Weeks 4, 5, & 6

It’s been a while since my last post—sorry for the delay! I’ve had busy weekends; one hiking in the Adirondacks and one at home in Vermont. I got out of the habit of writing every day, so I’ll do my best to recap the events of the past few weeks.

 North Country sky

First of all, here’s a recipe for homemade bug dope that actually works. It’s been a savior for me in the gardens, as the deer flies and mosquitoes tend to be relentless. The ingredients are listed in order from most to least—I don’t do well with exact amounts.

            Olive oil
            Bay Oil
            Eucalyptus
            Pennyroyal
            Rosemary

Mix it, bottle it—ta da—deet-free bug dope that works!

Anyway, in the past few weeks, Mike and I have made kale chips, picked peas, broccoli, golden and red beets, and green and yellow beans, helped Paul weed and mulch his blueberries (after which I felt like a piece of toast, colored to a nice golden crisp), moved and stacked piles of firewood, prepared a primitive campsite in the woods behind the house, weeded in a complete downpour, weeded in the sweltering heat, felled trees at Paul’s that were shading his gardens, and moved solar panels, relocating them to a mount on the side of the house.

One morning after we finished packing the CSA boxes, there was some excitement on the farm. All of a sudden I heard “what the hell?!” come from Mike, who was standing at the counter making coffee. I looked out the window where he was and saw dirt flying through the air around the asparagus plants. I was confused, and wondering why the dirt seemed to have a mind of its own, when Mike exclaimed, “the chickens are loose!” Clearly the coffee would have to wait.

Mike grabbed what was basically a glorified butterfly net with an extra-long handle and began the chase. Out of over 10 chickens, only one had decided to stay in the coop and not follow its sisters into the great unknown. When a chicken was caught, I clipped one side of its wing feathers so it couldn’t fly out of the coop. The whole thing was very comical—I wish one of us had been equipped with a video camera. Maria and Ian arrived home and assisted us, trying to get behind the birds that had wandered into the woods and coax them out. Mike joked that a chicken was going to come up the hill with Ian in the net. Ha! After much yelling, running, and squawking, all the birds were back where they belonged, and I was happy to have witnessed my first animal-escape farm crisis.

Yesterday was all about garlic, as we attended Birdsfoot Farm’s annual Garlic Festival. Basically, they invite all their friends over to help pull, peel, and hang nearly 10,000 bulbs of garlic—all with the promise of good food and conversation throughout the day. Many hands make light work, and we were done pulling garlic by lunchtime, after which I got a tour of the farm and came back to the peeling circle just in time for ice cream. It was a great way to end my time on the farm. Only two days left before I return home to Vermont! Thanks for following along, and I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures just as much as I’ve enjoyed experiencing them. I’ll leave you with this tidbit greatness that was quoted in Three Cups of Tea, which I read last week:

There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.
There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled.
You feel it, don’t you?

-RUMI