Earth Dance, Week #4

Wednesday

May 5, 2010

Adriana has a friend who lives in Stewartville, and she will be working on the farm this summer.  Norm asked me if it would work for this girl to ride with me on Wednesdays.  Since I come right through Stewartville anyway, I think it would work great.  She'll be starting in June, after school lets out.

Here are all the seedlings that need to get planted.

Oh my goodness...look at how big they've gotten!

The strawberry field needs to be weeded.

Strawberry plant.

Got to meet the new interns today!

Two of them started this past Monday.

This is Bushra.  She is 23 and from Duluth.

She is doing a short-term volunteer internship.

She is studying Environmental Engineering

and is going to go into the Peace Corps.

While we were weeding the strawberries,

I came across this monster dandelion...

it was so big, it looked like a bouquet!

Next, we planted Copra yellow long-storage onions.

Here, Norm is tilling the beds to plant them in.

This is Mark.  He is 21 and is a paid intern.

He is from the Chicago area and

majored in both Environmental Engineering and Philosophy.

He would like to farm organically someday

on land his family has in North Carolina.

He also likes to play guitar on his breaks!

Time to plant the kohlrabi seedlings.

We get them loaded on the cart,

and Mark pushes them out to the garden.

Norm tills up the beds for the kohlrabi.

Here is Norm giving us planting directions.

Laying out the kohlrabi in rows.

Peas are next.

Here's Hannah checking

to make sure we've got enough peas to plant.

Bushra planting peas.

Here I am planting peas, too.

Bushra was kinda enough to take my picture.

These are the beds for the peas.

All we had to do was sprinkle

the peas into the rows.

Then, Mark came behind us with a garden rake

and smoothed the dirt over them.

Yay!  Riley's here!

And, just in time,

because we needed one more bed

tilled up for a few more kohlrabi plants.

Man, that guy can really drive a tractor!

Bushra, finishing up planting for the day.

She and Mark, along with Norm and Riley,

will finish planting the kohlrabi tomorrow.

Now that the interns are here,

they will be helping Norm everyday.

I only come once a week, so I bet things

will really be different by next Wednesday!

I went to the kale patch to pick some kale

to take home.

As I finished and started to walk up to my car,

I looked up and saw the horses running out to pasture.

They were so happy and free,

kicking up their hooves and tossing their manes.

It was a very windy day today.

I feel kinda beat up from that,

but it was a great day,

and I'm really going to sleep tonight.

: )

Earth Dance Flyers

Spent the morning putting up flyers for the farm I work on, Earth Dance Organic Farm.

First, went to the Rochester Athletic Club and gave one to the front desk person, who said they would be able to post it in the employees' break room.

Next, went to Curves health club on 18th Avenue, where I also gave it to the front desk person who said they would post it.

Northgate Health Club actually asked for 2 flyers, because they said they could put one up in each of the women's and men's locker rooms...perfect!

Stopped at the Rochester Public Library next.  They have a huge bulletin board, but it needs approval before it can be put up, probably on Monday.

Workout World was next.  I was actually allowed to put the flyer up immediately on their bulletin board in their foyer.  Wow, that place was hopping.  I bet they are giving the RAC a run for their money!

My husband even took a flyer to put up at his place of work, Hardcore Computer!

Well, at that point, I was out of flyers, and the first run had been such a success, that I decided to go home and print out some more, because I had thought of another list of places they could go.

This time, Alex got to come along, and I was allowed to post flyers right away at the following places:

Andy's Liquor Express in Country Club Manor
Kwik Trip in Country Club Manor
The Hy-Vee Laundromat
The Crossroads Laundromat

And, I gave a flyer to the front desk person at the YMCA, who said it would have to get approved before it could be posted, but she did tell me she was actually interested herself, and I told her to go ahead and rip off an info tab for herself.

I bet that will help fill Norm's shares for the season!

By the way....Happy May Day!!

Earth Dance Update

When I was working on the farm this past Wednesday, Norm was talking about the information flyers he uses for the farm, and I offered to put some up in Rochester.  He wondered if I might be able to put one up at the Good Food Store, and I said I would ask.

I e-mailed Norm to tell him that I went over there last night and was able to put a flyer up and that I would let him know after I had found a few more places to put them up this weekend.  I also told him that I hoped he had gotten enough planting done before the rains came last night. 

He e-mailed back today and said that he planted some cilantro and dill yesterday, and then he and Riley got all of the onions in.  Then, they got an inch of well needed moisture (and a little hail) with more rain on the way today.  Perfect.  : )

Earth Dance, Week #3

Earth Dance Organic Farm

Wednesday

April 28, 2010

The first thing I wanted to do today was go see the chicks!

And the next was to go see the tomatoes

that I had planted from seeds 2 weeks ago,

(cause I forgot to look at them last week).

Wow!

Norm arrived, and I got my first assignment.

Working in the greenhouse (one of my favorite jobs).

The photo above shows a flat where some of the new seedlings are coming up with more than one plant per cell.  My job was to thin these so that each cell only had one seedling.

Next, I worked with the chives.

I had to take straw from the pile on the right

and place it between each grouping of chive plants

to keep the weeds from growing between them.

Near the chives is a small patch of garlic.

And, next to the garlic is a small patch of rhubarb.

Rhubarb actually grows in a few different locations on the farm.

This is the strawberry field.

We didn't work in this field today,

but very soon it is going to need to be weeded.

We planted out in the field for the rest of the day.

We started with leeks.

Here is Norm laying them out

in the rows before they get planted.

Leeks in the seedling flat.

Laying the leeks out in the rows.

We planted hundreds of them!

Looking back over the last row planted.

Time for lunch under the cool of a shade tree.

It got up to the high 60s today and was windy.

The chickens kept me company.

And, of course, Hannah joined me, too.

After lunch, I continued planting leeks.

Norm rejoined me, and we finished the leeks.

Next, we planted Ailsa Craig sweet white onions.

After hours of onion planting, bending, stooping and kneeling,

Norm told me I should take a little walking break around the property.

He reminded me to go look at the new bees!

A few days ago, he got 5 brand new colonies.

When I walked up to the hives, I could hear them buzzing,

and there was much activity.

Such a happier sight than last week.

I continued my walk.

In this picture, the bee hives are in the upper left.

And, next are the compost piles.

Continuing down the road, there is the horse/goat barn and pastures.

And, next is the chicken coop

and the main tractor/storage building.

What a perfect day to take a picture of the house.

That tree is gorgeous!

I got back from my walking break.

We continued to plant onions.

And, Riley arrived for his after-school shift.

Norm and Riley will be planting as much as they can

in the next few days, to take advantage

of the rain that may be coming on Friday.

At 5:30, we had gotten to a planting break point,

and I was done for the day.

Norm made sure to remind me to take some kale home

(pictured above)

and he also gave me some rhubarb that he had just cut.

I'm really going to sleep tonight.