just off in the distance, rising from the mountains. Here's a few pictures:

The awesome set. Notice the cupcakes. Best cupcakes, ever.

My favorite shot!

So the rest of my week was balancing work with having my sister and her family up at the farm. It was fun! But tiring.

Friday night was really awesome though! We made perogies from scratch! I made the dough (apparently I'm pretty okay at making dough) and we all helped make the fillings, there was a green tomato filling, a regular tomato filling, and a sauerkraut filling. And then we actually fashioned them. That was really fun. Jen showed us a trick–use your elbow to made a perfect little pocket for the filling. Tess and James were skeptical, but it worked for me!

Kate took pictures, but I don't have them yet, so I'll post them when I get them.

And then we feasted, and they were amazing! We ate them with caramelized onions which are just… heavenly. It was a great night.

The kids seemed to like the farm. By the end of their visit they even liked the mud! And Cadence and Sebastian really hit it off. I'm proud of Cadence, learning to stand up for herself and say "no, I don't want to wrestle" or even, "no, I don't want to hold your hand right now."
Oh how young it starts….
I let her and Hazel feed the chickens and gather eggs, which they loved. And I showed them good ol' Sophie. I think they really enjoyed it. I certainly hope they did at least.

On Sat Jen took them to a bus station and she went help a friend with a theatre gig, so Tess and I babysat Sebastian. I was kind of sad, though, because I had planned to go to Yale then–but it ended up working out well because Kate could leave a bunch of stuff in my car so they had a lighter load, and Tess and I went to the city the next day.

The funny thing was that an hour or so after they left the farm, James called and said he had my car keys! So we all panicked for a few moments and then began figuring out possible ways to get the keys back. I looked up Kai's number and they called him and sure enough, he was in the city and was planning on taking the train back to the farm that night! So they set a rendezvous point and gave him my keys.

And that is how my car keys went on a roundtrip from farm to NYC twice.

I'll start with Tess's first trip to NYC on the next post!

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 3

I am now on Wed. I believe, so here we go:

In the morning we did our regular CSA pick and process activities, but in the evening we had a special visit from Jimmy and Amanda!

Jimmy and Sebastian seem to be made for each other. It's truly incredible how well they get along. I simply can't compete. :p

So while we waited for Jen to make dinner, we all helped cut broccoli and entertain Sebastian. And of course we conversed a lot as well, meaning, that night was the night I got to know Amanda a little bit better and she's really really cool! She even made a cake… I believe she said it was apple and shoot… something else. I can't remember now. But I think it was one of the first cakes she's ever made, and it was delicious! She seems to have a baking gene.

Oh! And one of the most shocking things: I could see Jimmy's face! When he worked at the farm he had shaggy hair and a big full beard, however, that night he was clean shaven with really short hair. It was like I was meeting someone completely different! oh… bizarre.

But the dinner was great! Unfortunately, they only stayed for that dinner and then had to go back to work on schoolwork. belgh!

And by the way, my plans to become the Jimmy replacement, eating wise, are totally working. Some of the main dish was left over and Jen told Jimmy to just finish it but before he could take it I said I would help (i'd been eyeing it since i finished my first helping) and ended up finishing the majority of it. Jimmy himself said I was the new him. So I'd say it's a success.

Though it's come with some consequences.

That week I had a gaining weight cries when i got on the scale and realized I went from being 102 lbs to 116 lbs. yeah yeah-It's mostly just muscle and I was too skinny in the first place.

I GET IT! Something I'm irritated by is that I can't talk about my actual feelings in the weight area. People always yell at me when I attempt. But seriously, I get it! I'm not fat and I shouldn't be worried.

But hey! I'm not used to my body changing like this. I've never gained weight.. really, so when I'm looking for some sort of support don't yell at me and tell me I'm skinny. I'm going through a post-puberty puberty. :p And I get it. I really do. I'm small and i'm not going to go on any crazy diets or anything. rah rah rah! okay. I'm done.

So yes, i've definitely gained some weight while i've been here and it shows. But it's nothing too bad… just different and i'll have to get used to my new, and I'm sure now, ever-changing body.

that's all for now. Stay tuned though! I still hope to write at least one post a day till I get caught up.

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 2

Continuing on with my busy week…

After a good rest from the plowing, Monday morning we began picking tomatoes.

As Tess and I raised high tunnel 1 it became apparent that this was to be no ordinary picking. There were more ripe tomatoes than I had ever seen! It was beautiful, but daunting. After spending 2 hours picking the tunnel tomatoes, we still had to harvest from the greenhouse and we had already run out of room for the tomatoes in the house.


