Day 14

Got off easy this morning, well easy for farming. While Daniel and the other interns got up some plastic row covering, Cory and I direct sowed (planted the seed into the ground not transplanted): Cucumbers, Squash, Fennel, Zinnias Quinoa, Tat Soy, Miznua, Spinach, Radishes, Red Turnips, Carrots, Arugula, Choy Sum, Broccoli, and Beets. Oh and some onions that had been in Ricky's family for over 100 years. Then we put the cloth row coverings over the rows to protect the seed from rain, etc. We had some drama with the row coverings all getting tangled, but in the end we won.
Post lunch I helped remove plastic row coverings (Whew!) which made up for my somewhat peaceful morning, and harvested asparagus. This weekend I have homework :), readings on soil cause next week we'll be talking all about Soil, Soil History, Testing, Biology, Tilth, Organic Matter, and Soil Surveys.

Me and my new Roomy!

Day 13

Strawberry morning! I cleaned them up while the guys got more veggies ready for Farmer's Fresh Co-Op. Erica's (other intern) first day was today whoo hoo! She came straight from the airport and started helping out with potatoes planted last November. Apparently, you plant the mother potato then it has baby ones, then the mother potato becomes mushy and gross looking, you know like with people. They went off to harvest asparagus which comes back year after year and grows fast like a weed. Cory and I rolled up cloth row covers, I screwed one up but successfully rolled about 15, the owner doesn't like them laying out which brings me to our tour.
After lunch we went on a tour of the cabins and grounds with Sandy the owner and he told us about his family living here over 200 years; his great great great etc grandmother saving the farm from Sherman's destruction and a great grandmother starting a school for black children in the area. I guess the men didn't do much in his family. His wife put together a museum of the history. So Burge has been around and he was telling us that to become a member there's a waiting list of 50 people and it's the best private hunting club around Atlanta around 350 members. I think he said people have to die for a spot to open up, which I wouldn't advertise for a hunting club.
 I went with Sandy's niece Elizabeth to LA Fitness to promote CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share sign up. We spoke to a lot of people and I didn't realize I had dirt on my forehead until an hour ago.

Our first CSA box

LA Fitness

Day 12

I was kidnapped this morning by Sandy the owner, he introduced me to a couple of people then we went to the field in Newman to cover up the potatoes (what the tiller wasn't able to). He said that Burge farm has been around for three years and had been losing money but this year Cory thinks it'll break even. Sandy purchased the tractor, two walk-in fridge's for Barntop etc. so he spent a lot on the front end. Where we planted the potatoes he wants to eventually sell that land and house for someone to start an organic farm of their own, the potatoes are kind of like a experiment...and something about a tax deduction.

Easter Treat Marketing Included with a CSA signup flyer

Not trying to be emo artsy, My camera was attacked by a 3 year old and wouldn't open all the way

Easter Bunny Snack :)

 The next half of the morning we had the glamorous job of rolling up 20 rolls of drip tape, which Daniel invented a wheel to help out with that feat. After lunch we planted fennel (very delicate), cauliflower, and squash. We discovered Jason the intern can not drive stick either (side note: Jason the boyfriend taught me basics but no way am I telling them and try to drive their truck up and down the fields) so Cory said it's like driver's ed for interns cause last years didn't know as well! We ended the day planting seedling Zinnia, Bok Choy, Broccoli, and Brassicas.

Day 11

Harvested strawberries, my morning ritual. Then planted some seedlings before Cory grabbed me for an Easter task. I harvested about 230 carrots, (Easter color) radishes, and turnips to be delivered to a couple preschool's in the area tomorrow to promote the farm. They will be put in baggies and titled, Food for the Easter Bunny. After lunch we grabbed all the transplants and went to the Jeff Cook Rd field (where we planted the green onions), and used that machine we acquired yesterday to lay down drip irrigation and plastic row covers, then the fertilizer and water holder with pegs was used. We planted a lot of broccoli, cauliflower, Komatsuna, Chard, and Kale.

Some reject carrots I snagged to take home (too small or missing carrot tops)

Laying down drip line and row covers

Day 10

Yum...Yum Yum Yum Yum Yum...Yum!

Today started out with more strawberry harvesting! It was Jason, another intern's, first day and he was in for a doozy. We have meetings on Mondays to discuss the upcoming week's activities, and we get to most of them but Cory's a little too ambitious at times, can't say that I blame him.
Next up we went to the field by the plantation (called Main House) to remove the plastic row covers before we turn the field. The plastic covers are there to reduce watering, fertilizing, and weeds; therefore saving time and energy. We can't use the biodegradable ones because they aren't classified as organic, and how much plastic do you want in your soil, really? They are extremely hard to take off and rip, etc. so it was a challenge. I had to take a break because so much dirt went up my nose I couldn't stop sneezing, then my nose started bleeding, it was a sexy moment.
After lunch I harvested asparagus while the guys weeded, I found a dandelion and it reminded me of this blog so I blew it, I forgot Daniel was right next to me until he started laughing. Then we went to Nicholas' farm and borrowed a machine that puts down drip irrigation and row covers Oh My!  So I'm guessing we will be trying that out tomorrow.

