Back to the Blog: Farm Wrap Up & Walking the World

Hey guys,

The last week has been a whirlwind. Annie and I left the farm and our lovely Bluffton friends last Sunday to begin the walk. I didn't post for the last few days on the farm because I was just so tired!   Annie and I have been discussing the importance of hard work on this trip, and farmers embody that in a very physical way. It's draining! You come home, shower, and want dreamland. Of course you eventually adjust but I don't think I got to that threshold in the two weeks at White Oak Pastures...

PART I:

The last days of farm work contained my favorite tasks--harvesting collard greens, kale, and CARROTS. Besides feeling like Bugs Bunny, pulling up carrots is about the most satisfying thing in the world!!!


Anomalies

The farm is a visual feast. The colours. The textures. Seeing plants and animals grow. Here's some more of that:

Uprooted cabbage. Clearing beds for
new crops.

Cabbage ROSE

Cabbage, kale, dinosaur kale!

Thinning sprouts in the greenhouse.*

*After plants have sprouted in the greenhouse, trays need to be thinned to one plant in each square; usually when planting seeds two or three are planted in case there's trouble with growth.  If more than one sprouts, the others are plucked out to create room for the one guy that's gonna grow BIG.

Other farm tasks in those last few days included cutting wire ("hoops") for the beds of plants--the wire is cut a certain length and then a handful of hoops are stuck at either side of the beds to create a half circle shape that the row cover is then placed on and secured to the ground. The hoops are beneficial because they give the plants room to grow while still allowing for the benefits of row cover, which protects from the elements.

Cindy and I cut hoops for a few hours. Big job! Finsihed
products hang nice and shiny, ready to use.



Gil washing the baby greens


Cindy and Jay, our colleagues at the farm hosted a bonfire on the Saturday before we left White Oak.  We spent Saturday baking up a storm to bring to Cindy's and Lori made an AMAZING gluten free carrot cake. Thanks for hosting a great evening Cindy and Jay!! And thanks for the live entertainment :) (Jay is a gifted guitar player and jammed with Annie around the bonfire.)

And that, my friends, ended our time at White Oak. The next morning we got the gear we packed up and started the next leg of our journey. We stayed with our friend Lea from the farm on day 1--thanks so much for sharing your home with us, Lea!

PART II: The Walk



March 3--Day 1 of walk

Chattahoochee River--about to cross over into Alabama!

 In two days I think we talked to three sherriffs/police men. Hilarious. Annie talked about what we were doing. I may have the honors in the near future.  We set up camp at a church, met the praise team, and got to listen to them practice, which was an incredible expereince. They have such talent and enthusiasm. They also prayed for my knee, which was flaring up from an old high school injury.  Thank you Mount Olive!

 Mount Olive Praise Team

The next day we crossed over into Eufaula, got some groceries and new shoes for me, had AMAZING donuts from The Doughnut King.  It doesn't look like these guys have a website, as it's a hole in the wall, but their donuts are tremendous. 

We stopped by a coffee shop called The Blue Moon and met the owner, Terry. We told her what we were up to with the walk and she invited us to an art benefit happening that night in a historic mansion called Fendall Hall. (Sort of similar to the Varnum House in East Greenwich for all you Rhode Island readers, but waay bigger.) The community art club sets up an annual benefit in which  local artists auction off their work amidst a fun wine and cheese night. Terry was a great host and introduced us to many community members. We met the president of the Friends of Fendall Hall organization, Carol, who lived in Rhode Island for a few years with her husband! She gave us an intimate tour of the house which really rocked.  We met local artists, poets, and the mayor of Eufaula--it was a fabulous evening of art and antebellum architecture.

We were going to stay  a Presbyterian church in town but Terry put us up in an awesome little motel free of charge through a friend connection and was even further ridiculously generous with us--she introduced us to the staff of the coffee shop, her husband, and told us about her amazing son Bobby. Thank you so much for your generosity Terry!

More soon--

Svet

Week Two

Monday the rains were a fallin like CRAZY in Bluffton, GA so we got the day off from farm work. Although I enjoy working on the farm, the 7 AM text message bearing this news made me as gleeful as a schoolgirl on a snow day. (And speaking of school cancellations, because there are so many dirt roads in rural Georgia, kids got Monday AND Tuesday off from school because of the poor driving conditions. Glad the childhood joy continues on from geographic area to geographic area!! No child should be deprived of these happy, happy days.)

