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'!

29 days of working on the farm. First friend visit!

It's been a good long while since I last wrote. A full week now, I believe.

But my week was basically the same as the others, except that on Friday Tess arrived! The new intern…or prospective intern. Though I'm pretty sure she's gunna stay. Also on Friday, there was a frost warning for that night, so we had to scramble to get things ready.

And i mean, come on! A frost in September? Jen and Kai kept saying it was the shortest growing season ever. So yay for that! :p

I wonder what this means for my internship. I mean, technically it goes until Nov. but if everything starts freezing before then, they may run out of things for me to do! But, we are going to grow peas and spinach, which are both winter crops, and Jen is hoping to get a winter greenhouse going, which will be warmed by chickens! So If that works out, then hopefully I'll still have plenty to do and learn.

Have I mentioned that I've been learning a TON? And I actually think I'll retain it! Unlike the stuff I learned in high school, which I now remember very little of. I'm obviously a very hands-on learner. Reading is just not my ideal way of learning! I mean, even the books I read for fun I barely remember.

Uhm, anyway, so I spent most of Friday pulling the tomato plants in Joey, because a frozen tomato plant equals…mush. So we have tons of green tomatoes! No seriously, we may actually have at least 1 ton of tomatoes….

We also had to cover a few rows of the most fragile plants with agerbond and make sure the greenhouse was secure.

And of course, when Tess got to the farm, around 5, she was pretty much immediately put to work. What an interesting start! haha
Tess is from VA, so we're both southerners! Which seems crazy since both Jimmy and Katie were from around here.

She seems nice, a little intimidated by the schedule, maybe. But she's thinking of getting some land herself, so I guess she'll learn if she actually likes it or not before she goes completely into it, which is a good thing to figure out!

Tess also hasn't been around garlic at all her whole life! And guess what's next week? Garlic fest!! And guess which farm is super-mega-excited about that? CHANNERY HILL! We eat garlic in almost everything. The other day Jen made some toasted garlic to go over our fried green tomatoes (which are awesome, btw) and I ate the toasted garlic alone, it was so good!

I can totally understand how scary stories came about since working here. Last Thursday I was working alone at the farm all day, as usual, and in the barn there was a howling wind and the barn doors kept clanging and it was extremely dark… definitely a spooky environment.


My weekend at Clark was basically like this:
Get there super easily, no trouble except a little traffic
Meet Mike, JoAnna's cute gay friend
Eat at the cafe' where this oh-so-lovely jock was holding up the whole line because he was being difficult and bossy. Goodness. This is also where I met another of JoAnna's friend, Molly
Head to Boston for hempfest! While we were there I kept having feelings of utter excitement just because I was in the city and there were so many possibilities and so many people! Just so different from the farm, and I needed that.

We met up with Corinne and I met her new friend, Kelly. They love Suffolk and seem to be having a great time in Boston…I may have to look into colleges there.
Head back to Clark, but make a pit stop to get JoAnna's NOSE PIERCED! I'm also pretty sure one of the girls who worked there was trying to come onto me. Maybe I need to reassess my boyish haircut…. Anyway, apparently it hurt, the jabbing a hole through the cartilage part. But the piercer was really nice and obviously experienced. But I'm proud of JoAnna for actually getting it done. Idk if I'd be able to.
Pick up Molly, and go eat at a REALLY sketch chinese place…I was afraid to eat the meat.
Drop Molly off, then JoAnna and I sat in the car for a bit and watched a bunch of upperclassmen head to a party…it was kind of sad.
Go to bed!
Wake up to JoAnna' roomate's boyfriend's bare butt as I happen to wake up right as he's putting on his boxers. GAH!
Eat this:
(There's a waffle under there!)
I'm thinking I gained the freshman 15 in just that day!
JoAnna gave me a tour of the campus, it's pretty small but has really pretty rooms and a super nice library.
We went to see a movie at the blackstone mall which is about 20 mins away and it was such a legit theatre! haha I even got a blue icee just to make the experience more of an 'experience'. :p We saw "I don't know how she does it." It was certainly a feel good movie that I'd recommend renting, but not seeing in theaters, unless of course you really just need to go to a movie theatre–which we did.
Head to Friendly's and eat lots of food including a giant ice cream lava cake thing. But the waitress gave JoAnna this ice cream thing that wasn't exactly what she'd asked for (JoAnna ordered the lava cake, but didn't get any cake…) and gave me 3 extra toppings!
Head home, as in, begin my four hour drive back to the Catskills.