Important sunburn update: It has started peeling and I'm putting the loofah to use! I'll spare you pictures this time...this time.

Bike will be used to shell peas for market? We'll see how that works later.

Our To-Do Monday board, to clarify it's for the week, Rome wasn't built in a day folks!

Day 9

We began today by cleaning up the mess we made in the barn yesterday, it looked like we had a veggie throwdown party in there. I harvested and weeded strawberries most of the day in a couple different fields. We tried to put the plastic over to make another hoop house but it was too windy and Cory said it could literally pick up four people if we kept trying and since none of us signed any death waiver's we stopped.
As a last resort, if the bugs are going crazy on a crop or in the hoop house we use Spinosov a product by Intrust, it's a bacteria that destroys the digestive lining of insects. It's really expensive, so not a lot is used; mostly the unhealthy plants are the ones with insect problems or so I've read. Also, in some pictures you'll see what looks like long cloth sheets, these are row covers and they protect a bit from frost and bugs, wind and rain for seedlings. We spent some time in the field by the plantation harvesting cabbage and asparagus. Then I started some seed transplants of cucumber, zucchini, and watermelons. It's amazing, my stomach got dirty and I was wearing three layers of clothes!

Strawberries in Gus' Field

Loofah from last year, I didn't even know these were from plants!

Day 8

Potato Field in the Works

Whew just came out of my mouth. Started the day harvesting turnips, parsley, green onions, Asian salad mix, Kale, asparagus etc. for Farmer's Fresh, a co-op. Cory gave me some tips about starting out and learning by trial and error, also have an array of veggies growing so you don't have to rely on just one crop or variety. After lunch we went to a field in Newman with 40 sacks of potatoes to plant. We used the same machine as before with the onions, Daniel and the Honduras guy dumped the potatoes and Cory and I would push them in deeper in order to till (which weeds and helps fertilize). At first my job was to kick dirt over the potatoes which reminded me of walking Duffy the dog with Jason and he'd kick up dirt after doing his business (these analogies come free of charge). Then we switched off and rode behind the tractor dropping in the potatoes, throwing some because the driver went pretty fast most of the time. And in the end I looked like this...

FarmGirl=DirtyGirl

In case you were wondering what I do in my free time, cow puzzles.

Day 7

Horses by the strawberry field

Today we planted a variety of veggies and flowers. There's an exchange student from a neighboring farm here for the week from Honduras. So I was on my own for English conversation for awhile. In the hoop houses we set up drip irrigation, laid down the plastic white side up to reflect heat and prevent weeds. With the tomatoes Cory had us put in some bone meal before planting for calcium, which he knew I wouldn't like being vegan but really I have leather seats in my car so we moved on from technicalities. Anyhoodle, we planted tomatoes, basil, sunflowers, cucumbers, lettuce and zucchini. A little easier today, but I was still tired and burnt from yesterday. We got in new boxes for CSA, so we cleaned out the old ones they do this about every 3 months. There were some less glamorous parts of the day like I had to sweep up a dead rat and clean out sewage smelling compost buckets. But it all got done. PS, Pheasant's are bred in captivity and released at one time for the hunters, which is cheating if you ask me, but no one hardly does and that's too bad because I have really great opinions, in my opinion. They also hunt quail and deer.

Unfortunate Pheasant

Day 6

My longest day yet. We wanted to get an early start and meet at seven, only to realize the sun doesn't rise until 7:40. Then the tractor wouldn't start, battery was dead. I started planting onions, they were Vidalia onions until they leave there and now they are just onions (patents). Tractor started working and we worked all day, planted about 7500. You heard me, 7500. No break, I wanted to get it over and done! Cory brought us lunch and has an Indian friend he got this amazing recipe from for Indian trail mix, that part wasn't important, but it was the highlight of my day. We finished out transplanting the rest of the tomatoes.

Please withhold all redneck jokes

So I rode on the back there in one of the black seats, inside the barrels is fertilizer and water. It would leak out and make holes for the transplant onions. The tractor made the job faster, some would say too fast. Like me, I'd say that, it was hard to keep up with the pace. Daniel had a really hard time because he's a perfectionist and barely had time to place them. But we got it done, and will have onions a growing!

Day 5

Equipment Prep Day. I started today by transplanting tomatoes, and the surgery went well. We also got to go to a neighbor's farm in Newman to pick up a water/fertilizer holder thingy (don't be intimidated by my technical terms). Nicholas' farm is the one Burge is modeled after, it's been around for 12 years and runs beautifully. They have about twenty hoop houses filled with goodies.
Cory gave a farm tour to some doctors from Emory while Daniel plowed/fertilized/tilled the land where we'll put our onions tomorrow. I continued to plant tomatoes and did a lot of picking up and dropping off of parts. We finished later today at 6 and we'll start early tomorrow at 7.  Also I scraped my shin today, my first injury!