 

I slept in, listened to the rain fall on the tin roof, (its actually not a tin roof, but it sounded nice, right? Many of the roofs here are in fact metal and Annie speculates it's because it's not as cold here and thus roofting doesn't need as much insulation. Anyone know?) we went grocery shopping, read and read and read lots and we made BORSCHT.

Borscht is a Russian beet and cabbage soup--a staple of Russian cuisine that I grew up on. To the chagrin of my parents I didn't take the initiative to learn how to make it until uh...yesterday, because grandma is a gourmet cook specializing in Russian and Ukrainian cuisine--why must I spoil a good thing? But I called grandma for the recipe because I wanted Annie and my new friends to experience some Slavic cuisine. (Grandmas love when you ask them about recipes.)





The Evidence. With a dollop of yogurt.

I was really proud of myself after successfully making the soup with Annie K's assistance! I sent my whole family a picture text as proof, and I think I may finally be considered a respectable part of the family :)

Anyhow, today was a full day at the farm. The morning started cloudy and humid, and warm. Annie and I pruned Muscatine grape branches in the orchard, planted blueberries, weeded, fixed row cover on beds of vegetables that had blown off in the windy rain, and potted some soil in the greenhouse before lunch.

Anyhow, today was a full day at the farm. The morning started cloudy and humid, and warm.  Annie and I pruned muscadine grape branches in the orchard, planted blueberries, weeded, fixed row cover on beds of vegetables that had blown off in the windy rain, and potted some soil in the greenhouse before lunch.

Annie planting blueberries today. What a babe.



Jesus rinsing with warm
water before they go into the machine
(He got the
day off from school!)

I also helped with weekly egg duty--and got a picture of all the eggs before they go through the egg washer machine contraption thingy...that might not be the proper term :D Aren't they beautiful? 650 hens, 4 - 5,000 eggs per week.
After lunch I noticed a gorgeous Southern Magnolia tree in the forest behind all the vegetables. It looks distinct among all of the other trees because of it's waxy leaves that look like they belong in a warmer climate. Annie knew the name of it.  I am constantly amazed at how many plants she can identify--I didn't know she was a junior botanist :)

The rest of the day continued with mostly greenhouse tasks. I made my first potting soil mix using the recipe that is generally used.  I wouldn't have thought of handling that last week. Everything was so foreign and strange then!

I came home and ate more borscht. Annie had this great idea of poaching an egg in the borscht while reheating on the stove. This is a very cool innovation--I'm talking it to the family table.

More soon.

I love eggs and borscht and rain,

Svet



While the borscht is cooking we're drinking pickled
beet juice cocktails, inspired by farm produce baby.


Annie keeps her hair short for practical pursposes
while she's walking. She's also a free bird.
Tatoo is temporarry, don't worry mom :)

 

 

PS: I went for a run on Sunday. Everything outside beamed. I was dumbfounded.  Did I just walk into one of those picturesque Windows backgrounds?

Nope. Just Georgia for ya.  Here's some shots from roads and areas close to the house. Which one's your favorite?

 

Pecan Trees

 

Shadows

 

 

Pines and Clay

 

Layer CAKE

 

The Pines



PPS: What my shoes look like after rain + farm:

 



 

 

Ohh Goody! The Fave Pictures Post

 

So homey

 

Farm at sunset

 

Front yard at sunset--oaks and pecan trees

 

Magnolias -- Susan B :)

 

Dirt Road at Dusk

 

Farming Profile: Photo cred Annie K

 

 

 

Annie K -- Cheer on a rainy day!

 

This Is It.

 

Be Quiet

 

 

 

Farming, Days 5 & 6: RAINNNNN

The past two days have been WET in Bluffton, Georgia. Evidently this is the rainy season. It rained earlier this week when Annie and I worked in the green house, but on Friday we connected drip tape (irrigation system) to 21 rows of potatoes, and then we put some row cover  over beets and carrots--me sporting a garbage bag rain coat. (High farm fashion :)  Improvisation is a huge part of farm work and we're better for it! I only regret not bringing rain boots or a rain coat...but so it is!



Me setting up irrigation for potato rows with drip tape

After doing that and feeling like champs, we had lunch and then got a tour of the brooder house, which is where the baby chicks and bunnies are raised. Travis, the young man who manages the brooder house facilitated the tour. They have two thousand chicks in there at once! I held a day old bunny and a chick--they were both reallly adorable.

This guy becomes...

