Friday, May 11, 2012

Guest Post-Maris the Amazing Farm Intern!



I'm really enjoying having Maris here at my small farm. He's enthusiastic, sincere, a good worker and a nice guy too.  He also has a good appetite! 
In this, his second blog post, the adventure continues...


(Sadly, his excellent photos didn't make it into this post. Computers are funny!)


Hey everybody. My weekly blog is continuing and it's on time. I've got a few things to mention this week.

Firstly, transplants are done! Well, mostly. There are a few odds and ends to finish, but Linda has taken mercy and put them aside for now. The big sale is coming up (May long weekend as I'm sure you all know) and we've been labeling every individual tomato plant for your convenience. The most amazing thing about revisiting every plant is seeing how much they've grown in a matter of days. A lot of these guys barely had their first true set of leaves when we first started transplanting and now they're several inches tall with thick and sturdy stalks. I've included a few shots this week (all photographed by yours truly) to add some dimensions to my blog and farming experiences.





One experience I am obliged to mention (especially to the city folk) is my first taste of fresh asparagus. That stuff called 'asparagus' in the grocery store is the farthest thing from the truth as well as acceptable flavour. I had just finished reading about how asparagus is grown and harvested in one of Linda's books (which is a fascinating topic on its own) and then she brought me a fresh spear grown and picked only ten feet away from the greenhouse we've been working in. Let me tell you, this flavour was something far beyond that bitter green sprig you buy at the grocery no matter how much olive oil, parmesan, or prosciutto you cover it in. You could eat it raw and the closest comparable taste would be fresh sweet pea but more juicy and meaty. My dad and step-mom picked me up on Friday and I rushed them over to try their own first, real asparagus. They were sold. We're starting our very own asparagus patch as soon as possible. Well, what was supposed to be a short blurb on fresh asparagus has turned into quite the paragraph. Long story short: you ain't tried asparagus until you've tried fresh asparagus cut in the springtime.

I briefly mentioned in my last blog that we were incubating some duck eggs here at Tree and Twig. Well, incubating one egg led to collecting another one to join it as Linda figured the duck wouldn't want the first one to be alone (okay, that makes sense). But since then, Linda has collected every duck egg left around the farm and now there's half a dozen eggs in the incubator. They should start hatching in 25 days or so, so I'll keep you all posted on the upcoming brood, flock, or whatever a bunch of ducks is. 

On a more somber note, but equally important part of farm life, one of Linda's beloved heritage java chickens had passed away sometime last night. This chicken was over nine years old and probably had one of the best lives a chicken could hope for here at Tree and Twig. RIP old girl.

This isn't the shortest blog, but I'm not going to end on the previous note. I've mentioned that my family is starting up our own small farm business in Mount Hope and I've been doing work there on the weekends. I think we're going with the name 'New Leaf Farm(s)', but don't rush to google to find it as we're in the process of creating a website, logo, etc. Our much smaller greenhouse is housing a number of different seedlings from tomatoes to peppers. Peas are already well on their way outdoors and small radish leaves are appearing as well (I saw them on Sunday last so there may be a bunch of other stuff coming up by now). We've got a bunch of goofy animals hanging' out there as well. My dad and I just trimmed the hooves of our two goats Huey and Dewey, and our big ol' potbelly pig Louise (we actually used a belt sander for the pig!). 

I think I've rambled on long enough for one week so thanks for reading if you made it this far and I'll be posting something next week if you're still interested.

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