Three Braided Carrot or XXX-rated

Wisteria in Bloom all around the farm

Day 4

Today separated the (wo)men from the boys. Started out in a rush, looking over some transplants in the greenhouse; the tomatoes, tobacco, and broccoli which will go in the ground soon. We got together to get some boxes ready for Cory to deliver to local restaurants, and another to advertise for other restaurants to sign up. It included kale, lettuce, parsley, broccoli, onions, yellow turnips, carrots, asparagus, flowers...forgot what they were called (Not forget-me-nots!). 

Peppers, Tomatoes, Tobacco in the Greenhouse

Green Onion Beginnings

The next half of the day I planted two varieties of green onions with Daniel (see above).  It took some time, I did most of the last three lines, second row while he got the drip irrigation ready. Then we planted red lettuce and called it a day. It was hot as Hades out there and my allergies were killing me! I'm glad for the three day break. (but can't wait to start again next week) :)

Day 3

Excitement! But not in the beginning. I started out setting up drip irrigation on the carrots with Daniel. It was frustrating for us both, I didn't know what to do and he couldn't explain because of the language barrier; we made it through though. Next up, bee hives! There are two, one is "weaker" than the other meaning less active. We used the smoke to calm them and checked on honey production, wax moths/mites, and that the queen bee is reproducing. They are slow going and we won't have honey until July. I held some of the screens with all the bees, but no stings on this girl!

Me in the back, suiting up!

Cory at the hives, he added more levels

Daniel harvesting some beets

The rest of the afternoon we harvested for local restaurants and the Burge chef. Cory's going tomorrow to sell CSA membership to LA Fitness goers. Our boxes right now include turnips, endive, green onion, cabbage, Romaine lettuce, Kale, red cabbage and yellow beets. I finished out the day weeding peas and strawberries.

Day 2

Started out the day by fertilizing off the back of a pickup spraying a mixture of seaweed and fish, while some puppies played near it (don't know why, it smelled awful or smells like money as Cory says). It did rain off and on today, so we worked a couple different fields and one of the hoop houses. In total there are 7 fields and 4 hoop houses. Transplanted some kale, okra, tomatoes etc. to bigger containers and petted one of the neighbors horses who came to see what we were up to. Other transplants we continually check on are the peppers, many varieties and high maintenance.

Daniel is reteaching me Spanish and I'm helping him with English; he taught me tomar for take and I taught him bipolar when describing his wife. He also might teach me how to drive a stick. We'll see how successful he is with that! He found a pretty bird in the field that was wounded so we gave him a safe place to heal up. We spent the rest of the day weeding the strawberries. Cory spent most of the day taking the trucks and tracker in for repairs, he spends time doing office work and marketing, the money making side. I also met Sandy, the owner of the Plantation and Farm, head honcho as he puts it and Ricky a Forager expert on plant life in the area and actually I don't really know what he does, but I like him.

Cherry Bomb adjusting to country life

First Day

End of day one. Let's just say it's making me think "I'm pooped" and "sore as all get out" and you know I never phrase things like that, cause I'm not a kindergarten teacher or elderly. Cory and Daniel said after a couple weeks I'll be all toughened up and will be good to go.
But I loved it! Started out harvesting radishes, beets, turnips and some Romaine lettuce, cleaned them off then got ready for a CSA box for the Annie Oakley club women (Burge is a private hunting club and I'm in danger of being shot on a daily basis but I like to live on the edge so no problem). Next stop weeding; the weeds were up to my knees so getting them out was serious! I also used a weed sifter tool to get the shallow ones and break up the ground.
This year along with growing veggies we will grow some flowers to add to the CSA boxes and hopefully sell them to Whole Foods, so more to come on that. Below is a picture of our lettuce which I got to pick and take home to eat for dinner :)

The Move In

Here I sit, listening to Blues, eating my salad. But let's back up, I arrived at the house about 3:00pm. Cory, the farm manager was out until six but left the place open. The house comes move-in ready with sheets and all. Equipped with a dishwasher, washer & dryer, toaster, toilet, etc. and everything works (which is better than my penthouse apt in Atl). I met the neighbor's dogs a Rottweiler and Boston Terrier who were way more interested in meeting me than their owner's calls. Burge also has about 8 horses I have yet to meet.

Some refrigerated items didn't make the move, so I went to The <one and only> Kroger about 9 miles away. When I come back I turn on the Magnavox with my one channel and decide it's not worth it and make dinner. Which brings me back to sitting, eating a salad, listening to Jimmy D. Lane...it don't get any better than this! I start tomorrow at 8:00am.

Inside the House

Fireplace and the first TV invented

Living Area

Laundry Room off from 3rd Bedroom

Third bedroom (for volunteer's)

Kitchen

Second Bedroom

Second Bedroom Closet

Front Bedroom

Little Closet

Front Bedroom Fireplace (doesn't work)

Entrance to house