Week 1

My first week as a farm intern has been chock full of rich experiences, ranging from drinking homebrewed maple sap beer to lessons in mushroom cultivation. I’ve been enjoying the lack of electricity, which in turn means no Internet! I find my nights filled with activities that I never seem to get around to at home. I practice yoga instead of catching up on the latest episode of Glee. I play cards by candlelight, the flames flickering in the soft breeze created by the shuffling cards. 

So far I’ve made it through two books—Brad Kessler’s “Goat Song” and a re-read of Kristin Kimball’s “The Dirty Life,” which I referenced extensively in my first post. I like to read books that relate to my current experiences. It’s like I’m taking a journey alongside the authors. I’m also part way through an attempt to knit my first scarf, and I’ve been playing some new blues guitar licks. As you can see, my leisure time has been as filled to the brim as my morning mug of coffee.

In addition to “playing hard,” I’ve also been eating like a queen: Penne with fresh scallions and crumbled parmesan, crisp greens fresh from the garden, homemade pizzas on just-baked bread, homemade granola with farm-fresh yogurt and French press coffee, baked beans with molasses, fluffy rice with asparagus, carrots, scallions, and local pork chops, toasted biscuits with honey drizzled on top and freshly sliced strawberries picked minutes before from the garden, cold lentil salad with sliced cheddar…you get the idea. It’s pretty great.

Despite this busy and demanding schedule of reading, playing, and eating, I’ve managed to be in a deep sleep by 9:30 or earlier each night, because to earn all this good food and fun, one must partake in a little hard work. Each morning I walk a short, narrow path in the woods from Sally’s Place to Mike’s house for breakfast and we start work around 8am or shortly after. Deep Root Farm provides 3 full and 3 half CSA shares. Pick-up and delivery is on Tuesdays, so Tuesday morning was spent harvesting lettuce, pea shoots, sprigs of mint, scallions, shallots, poc choi, radishes, packing eggs, and eventually arranging all this fresh produce into a neat box topped with the weekly CSA letter, written by Mike’s wife, Maria. Each week’s letter offers a new recipe that members might make using the contents of their box. This week’s suggested a mouth-watering Tabouli. All the foodies opening their boxes must think Christmas has come early.

Other projects, such as the aforementioned mushroom cultivation, have proved extremely interesting and perhaps slightly revolting if you, like me, detest mushrooms. Taste preferences aside, did you know mushrooms can be cultivated in used coffee grounds or water-soaked straw? I didn’t—but it’s true, and very cool. There’s also the always-present task of weeding, and whenever there’s down time, someone can usually be found hand-pumping water, 100-300 pumps at a time to keep the tank full and at the ready for showers, laundry, and cooking.

One afternoon was spent in town, collecting a load of sawdust from an Amish family. We shoveled piles full of shavings into the back of Mike’s pickup truck and drove off, back through parts of the North Country I’d never seen even though I’ve been going to school here for three years. Packaged hay dotted the fields like huge balls of mozzarella lined up at market. I cringed when we passed a large-scale industrial farm sight. It looked menacing, violent, and unhealthy in comparison to Mike’s small and friendly family farm.

My most exhausting day yet was spent mowing a neighbor’s blueberry field. The field slopes downhill on one side, and my palms dug into the metal handle of the mower as I forced it up the slope, weaving in and out of the 30 rows of blueberry bushes, fighting fiercely with deer flies all the way. I felt tired but accomplished when I looked back on the freshly mowed field. I felt even better the next day, when I came back to Sally’s Place to find a jar of homemade maple syrup and a small envelope of cash on the front steps, presumably a thank you gift from Paul (the neighbor). How kind and thoughtful!

On an afternoon off, Mike and I spent several hours playing guitar together. Maria offered us fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies as we played, and I fell asleep that night with new songs rushing through my head. I find that I’m having extremely vivid dreams in the cabin, so much so that I often wake up slightly disoriented. Must be the fresh country air, or maybe I got too close to the mushrooms.

On Saturday morning we left the farm at 6:30am to go pick strawberries on an Amish farm. The Martins offer several pick-your-own days where prices are discounted and vehicles are lined up along the road, people rushing for access to the most fruitful rows. We left after just over an hour with close to 45 pounds of strawberries. Little Amish boys in straw hats directed us to the scales, and Mike said that the only piece of wood on the Martins’ house that isn’t from their own sawmill is the toilet seat. Back at Deep Root, I helped Maria prepare the berries for canning and making jam, retreating into town after about an hour to start my weekend off.

Although having most of the weekend off has given me time to do some writing and work on the two independent studies I’m doing with a professor at St. Lawrence, I find myself anxious for Monday morning when I’ll be wrist-deep in dirt and deer flies by 9am. It’s strange to be on campus when it’s not peppered with students in either flannel or Vineyard Vines, en route to their next class, meeting, or thrill-seeking adventure. Instead, SLU in the summer is almost deserted. It’s quiet and peaceful, minus the construction that seems to be going on at every building. After these trips, I look forward to getting back to Sally’s Place and uprooting some weeds or planting a row of sweet potatoes.

The only downfall of Sally’s Place is the lack of communication I have with the outside world when I’m there. If I want to use my phone, I have to stand in the right spot, just to the left of the compost pile, balance on one leg, and move my arms in continuous circles while sticking out my tongue. Okay, scratch that last part, but right by the compost is the sweet spot for cell service. Dropped calls aside, week 1 has been a huge success in my book. I hope you’ll stay with me as week 2 unfolds.

Sally's Place

This week, I’m listening to: Dawes—Nothing is Wrong and you should too.

And now, for a bit of shameless self-promotion: Do you like what you see here? Check out my other blog to hear stories of my recent travels in Senegal: http://onsenegalesetime.blogspot.com/

Also, check out the blog for Deep Root Farm: http://deeprootfarm.wordpress.com/