Distribution day.

Today was distribution day at the community garden. I went over early with mom to harvest the various vegetables and herbs. The plants are very bountiful, I was surprised. Maybe I shouldn't have been since the climate is so much different here than down in Georgia. I was pulling beans by the buckets or only one bucket, but it could have been many. We weighed and washed our produce and set it out to be taken. My mom has done wonerful work over here developing relationships with the community and providing cooking classes with the priduce that is grown. I had a great time meeting the members and trying my memory on spanish, I didn't do too well with those families.
 Here is a picture of Mom and Brenda (the pastor of the church)

Back to reality...

So I'm home!! I missed so much the blue skies and the lush clouds. The vibrant green trees and crisp air. The temperature is twenty degrees cooler here. I feel like I've already hit fall weather. Mom and I spent the morning over at the community garden weeding and catching up. Great things are going on over there!

Trusty car!

After last summers road trip through New England and up to Maine and this summers many miles (pa to va to ga to va to ga to pa) my car is no longer lemon status. The trusty Volvo is getting all packed up today and we're heading home tomorrow! As a treat I got her all cleaned up. Look at those tires!! They will never be so clean and sparkly EVER again. The people must have hand scrubbed them. I can never seem to get my tires clean. I once took a toothbrush to them. I promises myself I would never do that again!

Work station

Working hard at the growing schedule.

Bad Lincoln. Bad Jackson.

So when Larry went to feed the beasts this morning Lincoln was so excited that he head-butted Larry's shoulder. If I were in there I would have been hit to the ground. Good thing I wasn't! Lincoln stands in a 3 sided wooden fence while he eats and Jackson on the outside. Jackson decided to unravel the rope on the side of lincoln's stall and wrap it around the stall while Lincoln was feeding, to trap him in. These animals have a mind of their own!
I planted a bunch of vegetables this morning in the double dig. It was good to get them in the ground. Afterwards we had to deal with the squirrel traps. Larry wanted to store them in the attic of the shed so my job was to throw them up to him. I think this was the most fun I have had on the farm this far! I think I have a replica arm of my brother Jesse while playing tennis. He doesn't care where the ball is coming from or going, he just whacks it. So I was picking up those things and just whipping them in an upward motion and they were going all over the place! Kind of felt bad for Larry trying to catch them but it was quite amusing!
We spent the rest of the afternoon clearing brush and listening to 80's.

Squirrels

How do you outsmart a squirrel? I don't really know if that is possible...

I spent my day removing aluminum squirrel traps from all the pecan trees. In these traps were only things that you see in nightmares! Seething spiders and roaches that jump! Plus I did see some blood sucking ginormous black widows. It was an easy day and I enjoyed being in the shade!

Oops

Back on the farm!
I spent a chunk of time working in the high tunnel this morning. It's even more infested so I pretty much just weeded and tended to the vegetables that have new growth.
I have never been so close to those circles bails of hay! What are they called? They are about as tall as I am but much wider. I was trying to figure out different moves I could try while jumping off the top of one but got quickly distracted from those thoughts as Larry gave me a look to get working. But seriously, I'd have a bunch of air time before my landing. So I unraveled the hay and spread it on beds the rest of the day. If I don't inhale hay for the rest of the week I would be content.
So I was told to stop seducing the donk with fig jam. Apparently it is bad for the liver. Oops. How do you untrain a donk. I'll just have to teach him new tricks!

Ahh!

No more vacation. Back to the grind!

Fish Count

So far we have not had much success in the fishing department. Evan and Colleen have been at it all day every day. We have been out on the boat and off of the dock. Last year we were plucking one after another out off of the boat in the bay. This year we have barely gotten any nibbles.

Total count:
Colleen: well she has always been the master fisher but has only reeled in a few dinky babies. We kept three spots last night for a fish dinner!
Brandon: he caught a blowfish our first day out on the boat! What a surprise. Those things have demon eyes.
Me: one good croaker
Evan: let's just say he is the head fisherman. 

Life's better by the bay!

Early tomorrow morning I'm headed off to the Eastern Shore for vacation. There will be a whole bunch of fishing, cooking and wine-o-ing to be done! I can't wait to see the fam, colleen and the boy!!
Here's a little taste of one morning last year from the dock.

Injury.

The first farm injury of the season was me! Though minor, it still hurt. We spent the morning clearing brush from the electric fence. In many places it was particularly viney. I was pulling overhead dog-hobble and with one hard yank it came down and stuck right into my leg. I looked down and saw a cine sticking out of my leg. It took a decent chunk out of my thigh. I will spare you a picture. We headed back to the house and ate olives as Cindy drowned me in peroxide. We then headed back on out. Mind you, I'm now not allowed to pull overhead vines. In the mean time, tomorrow is the last day of work before family vacation!

Mmmm bacon.

Yesterday we went to savannah river farms for a tour. They have a whole bunch of pigs, chickens, goats and cows that they free range.
They also are building their own processing center. We got to check out some of the pig they are curing. We also toured walker farms and looked at the vegetable side of things.