Day 2

Sunday was my first full day of work, and I learned the morning chores consist of feeding all the chickens and letting them out of the barn, (because they are indeed free range, and they're just more fun that way! I couldn't imagine being able to put them in a tiny cage for their whole life. They have such personality, and they're wonderful to be around–very calming. So BUY FREE RANGE. It's inhumane not to.) opening the greenhouse and watering the plants inside, and opening the corners of the high tunnels…which is a job I've learned to hate. I'm not tall enough to get it over the bend, so most of the time they just fall right back down after I raise them. It's frustrating, but I try my best.

Then, I weeded. And weeded and weeded and weeded. That was my only job for the day, and I went out into the field and weeded Edgar (the row with potatoes and tot-soy…and bolted lettuce, which I pulled along with the weeds) for about 7 hours total. I was by myself weeding a tiny forrest!

But I began to learn which stems were weeds and which were potatoes or tot-soy, just based on touch (I chose to weed without gloves).

I learned which weeds were easy to pull, such as wild amaranth, and which were not easy to pull.

I learned that dandelion roots are a singular cone shape, so if you tug it correctly, it's a satisfying weed to pull since you get the majority of the root.

I learned that I was brave enough to stick my bare arms into thick clumps of weeds, not knowing what plants of bugs were in there.

I learned to crush slugs with my bare hands, as slugs are not so good for plants.

I learned that plants bolt sometimes, because they feel threatened. A bolted plant is essentially a plant that is going to seed REALLY fast, so it doesn't produce the produce that we like to harvest. But you can collect the seed. Bolting is a survival mechanism, if the plant itself can't survive, then hopefully their seeds will, and their species will continue.

Working here makes it very apparent that plants are living things. You can't just plant something and hope it grows. Every plant is different, and they can get sick and weak due to different factors, just like us. For instance, the flood that happened before I came to Channery Hill is still having an effect on the plants. The ones that were in the path of the flood are more susceptible to pests because they're weaker and can't fend themselves as well.

Anyway, there was a LOT of bolted lettuce because lettuce thrives in a colder climate, so the heat agitates them, makes them nervous, and makes them go to seed early in the hope that their seeds will continue their species.

Everything on this earth is fighting to survive. Nothing living is passive. Not humans, not any other species of animals, not plants, and especially not weeds!

But, the final thing i learned that day was that I am a slow weeder… I didn't even get close to halfway down the 350 ft row during that 7 hours. Eh…maybe I'll learn and become quick.

Here's something else: I'm sitting there in the field alone weeding away in the sun, and i hear a siren, which to me, signifies that there's a tornado… huh. the sky is clear and the sun is out, so I just keep weeding! I later learn that it's a test siren that they turn on everyday at noon. Since I have no way to keep time out there, it's a nice way to know that lunch will be soon.

In the evening I met the prospective intern, Lauren. She's really nice and awesome with sebastian, and is thinking of beginning in September. I hope she does, it'd be great having another intern around once Jimmy leaves.

So, there was some rain in the evening and we sat on the porch and pet the kittens, then ate dinner and went to bed.

End of full day 1-here's some of the things I thought about as I sat all day weeding by myself:

I now know what real monsters are–they're the towering weeds that hold millions of tiny seed pods that, if nestled ever-so-gently by the wind, will fly all through your newly weeded potato patch and sprout before you can even gasp!

If I get tired and feel like giving up, I can turn around and look upon the vast and lush mountains and in that gaze I remember why I am truly doing this. It's to keep the natural beauty–not have it turned into a completely manmade world. Humans cannot create such beauty… but then I look back at my hand, and realizing there's a spider crawling there, I flick it away and begin to work again. My bare hands in natures soil.

My hands will never be clean again, and it's only day 2.

Things that used to freak me out or make me squirm are now just–eh!

Such as spiders crawling on my arms–slugs under my shirt on my back–moths in the shower with me–bees–foraging basically alone in a forest for blackberries, trudging through brush and thorns that rise above my head–sticking my hands into thick brush made up of unknown weeds and not knowing what I'm going to touch…

I no longer have that regret that at the end of the day, that I've accomplished nothing.

That is what I love.

And here is a CHICKEN SERIES!

If it's feeding time, you become a rock star, and they chase you. It's exciting!

The beginning

I still haven't found anything wrong with this internship! Absolutely nothing.

I mean, I wake up around 7:30, which to many may be a downside, but you get used to it really quick. I now wake up on my own around that time anyway, and as long as you go to bed early enough, you won't be too tired.

I don't really have internet…meaning, they have limited streaming, and in being polite, I just don't even bother using it for my computer. It's pretty easy since I still have 3G for my phone, and just check my Facebook and email with that. But the first week I was here, I didn't open my computer at all.