And to think, the first day I worked here–the first time I ever picked tomatoes–all of those that we harvested fit in the windowsill in the kitchen.

So after about 3 hours of picking and repeatedly hauling 25 lb baskets to the house from the field, we had 257 lbs of ripe tomatoes!


After some rejoicing and some lunch, Tess and I went out to plant the newly tilled Hortense with Kale, Spinach, and Broccoli. I love planting things, because it gives me something to look forward to. And if the plants actually sprout and grow I can take pride in their success. This was our second day of planting together since we planted peas in high tunnel 3 that previous Thursday. However, it didn't make it much easier.

We started by making a walkway in the middle, which consisted of Tess and I walking with tiny steps down the middle of the bed. It was an amusing job, and I joked that this would look really good on my resume'.
The actual planting took a lot longer than we thought it would, as all things seem to. The seeder didn't really work so we had to ditch that contraption and plant by hand. Hoeing a trench, dropping the seeds, and using a rake to cover. It took a long time, but it wasn't too difficult. And we learned as we went along. I feel as though I know a lot more about seedlings now. For instance I understand what the germination rate means and why it's helpful to know that info.

That was all the sun allowed that day, but two tasks checked off the list–still an accomplishment.

Can't wait to see those little seeds grow!

A backtrack into the life of an intern farmer. Part 1

With October a KY winter has come!

I say KY winter because, really now, Kentucky doesn't experience "real" winters. But it is no longer pleasant going outside and it's impossible to brave the weather without a jacket. The sun is barely ever seen and the days keep getting shorter and shorter. The cows even went home!

I've never really experienced the winter blues, however, this year, I get it. Everything shuts down and the earth takes a long, deep breath to refresh and recharge. How else would spring be so brilliant?

Everything needs a break. Even mother nature.

I think more people need to realize that. Slowing down and really breathing is not a luxury, it truly is a necessity.

Unfortunately I can't start slowing down yet…nor can I start breathing with my allergies at the farm! I've had an extremely busy week since I got back from West Point, which now seems like a far distant memory. I'm now on day 45 of working here.

So let's backtrack and see if I can take this day by day.

The Sunday I got back from West Point, Tess and I finished our lower bed weeding, which is now already coming back with full force. Luckily, we've already dug all those potatoes, which are hard to find in those weeds when they get too tall.
We were then instructed by Kai to roll out the black compostable plastic in, our recently re-put up, high tunnel 2 and secure it with staples. And something else about the wind blowing uphill so make sure the plastic doesn't blow… but he had to go to Sebastian's soccer game.
okay. We were confused when we actually walked up there and began the task. But we got the hang of it and once we were done we knew we had done it right. And I was so proud I even took pictures! It looked pretty awesome.


But then, I found hell. Rotary Plowing. I've never done anything quite so physically difficult for me. And as much as I wanted to help Kai out (since he made it clear that he'd be willing to take as many breaks as possible) by the time I plowed just one row, I was nearing my exhaustion limit. Tess plowed two rows and later told me that she felt ready to pass out–so I think it was actually better that I stopped with just one. Sometimes, though, I wish I were a better intern. Like this instance. Ready to just jump in and give it my absolutely everything… but I've often found myself backing out of doing certain things, like putting the tractor in the garage or rotary plowing.

I guess I'll have to work on that.

Anyway, when I wasn't plowing (98% of the time), I was removing rocks from the ground Kai just plowed and moving them to the edge of the lower lower field. This was one of those greek myth type tasks. There's a never-ending amount of rocks and for three hours I picked them up, walked to the edge of the field, dropped them, walked back, picked up more rocks…repeat. It was draining in a very different way than the actual plowing. But I'd still choose moving rocks over plowing any day.

When Kai finally said it was time to go in I was almost ready to just fall over in the dirt. I slept well that night.

Oh yes, I believe this was also the day I saved the chickens and saw a bobcat! And by saw a bobcat, I mean, it was standing about 15 ft or less away from me (to anyone who's been to the farm, I walked out of the back door and was on the welcoming sidewalk, and the bobcat was basically at the steps of the front porch. So not far at all). It was pretty incredible, honestly. I don't say that around Kai, though. Since we've lost about 7 chickens to those beautiful cats.

Here's what happened:
I heard the chickens making a fuss outside, so I headed towards the door and on my way there I saw a chicken essentially fly past and I knew something was wrong so I quickened my pace and raced out the door. Sure enough, there was the bobcat. As soon as it saw me it turned and ran. The chickens were saved.

West Point

I'm sorry the updates have been so scant, I've just been so busy!

So, let's see if I can recall what's happened…

West Point! that's where I left off, I believe.