The reason the trip seemed so short was because I wasn't able to leave on Friday night since we had too much to do to prepare for the frost. Oh well.
It was a pretty chill weekend, all-together, but certainly different than my day-to-day farm life! :p

I feel as though there are always so many things that I think about that are insightful in some way, and I always think to myself: I should write that down. But I never do, and therefore, I always forget what I thought.

Oh well. I'll end this post with that. Hopefully I'll actually remember some of my thoughts for the next post!

And here's a whole bunch of pics from Hempfest! Mostly of the weirdo hippie circle, and the guy with the interesting hair and ironically normal socks who was directing the dancing, basically. He would come up to people's faces and spout the lyrics at them excitedly, and then put his arm around them and dance with em.


And to close, here is me with Freud at Clark. Beautiful, ain't he?

Week 3

And ANOTHER week has passed.

So, here's a recap.
(On my calendar in my room, I write down a small phrase to represent what happened that day, or at least, what the most important part of the day was for me. So I'm going to use those phrases as headings.)

Mon.
The Return

Not much to say for this day, I basically just had to get back into the groove of things. I woke up late because I was so exhausted from the drive and I think mostly worked on hanging beans with Jen and Katie. It's really fun working with them since they make each other laugh much, and then because I'm there, I get to laugh along with them without even cracking a joke!

Tues.
Cooking for 36

so, I actually wrote something on Tues, here's what it is:
9.6.11

Today I made pumpkin syrup for all 36 CSA shares.

It took all day.

I have never cooked that much in my life.

I feel accomplished.

But it's still another nostalgic night. Too lonely of a dinner.

G'night.


Wed.
The Firing.

It turned out that there really was no "firing" per se, just a conversation and a letting go. So, I'm now the solo intern. It was kind of a crappy day all around. It rained all day and it was cold, but we couldn't skimp on work since it was CSA pick and process day. But with just Jen and I, the work took a LOT longer.
Uhhg. Oh well, at least I enjoyed hanging the lettuce at the end of the day..

Which looks like this!

Thurs.
Solo Farming

Jen and Sebastian went to the city for the CSA drop off, so the farm was in my sole care. It was a slow day. I wasn't used to so little getting done! But I did pull all the Alan beans and set them to dry, finished hanging the lettuce, started a compost pile in the field, and picked some huckleberries. Along with chores and all that…oh yeah! And I made kale chips! A few burned tries, and I finally got it mostly right.
I actually liked my day alone, though. I hadn't gotten a day completely alone since… a very long time. And I got to make pancakes! Aunt jemima, of course. :p

Fri.
Mastering the Machines

So let's see, I started the day picking basil. As I picked I realized that I'm actually kind of a perfectionist on the farm, in certain jobs. Unfortunately, there isn't time for perfection! Logically I know this, but I'm having a hard time translating what I know to what I do.
After about, what felt like, a half hour the noon alarm rang.
Yes. I just spent 3 hours picking basil and thought only a half hour had passed. This was perhaps one of the most jarring things that has ever happened to me. I can't explain the feeling, but just imagine that much discrepancy in what you think and in what is real.

I then did some exploring and even saw a couple bobcat cubs! Which was kind of cool, but they will eat our chickens, so that's not so cool.

After lunch I learned how to use a weed wacker, drive a full size tractor (it's a stick shift!), and use the smaller, but more difficult tractor. I then mowed some of the field with that last beast. It flung me around a little but I eventually got the hang out it.

Jen took some pics of me driving the big tractor for the first time. I'm sure they're amusing with the faces I would make when I'd let off the clutch and the giant machine would lurch forward. But you'll have to wait to see those, since Jen will have to first find time, and then upload and email them to me.

Sat.
Visit Kate

Today my biggest achievements were:
hauling nearly 200 lbs up a small hill
learning how to make falafel and basil pesto
getting into the city without ANY problems at all, and making the trip in a little under 2 hours!

So huzzah! I'm in the city safe and sound for now.
It's been a big week, but the weeks are going by quickly it's crazy to think how much I do and learn in such a short time.