This guy!

 

 

 

Dawwwww!!!! (click to enlarge)

We then went home early because we'd finished all of our tasks and spent the afternoon reading and drinking cocoa and eating stove popped popcorn (Awesome!) Then Tim and Casey, the guests we were expecting arrived--they drove all the way from Connecticut to meet the farm crew and see White Oak Pastures because they'll be joining as farm apprenctices in the next few weeks.  We had an amazing meal with them and some great conversation before heading to bed.  It began to pour again in the evening and we saw some amazing lighting with the lights off and candles on.

We had to rise fairly early on Saturday because we were going to do a few things on the farm with Tim and Casey.  Annie and I potted kale in the green house while the guests did a special project in between getting a tour of the farm, the chicken plant and the beef plant.  Annie and I accompanied them as well and it was interesting to see inside the abattoir aka slaughterhouse--especially one that raises all natural chickens and isn't HUGE and completely mechanized.  I learned that an animal goes through as many as fifteen hands and is USDA inspected before being packaged and shipped out at White Oaks.

Remember how on the weekends, Pasture to Plate becomes fine dining for dinner and lunch? It's called Seasons, and the chef, Jim Snyder and his wife Cindy kindly treated us to an amazing meal--made of fresh farm ingredients. We had delicious chicken sachelle (similar to sausage) made with pistachios and herbs, pickled green tomato, peanut hummus, onion galette (pastry dough with fried, sweet tasting onions)--it was such a beautifully presented and delicious meal. And to top that off, a peice of Hummingbird Heart cake--three teirs of pinapple, banana, and pecans with cream cheese frosting. So sweet and wonderful. Thanks so much Jim and Cindy!!

-- Five Stars --



Tim, Casey & I (Annie behind camera)

 

After The Amazing Lunch, we took our guests to the pastures accross the street to see the chicks growing to be laying hens and the grazing cows and sheep--and we got extremely close!

We then took a special trip to the Kolomoki Mounds, a national park in neighboring Blakely, GA that is "the oldest and largest Woodland Indian site in the southeastern United States, occupied by American Indians from 350 to 750 a.d."--the largest mound is 57 feet tall and was the temple mound.  There are a handful of other mounds throughout the park thought to be for ceremonial and burial purposes.  There's much archeological speculation as to how the mounds were built. We climbed up a huge concrete staircase built into the outside of the largest mound and got to enjoy the view.



Temple mound at Kolomoki

 

I also discovered Laughing Yoga from Casey and it is so so so cool. Next place I live I'm looking for a club--the health benefits are almost magical.

So, week one has wrapped. It's been faster than I thought. One more week on the farm and then the walking begins. It's been a gift to spend quality time with Annie and see her working.  It's neat to see friends in their different environments and Annie is an enthusiastic and passionate part of the farm.  I am surprised she's been here for about three weeks--the rapport she has with the staff, and the knowledge of the farm is remarkable. I have a tourguide at my side!  The people here are also great. The work is meaningful. I think that's why Annie enjoys it so much. It's a great lifestyle and I'm enjoying being able to experience it firsthand.

With farming affection,

Svet

 

Farmin On: Day Four

Today was rodent-trap-weeding-row-cover day. Gil, Lori, Annie and I also dug a ditch near the hoop house, which is one of the green houses containing lettuce.  The ditch was a semi-circle and dug for irrigation purposes when the rains come! (Farmers gotta be prepared.) Inside the semi-circle Gil and Lori planted herbs, one being sorrel, my new favorite herb. (Though it does look like it belongs in the lettuce family). Sorrel tastes tangy and awesome. I don't think I've ever had it before but I'm looking forward to incorporating it into future dishes.

Diggin and planting

It was ridiculously nice out today too--it reached seventy degrees (THIS is what I came here for!!)

I am tired today. Farm + blogging keeps me up late because I want to capture every detail to share with YOU. If that ain't love...

Anyways, a bunch of house mates have gone to an agricultural conference in Albany (They say it Al-bany here, not smooth like in New England. I like the the Southern flavor.) and we're expecting visitors this weekend that may work on the farm. The people I work and live with are great hosts.

Where's the chard??????

I'm dropping a few pics and hitting the hay today, g'night and enjoy, y'all!


Size comparison. Organic carrots taste sooo.good.



Swiss Charrrrd!!!!!!!!





ginger snaps/almond butter/marshmallow/
chocolate/coconut/WOW-->try it!!