The work is strenuous, but… that just isn't a negative thing. It's all about the attitude here. Sometimes, if it's a really long day, you just have to be optimistic and push through, knowing that you can look forward to eating a wonderful dinner with wonderful people, and then getting a good rest before it all begins again. And you can feel your body getting stronger, pushing it past what you thought it could ever do. That's one of the awesome things about working here–you learn that your body can do so much more than you ever imagined. You just have to keep going.

So day 1 for me was a half day. It was weepy when my mom left, but I immediately began working on picking tomatoes, which was soothing. Jimmy also came over to help with the task, and chatting with him helped me recover a little, too. After lunch, which was Thai food made by Linda (YUM), we sat and cut some beans to stick into a stir fry, and later, Jimmy and I rode on the back of the tractor up the hill to some foresty-area to pick blackberries.
I must say, this was quite an experience. Probably not safe to ride a tractor the way we did, but hey-it sure was exciting!
AND THE VIEW! Oh my god. You haven't seen beauty until you've been here. I'll add some pictures, but it won't convey the awe-inspiring views.
One of my first thoughts when I saw the catskills was: let me go collect all my friends and family, and bring them here, and all will be perfect! Apparently this is a popular idea, since Jimmy had the same thoughts when he first got to Channery Hill farm.

So anyway, I surprised myself by how deep into the brush I went, collecting these blackberries. I became so greedy! I ventured into thicket high above my head, with thorns all around me, but none of that mattered-because I saw one juicy blackberry that I just HAD to harvest.

After about two hours of this, we headed back down to the house, Jimmy and I standing on small pole-like things jutting out of the back of the tractor.

I learned that my evening chore would be to lower the high tunnels (hoop houses), which is a fairly simple job. And then, we went in, relaxed, had dinner, and went to bed. Oh what a new life I live.



This is the tractor, and the second picture is the back. It's kind of fuzzy, but the one on the right that's short is what I stood on. The thing on the left that's a little longer is what Jimmy stood on.

Want a tour of my new home?

Here it is!

This is the walkway to the house. Unfortunately, the sunflowers didn't survive the hurricane...

Here is the big yellow house! My room is the window at the VERY top!

This is my room sequence:

And here is the dirt road leading to the farm...with a kitten!

Greenhouse. Which has a neat way of operating.
The part of the barn where all the milking used to be done. But right now we only have 1 milk cow. Plan to get lots of goats, though!
Seed saving part of the barn! These are drying sunflower seeds and drying garlic.
The front porch where we eat most of our meals, if the weather is nice.

And finally: the field, where I spend most of my days. Those white tunnel things? Those are hoop houses.

And that's basically it! I have more pics if you'd like to see more...but I didn't want to BORE anyone. So, please, let me know if you're interested in seeing more!

Welcome to Channery Hill Farm!

FYI: I'm writing these in a weird order since I don't have a chance to write every day I just kinda write them all when I have free time. For instance, this one is being written during the hurricane, so I've already been on the farm for a week-but I'm trying to write them as though they go on a day by day basis. so yeah...

Welcome to Channery Hill Adventures!!

Channery Hill, wtf? Yes, I know…the last you heard me speak of farm internships, I spoke of Holton Farms, in VT. So how did I get to Calicoon Center in upstate NY?

I was on my way up to Westminster, VT. It had taken 3 days to get there and my mom and I were an hour and a half away when I finally got a call from Jurrien, one of the cousins who owns the farm, telling me that the season has been disastrous and they had to let all their interns go.

Yup, just as I suspected. Oh well, no hard feelings. He was very apologetic and I could fully understand how I slipped through the cracks. So here's what happened after I got that call:

My mother pulled Ruby over into a parking lot, where we became blocked in by a fire truck and an ambulance helping a girl in the car next to us. During this emergency, we decide to have dinner with my ol' friends, Corinne and Katie, along with their mothers, and then go stay the night at our cousins, the Racer-Rice house.

Of course, when we get to Ann and Thomas', we find out that their son Connor has gotten really into organic farming in the past year and is currently working on a farm at Martha's Vineyard. Oh of course! Now my luck changes!

AND today is his day off, so we can actually call him! He basically gives me a bunch of links to helpful sites where i could find some other possible internships.

So, I send out some emails, hear back from a few farms and I take interest in Channery Hill since in their response, they seem genuinely interested in me rather than "oh, we'll talk-send us your farming experience" even though I've already mentioned in my original email that I have NO farming background! :-p

Within three days I had snagged another internship. Can you say kapowza!? Yes? Okay-well that's unrelated. But anyway, I was excited.In the meantime, my mom and I had stayed with Carol in Boston and Kate in NYC. So we'd been to a lot of places.