I'm also finally getting used to being the only live-in intern, and well, the only intern at all. But that will soon end. Next weekend, Tess, a prospective intern, is coming up for a trial run and she'll probably end up staying. Unfortunately I might not be there that weekend to help her out. Fortunately, I might be in Boston with JoAnna! And I may even get to see Corinne while I'm there! DOUBLE FRIEND WEEKEND!!
haha

Well that's it for this week. Stay tuned for next week's adventures! :p

So, I'm not sure if this is normal, but there were police with giant guns on the toll booths that lead to the GW Bridge. It may be just because it's the weekend on 9/11.

Oh, and btw. I was complaining to Emily about the lack of testosterone on the farm, and she sent me this lovely picture!

The City!

And I drove in and out of NYC by myself this weekend.

I did not die, but I did come close to crashing.

I got lost.

I ran probably 3 red lights (one which was simply because I didn't know it's illegal to turn right on red in the city).

I was horrified and couldn't possibly think of doing it again.

But I'm going back this weekend.


So, I made it the majority of the way without too much craziness. Only had to retrace my steps a couple times trying to get to route 17. But once I was on the bridge, all hell broke loose. My directions didn't really match the signs and I had already re-routed when they began to match up again. So I did some blind guesswork and ended up in harlem, yes…but where in Harlem, I didn't know. I don't remember too much after that other than the almost crashing when trying to turn left… (mom, if you get a notice from NYC, that's probably why).

I managed to somehow make it to St. Nicholas, but it turned into a 1 way at some point, and I had to turn and then get completely lost again.

The good thing is that when I DID make it to the apartment, I found a place to park right in front of the building. So I guess you gain some you lose some, that kinda thing.

The night I arrived was full of relief for me. I was just hungry and shaken and glad to have finally gotten where I was trying to go. So I sat on the couch and stayed there until about 3 am, doing online things like blogging, for instance, because, I guess, I felt a little deprived.

But I hadn't stayed up that late since before I had gotten to the farm. And my body decided that, it didn't matter how late I stayed up–I was still going to wake up at my regular time, 7 in the morning. Which is actually, earlier than I normally wake up on the farm…of course. :-p

But I can't complain. I got a lot done before we went to brunch. Laundry and showering and all that. I did a lot of laundry at their place since they have a dryer. It is small, but it is there.

Brunch was incredible! We ate at elephant and castle, and all but James got apple eggs benedict on french toast. My god was it delicious! Better than what I could've possibly hoped for! (You see, I requested a tasty breakfast since here breakfast is the "eh" meal. I wanted something big and exciting on my day off!)
Then we went shopping at Trader Joe's and went home.

Oh yeah, and here's the image of me entering my sister's NYC apartment:
tennis shoes, which are now only worn on special occasions when I go off the farm
jeans with dirt stains and fresh dirt all over the bottom, knees, and butt
a once white belt that holds the jeans up above my waistline (yes, above my hips!)
a sweat-stained tank top under a plaid button up shirt
a bandanna thing over my tattered and greasy hair
my eyes are wide, and I look very shaken
and in my hand I am clutching a pumpkin

Can't you tell I'm turning into a farm-girl?
haha

But anyway, I brought the pumpkin, specifically a sugar baby, to show them how to make pumpkin syrup-which goes great on ice cream. So in the afternoon that is what we did. Cadance and I made a lot of pumpkin syrup and later James made chicken pot pie for the guests that were coming over for dinner! Dan, Poonam, and their friend Jason were all coming for dinner!

Unfortunately, I was so freaked out about driving in the city, I wanted to make sure I left before dark. And the food wasn't going to be done until after the sun was setting. So I opted to leave early.

Luckily, Kate and James were persistent and James even showed me a map (which I've come to find, are often more helpful than a GPS)! So I stayed for dinner and met Jason and got to chat with everyone. It was really neat getting to see Dan and Poonam again, and Jason was awesome as well!
They oohed and awwed at the syrup, and also at the rainbow carrots in the chicken pot pie that I had harvested!

And then, I left on my journey. And ya know what? I didn't get lost once! I even made it back in under 2 hours!! I had never been so happy to see the Keller Rd. sign, and I really did feel like I was going HOME. Which is as good of a feeling as I can get when I'm not living at home. :)

I did have a weird emotional whadda whadda on the way back, but I think it was a good one. Something that was good for me. It felt like my emotional side and my logical side finally meshed and really, I think I'm still dealing with a lot of stuff under the surface that I don't even realize! But working here has helped bring some of those things to light since the only things I really hear all day are my own thoughts.

All in all, I think it was a very good trip. Not the most relaxing day off by any means–but rewarding, certainly. I now feel much more confident about heading back to the city this weekend!