Thursday, June 21, 2012

Maris the Amazing Farm Intern Sweats it Out


So this week was hot. It was reeeally hot and humid. I’ve had outdoors jobs before and this is that weather where every minute is an ounce of sweat lost and every breeze is like a Nestea plunge. This is also the weather where some of the ‘inside’ workers like to gripe about the heat and humidity on their way from one building to a car to another building. Well, to put it nicely, they know diddly squat about heat and humidity. Despite the rainforest temperatures, we’re still getting a lot done.  We planted potatoes, more beans, huckleberries, and the last of the tomatoes. We’re finally finished planting for the time being and now we’re focused on weeding, mulching, and pest killing. Almost everything that we’ve put in the ground is thriving, but unfortunately so are the weeds. Linda kept telling me “you’re going to be really amazed at how much the plants spring up in the next few days” and “the weeds are going to be growin’ like crazy soon”. She was certainly right about the former, but oh man was she right about the latter. Lambsquarters, pigweed, purslane, and even self-seeded tomatillos have created a sea of green all over the fields and beds. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still gung-ho about the whole farming biz. Extreme heat, intense humidity, army of weeds... bring it on.
Planting and mulching potatoes

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