Let me recap the trip:

Saturday we left Bowling Green at 3 pm and began the journey

Sunday we stopped at Niagra Falls and did a little touristing there

Monday we heard that my original internship failed, and we went to my hometown to eat dinner with my friends. Then we went to Andover and stayed with Ann and Thomas and had to turn down going to their house on the Island off of Maine.

Tuesday we went to Boston and stayed with Carol. This is where I first learned that too much rain can cause produce to split.

Wednesday we headed out to NYC and stayed with my sister. This is when I learned that I could meet Kai and Jen on Thurs. since they'd be in the city for a CSA drop.

Thursday we met them, and realized they were pretty awesome

Friday my mom and I caravanned up to Calicoon Center and stayed with Jen and Kai. We got a tour of the farm, met their friend Linda and their other intern, Jimmy, and did a little tour of Jeffersonville-a neighboring town.

Saturday my mother left and I moved in and began my internship.

What a ridiculous week, right? When I think of all that we did that week, it's just… a little mind boggling.

So, that's that. I now live in the Catskills, with lovely people, on an amazing farm, with outrageously beautiful views.

I'd say it worked out perfectly.

The images really don't capture it...

A Moment.

I don't know how one can feel so good and yet so bad at the same time... in the same instant!

Take the song Hallelujah for instance:

It is so empowering, yet so personally sad all in just 4 minutes.

I also don't understand how one moment everything can be fine and then in an instant it's gone and the thoughts that once made you happy now fill you with debilitating pain. Such as what happened with Cinnamon. Your life will never be the same, truly. Time may heal, and attempt to make you forget that pain. But the truth is, those thoughts will never be as happy; they'll never exist without a smidgen of nostalgia. A hint of pain.

And what's worse is happiness is never as long-lasting. You may get a promotion, win a race, or even get married. But that burst of pure happiness that occurs never lasts. And eventually even those happy thoughts are thought on with nostalgia, for what was and what could've been, for that unadulterated feeling.

Then there's love. That nobody understands. And that's what sucks. Because we all think we understand. And perhaps we do, in our own way. To you love is blind. To her love is fluttery. To him love is safe. To me love is calculated.

There's the problem. Because we each define it in our own individual way, no one else, not even the ones we love, can fully understand what we see, feel... what we understand as love.

So when somebody who loves needs space from said love, many may find it alarming, as though that somebody is running away from that love, but in their eyes it may just be strengthening it. Perhaps strengthening themselves so they can take on that incredible emotion, head first, and enjoy it.

And then there's the opposite. There's the "clingy," those that want nothing but to be with their loves as often as possible. Many may find it alarming, as though that somebody is smothering that love. Giving in too much. But in their eyes it may just be strengthening it. Perhaps becoming vulnerable to that incredible emotion, completely, so they can enjoy it.

Since we only live once (though I hope I am wrong about that. Reincarnation is my friend) we have to enjoy it. We will do everything we can to enjoy it.

To enjoy this fuck of a life.

Junior research paper on GMOs. Hope it makes you angry.

All of these sources are reliable: they had to be in order for me to pass English my junior year

Genetically modified (GM) foods are rising as a new contender to the good ol’ natural crops we have known and loved for all of human history. No longer are we satisfied with having a sufficient amount of food, we want a surplus, and how do we plan on getting that? Genetic modification, Genetic engineering, and biotechnology. All of these procedures attempt to create superior crops which can withstand all pests, weeds, pesticides and can end world hunger. Scientists construct these super-foods by taking the genes from one organism and injecting them into another, thus fixing genetic defects and making them safer to consume.

The main GM food advocate and company, Monsanto corporations, specifically names the farmer’s, processor’s, and consumer benefits of these new and improved crops, and even said, “for many farmers, especially small-scale growers, our products help improve their lives by helping them produce more while conserving more time and inputs” (Monsanto).

While the benefits of genetic modification seem numerous and infallible, further research shows that these benefits may only be superficial claims leaked by the big GM company, Monsanto, in order to raise profits. Not only has not enough adequate research been done to determine the safety of these products, but the overtake of GM organisms may severely harm the natural world teaching us, perhaps too late, that trust should never be inherent.

Of course Monsanto is going to wholly advocate the use of GM products, they sell the seeds. However, it’s hard to trust these strange new products produced by this company when their track record has a deep scratch in the middle of it. During the Vietnam War Monsanto was the main supplier of the highly concentrated chemical known as Agent Orange which devastated an entire country. Even with the copious amount of perverse effects that, Monsanto was later revealed to have known of through internal memos; the company encouraged the use of the murderous agent in order to make a buck (Parkins). What proves that they aren’t covering up a huge array of negative side effects dealing with GM food? Nothing. And with the company’s history, it is shown that ethical values do not come before business practices.