Can you believe I, Kelly Zenn, was at a military base?! It's a little crazy and I never expected to ever stand on a base in my whole life. But it happened, and it was pretty cool.

I now understand the "love" of military men. haha! There is something very… appealing about them. And life as an army wife seems a little more clarified now, you're treated with a weird extra amount of respect…being a citizen and also always being mistaken as Duncan's girlfriend. :p

So I guess…here's what basically happened:
I met him at a little resteraunt in Highland Falls, the town outside of West Point, and we caught up as much as we could and then he showed me around the campus. It was beautiful! I fell in love with it immediately–a beautiful view of the hudson river and an incredible library…I was set.

And Duncan was awesome! He was just as sweet as I had remembered, but seemed more handsome and even more gentlemanly. It was super awesome seeing him. And I had such a good time, I really didn't wanna leave…but alas–I had to. :p

The structure of West Point was insane! I'll let him explain it, but basically…what all my other college friends are saying, "freedom!" It's completely opposite for him.

That night we saw Gabriel Iglesias, a stand up comedian, and it was AMAZING!! It was that type of funny where you want to laugh more than you are physically able…. Such a good show. Such a good day. Such a good visit.

I can't wait to go back.

Time is flying!

Monday the 19.

As of tomorrow, I will have worked here a full month. ISN'T THAT RIDICULOUS!? Today is my 31st day working here. I still feel like "the new intern." I mean, that's how I would always introduce myself to people who came up to the farm! I don't know how I'm supposed to introduce myself now. :-p

Today was my first day working with…the new intern, Tess. She's really cool, and has a super junk/sweet tooth just like me! So we're going to share snacks. Her mom packed her with double chocolate ores, so ya know, I HAVE to befriend her! haha. It's really cool teaching her how to do all these things, and being someone that she can go to for questions. It makes me feel like I really know what I'm doing (often, I still don't though)! It's nice having someone to talk to while working though, makes it go by a little faster.

I've had to adjust to something new about every week I've been here:

1st week: Adjust to being at the farm
2nd week: Adjust to Jimmy and Kai leaving
3rd week: Adjust to Katie not working here anymore
4th week: Adjust to new intern coming in

It's crazy.

And the timing of all of this stuff is perfect, of course. For instance, Tess came right when I started enjoying being the only intern. But it's okay. I like her, so it'll be pretty easy adjusting to having her work with me!

Today we picked tomatoes, and I helped her figure out which ones were actually at first blush and which ones weren't. It was a little weird, since I still feel like it was literally just yesterday that I was trying to figure the same thing out for myself.
There are so many things that she asks that I remember wondering, and I don't remember when I actually got the answers…it was probably around the same time that this became my "home."

We also had to water Candice. This was the first time we've ever had to water anything in the field since I've been here. And it is a pain in the ass. We use firehouses attached to a fire-hydrant that uses water from our pond up the hill.
But the hoses are very finicky and there can't be any bends and it's extremely long! Both hoses together are, I think, 700 ft. And apparently watering was Jimmy's job, so anytime something would go wrong with the hose, Jen would blame it on him and say that she was going to have to smack him in the back of the head when she next saw him, which is probably never since there are no signs that he will visit. Anyway, that was just real funny.

Also, because we make references to Jimmy so often, Tess now believes he's the god of all interns, basically. haha

And then we did a bunch of work in the barn, moving stuff out of the barn, mainly, since there's just SO MUCH in there currently, and SO MUCH that has to be moved in there soon.

…I stopped writing there and have completely forgotten everything else that happened that day…

SO!

Here's the letdown of what's happened:
I continued working with Tess all week, and it's been fun getting to know her more. We get along quite well and spent most of the week weeding the lower potatoes. Now you can actually tell that there are beds in the lower fields! It's amazing!

On Friday, Sebastian had a play date after school and Tess, Kai and I put up high tunnel 2 again. However, before we could finish tying down the plastic, it began POURING! We got absolutely soaked and we couldn't even see the twine we were tying because it was flooding the rebar! So we finally ran inside and Jen gave us some towels and even made some hot chocolate. It was pretty awesome. So Tess and I sat down and picked Huckleberries and chatted, which is always a good way to end a day.
Which reminds me, on Thursday after we were done with chores Tess and I sat down and picked huckleberries while watching "Being John Malkovich." That movie is BIZARRE, though not quite as insane as "Enter The Void." Unfortunately, I was really distracted by Jen and Sebastian getting home, so I kind of lost track of the end of the movie.

Saturday was garlic fest, but unfortunately I had to miss it since I was going to West Point, which, I'd say was worth it. I got to see Duncan and it was a really awesome trip!
And I'll start with that on my next post.

Tractor Drivin'!