Another characteristic of the company that comes across as a red flag is that they don’t find it necessary to mark GM products with labels telling that the foods have GM ingredients (Roseboro). It makes it almost impossible to believe that the products truly are a type of panacea food when the heads of the GM business refuse to put labels on their enhanced produce.

Monsanto’s assertion that GM food is completely beneficial is also premature. Little is actually known about the pros and cons of GM food since the current research is “woefully inadequate” (Roseboro). The majority of the experiments done on GM foods have been conducted by biotechnology companies but when independent researchers attempt to study the safety of the GM products they are harassed until their fear stops their curiosity (Roseboro). Meanwhile, those studies that are released by the big biotech companies show an absence of negative effects. Those independent companies that do end up finishing a study under the radar generally find adverse effects of the GM products (Roseboro).

These side effects aren’t just pesky disturbances; some findings are revealing that mice fed GM corn are suffering from reduced fertility and immune system problems that worsen over the span of time that they eat the modified food (Roseboro). These conflicting studies should send a warning sign to all the GM advocates. If nothing is done to at least slow the output of these engineered foods twenty years down the line we may have a world-wide crisis in which all of our food is contaminated with harmful gene modifications.

Unfortunately, the big companies’ GM plan has already been implemented. “More than 80 percent of the corn, soybean and cotton grown in the United States is genetically engineered” (Pollack). If those numbers aren’t terrifying, the fact that in 2006 twenty-two countries had already adopted biotech crops and farming should be (James). If those numbers continue to steadily increase, within a decade the world may be completely rid of natural farming, and may solely rely on GM farming. This would mean that our shelves would be stocked entirely with unknown products that, for all we know, could shut our immune systems down.

Humans aren’t the only beings at risk, however. GM food has the potential to severely disrupt the environment. Because men are creating superior organisms and releasing them into the wild, natural selection is being tampered with. Naturally, plants and animals that survive long enough to reproduce are superior, however now it’s the humans that choose the unsurpassed organisms. It will no longer be natural selection; it will be changed to manmade selection.

“What will happen to wild fish and marine species when scientists release into the environment carp, salmon, and trout that are twice as large, and eat twice as much food, as their wild counterparts” (Cummins). It seems that this is a direct parallel to the introduction of exotic organisms that overtake the natives and leave the regional ecosystem in ruins; mankind should learn something from the trials already handed to them.

One of the well-known benefits of these GM plants is that they can be engineered to be self-pesticide producing, meaning that farmers won’t have to spray pesticides on the plants themselves. Nevertheless, the surrounding weeds and pests may also gain the ability to be pesticide or herbicide resistant due to genetic pollution. This would mean that eventually stronger, more harmful toxins will have to be used to rid the crops of these, now immune, farmers’ nightmares (Cummins).

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the genetically modified foods is that once they’re released, they can never be recalled since they are living, breathing, unpredictable organisms (Cummins). GM foods will be the children of humanity, rampaging through the ecosystem, populating the earth, and feeding the world. If this child turns out to be a bad seed, we’ve got a major problem on our hands since just as you can never recall your children, no scientist, company, researcher, farmer, nor any man can take back the outpouring of living modified organisms. So you decide, take a stab in the dark and let Monsanto rush GM products to the market, or take the time to truly research the possible effects, good or bad, of these genetically engineered organisms.

Time Capsule

It is May 2011, and today I opened my time capsule from May 2008, the end of my first year in high school.

Now I am graduating. I am done. I am moving on and pursuing greater paths!

This becomes more and more true as May 29 rolls closer and as my classes begin to end. I only have two more AP tests and then as far as I'm concerned High School is over for me! This is the first time senioritis has hit me since I had never had, and still do not possess, the security of a college-however I'm 14 days away from the end and my AP tests are almost over. HUZZAH!

The only things I have to worry about are English-oh, Heart of Darkness, why!-and Newspaper, which I currently have under control.

Anyways, I know I should be viciously attacking my Comparative book for information, I had been studying it so diligently before I got sick but now I'm way off track and I have to cram. :p (that's not a happy tongue-sticky-outy face), however blogging about my time capsule just seems crucial.

I put so much work into it. I was easily the person who put the most stuff into it and it paid off. I had pictures and old writing pieces, lots and lots of notes to my [future] self and just random stuff that reminded me of who I was my freshman year.

And basically? I was the same person. Philosophical, passionate, emotional, confused...the only difference seems to be that I've grown in every aspect-I'm the same person I just have many many more experiences to add to my "self."

Interesting. Interesting. Interesting.

I'm going to pry open comp. now, but I still do promise a Melting Chocolate Cake post, I'll get to that when I get to cleaning my room, which will be next week-I'm so excited to have a clean room!! Yay time!

And it's official, I got the internship at Holton Farms. Yip Yip Hurray! So one semester down, one to go.

ciao!